What to Know
- A decomposed body was found Sept. 8 in the front trunk of a Tesla impounded at a Los Angeles tow yard.
- The Tesla was registered to singer D4vd, whose representative said he is cooperating with the investigation.
- The car was impounded after someone reported it was abandoned in the Hollywood Hills, where neighbors say it had been parked for more than a month.
Authorities have identified the body of a girl found in singer D4vd’s Tesla after it was impounded at a Los Angeles tow yard as a teen who disappeared in the Lake Elsinore area two years ago, law enforcement told NBC Investigates.
The girl, 15-year-old Celeste Rivas, was identified through forensics. The county medical examiner is still working to determine a cause of death.
Rivas was last seen April 5, 2024 in the western Riverside County community. Details about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were not immediately available.
NBCLA has reached out to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for more information.
The decomposed body was found Sept. 8 after workers at Hollywood Tow reported a strong odor coming from the Tesla registered to the singer. Officers opened the front trunk, also known as a frunk, and found the remains in a bag, police said.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News that the remains were not intact.
D4vd is cooperating with authorities in their investigation, his representative said earlier.
“D4vd has been informed about what’s happened. And, although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities,” a spokesperson for the singer said Tuesday.
The singer’s tour was in Minneapolis at the time of the discovery with a stop in Kansas City the next day, according to his Instagram profile.
The car was impounded after someone reported it was abandoned in the Hollywood Hills, where neighbors say it had been parked for more than a month.
The case was being treated as a death investigation, authorities said.
D4vd opens for SZA on the S.O.S Tour on Oct. 29, 2023, at The Footprint Center in Phoenix. Credit: Sam Ballesteros / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, is a singer-songwriter who rose to fame with viral hits on Tiktok, where he has 3.6 million followers. That success led to signings with Darkroom and Interscope Records.
Universal Music Group, the parent company of Interscope Records, referred questions to an attorney for the singer. The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.