Mystery deepens after missing schoolgirl found dead in pop star’s Tesla

The day after a body was found in his car in Hollywood, singer D4vd was singing his TikTok hit Romantic Homicide — a peppy breakup song about killing an ex without remorse — to a sold-out crowd in Minneapolis.

The American recording artist launched his music career from his sister’s closet while working part-time at Starbucks. It has led him to widespread fame, millions of online followers, and a world tour.

But all that came to an abrupt halt last month with the discovery of a badly decomposed body in the front trunk of his Tesla.

The body was identified as that of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

A month later, mystery still surrounds the teenager’s death, as well as her relationship with the 20-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke.

Delving into his macabre works—filled with references to death, memory, violence, and gory motifs—has led some to question whether life imitates art and vice versa.

The young singer has not yet commented publicly on the case or the horrific discovery in his car. His spokesperson would say only that he is “fully cooperating with authorities” and has since hired a prominent criminal defense attorney who represents celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West and Britney Spears.

The singer’s representatives, including his lawyer Blair Burke, Universal Music Group, Darkroom Records and Sony Music Publishing, did not respond to BBC requests for comment.

Rivas Hernandez’s cause of death has not yet been determined.

The county medical examiner said her body was “severely decomposed” when it was found, and delayed a decision on how she died, an investigation they say could take months.

Police also did not name a suspect or person of interest in the case, even weeks after her body was discovered.

The Los Angeles Police Department did not provide many details about the case or investigation, describing it as an open death investigation. The administration did not comment on the multiple questions posed by the BBC about the case, the investigation, and any contacts the singer may have had with Rivas Hernandez.

“It’s strange,” Nima Rahmani, a former prosecutor and Los Angeles lawyer, told the BBC. “It gets weirder every day that goes by without an arrest.”

This lack of information seems to fuel the conspiracies. Fans, true crime enthusiasts and Internet sleuths have launched their own investigations, digging into details that appear to link the teenage girl to the gamer-turned-songwriter, whom GQ magazine once heralded as a “mouthpiece for Gen Z heartache.”

Rivas Hernandez — who lived about 75 miles from where her body was discovered — was last reported missing by her family in April 2024, but it wasn’t the first time she had run away from their Lake Elsinore home.

A first-generation daughter of immigrant parents from El Salvador, neighbors knew her as a girl who visited the corner store almost daily to buy candy and soda. According to the Los Angeles Times.

She first disappeared on Valentine’s Day 2024, and her family filed a missing persons report the next day.

Posters bearing images of her face were put up in her neighborhood, and her mother posted appeals on Facebook in Spanish for her return, public initiatives that apparently angered the teenager.

Over the next two years, her parents would file at least two more missing persons reports.

Her family and friends told the newspaper that every time Rivas-Hernandez ran away, she would eventually return and reintegrate into her life as a middle school student.

When the teens’ remains were found in a bag in a D4vd Tesla on Sept. 8, the medical examiner said she was wearing a tank top, small black leggings and jewelry, including a yellow metal earring and a yellow metal chain bracelet.

She also had a tattoo reading “Shhh…” on her index finger – a mark almost identical to the one on the pop singer’s index finger.

Investigators said the decomposition of her body indicated that she “had been dead for several weeks.”

Her family, who described her as a beloved daughter, sister, cousin and friend, said they were “saddened and saddened by this tragic loss.” They have since requested money from the crowdfunding site to pay for her funeral, which took place earlier this month.

D4vd’s rise to stardom — fueled by TikTok and online gaming — is a model for his generation.

He grew up near Houston, Texas, was home-schooled and said he listened exclusively to gospel music until he was 13. He became an avid Fortnite player in 2017 and began his music career using pop songs to soundtrack gameplay montages that he posted on YouTube.

When he ran into copyright hurdles, he began making his own music, starting by recording songs on The BandLab app in 2021 and uploading his works to SoundCloud.

He soon saw his music gaining thousands of listeners. He then released what would become his two biggest songs to date: Romance Homicide and Here With Me.

The songs went viral on TikTok and led to billions of streams on Spotify, where it has amassed 33 million monthly listeners.

He signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP, Petals and Thorns, in 2023. That same year, he landed on Variety’s Young Hollywood list and opened for SZA on her SOS Tour.

Last spring, he made his debut at Coachella — known as the festival for up-and-coming talents breaking into mainstream fame. He was also commissioned by Fortnite — which he said shaped his story as an artist — to create the game’s first official anthem, Locked & Loaded.

But this rise to fame was temporarily halted when the Tesla was towed to an impound lot and… Authorities found a bag inside the front trunk Which contained the decomposing remains of Rivas Hernandez after someone complained of a foul odor.

His world tour was canceled within days of the discovery, and Sony Music Publishing reportedly halted promotion of his second album.

Los Angeles police soon raided the luxury Hollywood Hills mansion where the singer was living, just blocks from where his Tesla was towed.

US retailer Hollister and shoe giant Crocs have dropped D4vd from marketing campaigns, and Telepatía singer Kali Uchis has announced that they are ending their collaboration, Crashing.

But while his career stalled, Authorities have remained silent about the investigation into Rivas Hernandez’s death.

Investigators have not released any new information in the case since September 29.

The agency also said it was It remains unclear whether there was any criminal culpability beyond hiding her body.

While online sleuths were quick to speculate, legal experts say there’s still a lot we don’t know.

Rahmani, a former prosecutor, told the BBC: “You have a relationship with David that seems very strong.” “There’s a lot of smoke but look, it could be completely innocent and it could be someone else who had access to their car.”

Rahmani said that while there are many questions in this case, the biggest one for him is “what is taking the LAPD so long.”

He added: “They did not publish any real information.” “This is not a good look for the LAPD and it is a terrible look for D4vd.”

He added that a case like this has increased the pressure: it involves the death of a teenage girl, it has made international headlines, and the investigation involves a celebrity.

Mr. Rahmani noted that the technology and potential of video footage was likely to be a “treasure” for investigators. Telsa cars come equipped with advanced technology that tracks vehicles, alerts users when things like the trunk are open, and is equipped with a large number of cameras as part of its Sentry Mode systems.

Moreover, the Hollywood house he was living in also had cameras. When authorities searched the home last month, investigators took a digital video recording device that stores video and other data from the surveillance system.

Malden Trifunovic, the owner of the house he was renting in the Hollywood Hills D4vd, told the BBC that he had hired a private investigator to help uncover what might have happened inside his multi-million dollar home.

D4vd’s manager Josh Marshall, founder of Mogul Vision, rented the house to D4vd and distanced himself from the singer. He strongly denied reports that he was connected to the death investigation.

In addition to the mystery surrounding the cause of Rivas Hernandez’s death, it remains unclear what relationship the teenager had with the 20-year-old singer.

Rivas Hernandez had turned 15 the day before police found her body.

In California, the age of consent is 18 years old.

Family, friends and those who know her told local media that she was dating someone named David who said he was a music artist.

A former middle school science teacher blamed her last attempt to run away from home, in the spring of 2024, on dating a musical artist she met online.

“She has been missing since I taught her,” the teacher said in a video that went viral after Rivas Hernandez’s body was identified.

Online sleuths have also linked her to the singer in several ways, from their matching tattoos to photos he posted online that appear to show them together.

But D4vd did not address the rumors nor did the police.

Like many who don’t follow indie pop, his landlord, Mr. Trifunovic, said he had never heard of D4vd until news of the discovery broke. He did not even know that D4vd was renting his house because the rental contract was signed by the singer’s manager, Mr. Marshall.

“I share the same concern and desire to understand what happened to poor Celeste as anyone else,” Trifunovic told the BBC.

Although he said he trusts the Los Angeles Police Department to conduct a thorough investigation, he is also eager for information.

He added: “There is absolutely no doubt that a crime has occurred.”

“She did not place herself in the front trunk of the Tesla nor did she move the vehicle to where it was found.”