Celeste Rivas Hernandez is going home.
Two weeks after the 15-year-old’s body was discovered in a Tesla registered to musician D4vd, her remains were released to her family on Sept. 23, the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed to TMZ.
The latest update comes days after the “Here With Me” singer (real name David Anthony Burke) canceled the remainder of the U.S. dates on his Withered World Tour, although his international shows remain.
While the Los Angeles Police Department hasn’t named a person of interest or a suspect in the case, D4vd’s spokesperson told NBC News on Sept. 17 that the 20-year-old is “fully cooperating with the authorities.”
The “badly decomposed” body was first discovered on Sept. 8 in a Los Angeles impound lot, according to the LAPD, due to “foul odor coming from a vehicle.”
The 2023 Tesla, which had been sitting in the lot for several days, had been towed after being reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills. Authorities learned that it had been registered in Hempstead, Texas, to the “Romantic Homicide” singer.
Officers discovered the body in a bag in the truck of the car, NBC Los Angeles confirmed. The remains were identified as Rivas Hernandez—who was first reported missing from Riverside County, CA, in April 2024—through forensics on Sept. 17.
As the details surrounding the teen’s passing—the cause of which has been deferred by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office—are being pieced together, authorities are continuing to treat this as a death investigation.
Meanwhile, Rivas Hernandez’s loved ones broke their silence after her body was identified, writing on a GoFundMe that she was “a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend.”
The message continued, “Her family is heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss.”
E! News has reached out to the Los Angeles County Coroner for comment and has not yet heard back.
Prior to the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s in the car, D4vd—who had performed at Coachella earlier this year—had been traveling across the U.S. in support of his debut album Withered. He is still expected to perform in Norway on Oct. 1.
For more about D4vd and details about the case, read on.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Where is D4vd From?
Born in Queens, New York, D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) moved to Houston, Texas, when he was 13 years old.
How Did D4vd Become Famous?
D4vd first began his career as a streamer, playing Fortnite and other games in an attempt to go viral on YouTube. When he ran into copyright infringement challenges with the music he was adding to his videos in 2021, he turned to his mom.
“I’m like crying to Mom about it,” he told Benny Blanco during an interview for Hero magazine in September 2024. “I’m like, Yo, I don’t know what to do I’m not making any money anymore, blah blah blah.’ And she was on a phone, and she was like, ‘Just make your own music, go get out of my face.’ And I was like, ‘Wait a minute. I could probably do that.'”
From there, despite not having any musical experience other than singing for fun, D4vd downloaded an app on his phone and started making music. Soon, some of his songs went viral, and after more of his original music started to go viral on TikTok, his career began to really take off.
The 20-year-old eventually released his debut album, Withered, in April 2025, embarking on his first world tour shortly thereafter.
When Was the Body Found in D4vd’s Car?
On Sept. 8, the Los Angeles Police Department was called to a tow yard in Hollywood over reports of a foul odor coming from a vehicle, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
The LAPD found human remains wrapped in a bag hidden in the front trunk of a Tesla, which was registered in Hempstead, Texas, under D4vd’s real name, David Anthony Burke.
Police said the vehicle had been towed to the impound lot after it was abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.
Who Was the Victim Found in D4vd’s Car?
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office September 16 said the remains found in the Tesla were identified as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been reported missing on April 5, 2024. She was 13 years old at the time of her disappearance.
Her cause of death had been deferred, according to records from the Medical Examiner’s Office viewed by E! News on Sept. 17. Though her date of death was listed as September 8—the day her body was discovered—officials noted her body appeared to have been in the car for an extended period of time before its discovery and was “severely decomposed.”
What Has D4vd Said About the Investigation?
Following the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s body, a spokesperson for D4vd said in a statement to NBC News that the singer “has been informed about what’s happened, and although he is still out on tour, he is fully cooperating with the authorities.”
Since then, D4vd canceled the remainder of his U.S. dates.
