R&B singer leaves L.A. mansion amid probe into remains of girl, 15, found in Tesla

Multiplatinum R&B singer D4vd has reportedly moved out of the Hollywood Hills mansion he was living in amid the investigation into the dismembered remains of a missing 15-year-old girl found stuffed into the trunk of a Tesla registered to him earlier this month.  

Movers were spotted outside the $20,000 a month rental in the 13000 block of Doheny Drive on Sept. 24, where they were seen loading boxes, presumably of the musician’s belongings, onto a moving truck. The movers were on the property for about two hours.  

A red Tesla registered to his manager was also driven off the property.  

The remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, her “head and torso,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department, were discovered on Sept. 8 after employees at Hollywood Tow reported a foul odor coming from the Tesla, which had been on the lot for five days after it was reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.   

The teen had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024 when she was just 13.  

“She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time,” the medical examiner’s report stated.   

LAPD said the vehicle, which had Texas plates, was registered to David Anthony Burke, 20, the real name of the artist, who is from Texas.  

As the investigation into Rivas’ death continues, details have emerged that seemingly tie Burke to the missing girl.   

The Tesla was reportedly located not far from the $20,000 monthly rental home Burke was staying in. Her mother claims that before she went missing, she had a boyfriend named David. It also later emerged that there are reportedly several photos of the two together on social media, including where the singer appears to be with the teen not far from her family’s Lake Elsinore home.  

Burke and the 15-year-old also reportedly have matching tattoos on their right index fingers with the letters “Shhh.”   

Along with a song entitled “Romantic Homicide,” TMZ reported that in a leaked song, the artist is heard singing about a person named Celeste, with lyrics that include, “Oh Celeste / The girl with my name tattooed on her chest / I hear her voice each time I take a breath / I’m obsessed.”   

Leaked in December 2023, the track was titled “Celeste_Demo unfin.”  

Last week, a former science teacher at Lakeland Village School in Lake Elsinore was filmed telling students at a different school that Rivas met the singer through social media. He also said that she had run away to Hollywood months before her April 2024 disappearance but was found by police and returned home. 

While Burke has not spoken publicly about the investigation, since news of the teen’s alleged connections to the singer broke, he has lost several endorsements, his new album has been indefinitely held back and both his U.S. and European tours have been cancelled.  

Observers have noted that some of the R&B singer’s music is eerily macabre, with him performing in what looks like a bloodied shirt, a coffin on stage and lyrics like, “In the back of my mind, I killed you// And I didn’t even regret it// I can’t believe I said it// But it’s true// I hate you.”  

There is also a music video, released in February this year, that features a body being dragged and put into the trunk of a car.   

Police have not identified Burke, who has reportedly cooperated with investigators, as a suspect. They have said, however, that a search warrant was executed on Sept. 17 at the Hollywood Hills home where D4vd had been living, according to TMZ’s reporting.    

“Several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed by detectives in the coming days. This is an ongoing investigation,” the LAPD spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. “Investigators are following up on several leads.”  

Both police and the 15-year-old girl’s family have said very little else about the investigation. A man who identified himself as Rivas’ brother would only tell KTLA that the family was “grieving.”

On Sept. 21, a candlelight vigil was held for the teenage girl in Lake Elsinore where some of the mourners were demanding “Justice for Celeste.”   

“This really hits home as a mom,” one attendee named Evelyn told KTLA. “This could have been anybody’s kid.” 

On Tuesday this week, investigators released Rivas’ remains back to her family, likely meaning the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office have completed an autopsy and lab tests and likely determined a cause of death, though that detail has not yet been released to the public.  

So far, no arrests have been made in the case.