Topline

Los Angeles police have considered the ongoing probe into a teenage girl’s dead body found in the trunk of singer D4vd’s car an “investigation into murder,” though no one has been charged with or accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Key Facts

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Joshua Byers labeled the probe a murder investigation, citing documents filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in September in a Tesla belonging to the singer D4vd, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, though unnamed LAPD sources told multiple news outlets he is a suspect in the investigation.

The LAPD also requested a court order to block the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office from releasing information about the case to the public, including the manner and cause of Hernandez’s death, to avoid jeopardizing the investigation.

Los Angeles County chief medical examiner Odey Ukpo criticized the court order in a statement Monday, stating his department wants to have “full transparency with the community” and that sealing medical examiner reports is “virtually unheard of in other counties.”

LAPD Captain Scot Williams told the Los Angeles Times Hernandez’s body was not found frozen, contrary to what some tabloids reported over the weekend.

Investigation Details

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dead in the trunk of a Tesla vehicle registered under Burke’s name on Sept. 8, one day before her 15th birthday. The car had been impounded in a lot in Hollywood, and police said Hernandez had likely been dead for weeks at the time her body was found. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office identified the body as Rivas and listed her cause of death as “deferred,” noting her body was found “severely decomposed.” The Los Angeles Times reported Rivas had a tattoo on her index finger that said “Shhh…” which is similar to a tattoo D4vd also has on his finger. Hernandez had been missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, since April 2024, and her family had reported her missing three times that year.

David Anthony Burke, 20, was an up-and-coming singer embarking on a tour at the time Hernandez’s body was found. He hasn’t been charged with wrongdoing, and he has not yet publicly commented on the investigation. After Hernandez’s body was discovered in his car, Burke canceled the remainder of his North American and European tour, axed a planned album release, and went quiet on his social media profiles. The LAPD confirmed officers searched a home on Doheny Place in Los Angeles on Sept. 17 as part of the investigation, where law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times Burke had been living. ABC News and NBC News reported last week, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, Burke is a suspect in the investigation and has not been cooperating with police. In recent years, Burke achieved success on TikTok and scored a hit song, “Romantic Homicide,” which went viral and surged to the top 15 of the U.S. Spotify chart amid the investigation.

Original content: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/25/body-found-in-d4vds-car-leads-to-murder-investigation-report-says/