LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A black 2023 Tesla belonging to a multiplatinum selling R&B artist that was reportedly abandoned in the Hollywood Hills was ticketed 11 days before the dismembered remains of a missing 15-year-old girl were found stuffed inside a bag in the trunk.
The vehicle, registered to David Anthony Burke, 20, who performs under the name D4Vd, had been parked on Bluebird Avenue, a street over from his $20,000 a month rental in the 13000 block of Doheny Drive, for so long that residents complained to the city in late August, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A parking enforcement officer first ticketed the Tesla on Aug. 27 for the position of its tires. One week later, on Sept. 3, it was again cited for violating the 72-hour parking ordinance.
On Sept. 5, the vehicle was towed to a Hollywood tow yard, though another three days would pass before the grisly discovery was made.
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.
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 Burke, who is originally from Hempstead, Texas.
While detectives have not yet established an exact cause of death, Rivas’ remains were released to her family on Sept. 23, likely meaning the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office had completed an autopsy and lab tests.
Investigators have for weeks worked to trace Rivas’ movements prior to her death, and to determine how long the Tesla had been parked on the street.
They have also been working to confirm details that may tie the 20-year-old singer to the missing girl.
Earlier this month, 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.
A medical examiner’s report further determined that the deceased had a tattoo on her right index finger reading “Shhh.” Photos of Burke performing also show what appears to be a matching tattoo on his own finger.
Burke has not spoken publicly about the investigation. But 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.
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.
“Several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed by detectives in the coming days. This is an ongoing investigation,” an LAPD spokesperson confirmed to KTLA last week. “Investigators are following up on several leads.”
The rising star has since broken his lease on the Hollywood Hills mansion and moved to an unknown location.
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 Nexstar’s KTLA. “This could have been anybody’s kid.”
So far, no arrests have been made in the case.
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