Many of singer D4vd’s friends in the Los Angeles music scene had come to believe that Celeste Rivas Hernandez was his 19-year-old girlfriend, long before the 15-year-old’s body was found dismembered in the trunk of his Tesla, which had been abandoned in the Hollywood hills a month earlier.
That’s according to TMZ, which quoted music insiders who said they partied with 20-year-old D4vd, whose real name was David Anthony Burke. They told TMZ they had come to believe that the rising star musician was dating Rivas, a frequent companion, and that she was a University of Southern California student and legally an adult. They made this assumption based on seeing Celeste — who reportedly met the musician when she was just 12 — at age-restricted venues.
But Celeste also reportedly told people she was 19, while TMZ said that, according to law enforcement sources, she was known to carry multiple fake IDs, had come from a troubled home and had run away from home multiple times before she disappeared for good.
Authorities have yet to establish any direct connection between Celeste’s death and D4vd, but the discovery of her remains in his Tesla has sparked widespread speculation and unease, according to the Daily Mail and Vanity Fair. Music insiders are especially shocked about D4vd’s name being connected to anything violent, given his “super shy, soft-spoken and gentle demeanor” and his low-key musical style, which has been described as a mix of R&B and indie pop.
Celeste was reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, in remote Riverside County, in April 2024 when she was 13 years old. On Sept. 8, heavily decomposed human remains were discovered inside the trunk of a 2023 Tesla Model Y, which had been towed to an impound yard after being abandoned for nearly a month in the Hollywood Hills, near D4vd’s home, according to the Daily Mail. The Tesla was registered under D4vd’s real name.
On Sept. 16, the Los Angeles Medical Examiners Office identified the body as Celeste’s. The cause of death has not been released, as investigators await the results of toxicology and other tests, KTLA reported. Two days after Celeste’s body was identified, the Los Angeles Police Department searched the $5 million mansion that D4vd had been living in before he left for a tour.
The Houston-reared singer had since cancelled his remaining tour dates, while his spokesperson told NBC News that he has been “fully cooperating with the authorities,” according to Vanity Fair.
But intrigue continues to grow around the case, notably D4vd’s relationship with Celeste. Vanity Fair reported that an unreleased Dv4d track has appeared online. It’s called “Celeste,” and it includes lyrics describing how the scent of a girl named Celeste, “with my name tattooed on her chest,” was sticking to the singer’s clothes “like cigarettes.” He also sings: “I hear her voice each time I take a breath I’m obsessed” and “I love you so, so much.”
Celeste also reportedly had a tattoo reading “Shhh…” on her right index finger, according to TMZ, and D4vd had such a tattoo in the same location. Vanity Fair moroever said that footage has surfaced of the two of them livestreaming together in the months before she went missing in 2024.
D4vd’s music and his self-presentation on stage and in videos are being seen in a new, darker light, according to Vanity Fair. For example, D4vd has brought a casket on stage at performances and made a music video in which one blood-soaked version of his body carries another into a trunk, Vanity Fair reported. And, in his 2022 breakout single, “Romantic Homicide,” he also sings, with flat affect, “In the back of 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.”
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