A private investigator has disclosed new findings in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, as the LAPD places a hold on the teen’s medical records amid a surge of disturbing claims about the condition of her remains.
Rivas, who vanished after running away from her Lake Elsinore home in April 2024, was found dead on September 8 inside an impounded Tesla registered to the musician D4vd, real name David Anthony Burke. She was discovered one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.
In the days that followed, detectives raided Burke’s $4.1 million Hollywood Hills rental property and seized ‘several items of evidence’, but released no further details.
Over the weekend, anonymous law enforcement sources told TMZ that Rivas’s remains had allegedly been frozen, decapitated, and cut into pieces – and that body parts were still ‘partially frozen’ when they were recovered from the Tesla, which had been sitting in an impound lot for more than 48 hours.
The outlet also reported that a freezer inside Burke’s home was large enough to ‘store a body’, and speculated how it may have been possible to have stashed Rivas’s remains there.
But Steve Fischer, a private investigator hired by the singer’s landlord to independently review the case, told the Daily Mail he found no evidence to support such a claim.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains were found dismembered and wrapped in plastic inside the front trunk of a Tesla owned by the singer D4vd in October
‘The freezer still had its shelves installed, along with food and beverage items that had clearly been there for months,’ said Fischer.
‘I [also] tested key areas of interest in and around the home with Luminol and BlueStar [to look] for blood evidence and did not get any positive results.’
Fischer added that he uncovered no evidence to suggest a violent crime had taken place at the rental home – though he previously said he found a series of strange items that could be used to dispose of a body.
Amid the latest speculation surrounding the death of Rivas, the LAPD has obtained a court order forbidding the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office from releasing any details from the girl’s autopsy. Her case has also been removed from the Medical Examiner’s website.
The hold means that no records or details associated with the case, including the cause and manner of death and the Medical Examiner’s report, can be released until the hold is lifted.
In a prepared statement, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo appeared to speak out against the order.
‘The Department’s mission is to have full transparency with the community by providing information about our cases to empower people to make changes that save lives,’ said Ukpo.
‘The practice of security holds is virtually unheard of in other counties and has not been proven to improve outcomes in the legal system. We are dedicated to serving our community with full transparency; however, the law precludes us from doing so while the court order remains in effect in this case.’
Burke had been staying at a $4.1 million home in the Hollywood Hills. The home was raided by LAPD on September 17 as part of their investigation into Rivas’s death
Steve Fischer was hired by the home’s owner, Mladen Trifunovic, to independently probe the girl’s death
The Medical Examiner’s Office added: ‘The Department understands the public’s interest in this case and remains committed to transparency when possible. Information will be made available once the court order is lifted.’
Responding to the announcement, LAPD Capt. Mike Bland told the Times this remains an ongoing investigation and that the purpose of the court order is to ensure the LAPD receives the information before the public does.
For months, the LAPD has declined to publicly name the singer – or anyone else – as a suspect in the case, suggesting they are unsure whether any crime had taken place beyond concealment of a body.
However, sources close to the investigation say that Burke is being treated as a suspect internally, and he has been uncooperative with police since the outset.
The singer has not issued any public statements about Rivas’s death, nor has his prominent Hollywood crisis attorney, Blair Berk.
A police source told PEOPLE that Burke, 20, has not yet been interviewed by detectives, and there is still some uncertainty about what crimes he and any potential accomplices may have committed.
‘We are working to determine if her death was a murder or something else,’ that source said, adding that the time of death for Rivas has also not yet been confirmed.
‘Springtime is the closest we’ve come to determining the time of her death. Not before then.’
Rivas was reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore by her family in April last year when she was just 13. She was found one day after what would have been her 15th birthday
Images screenshotted from Burke’s social media pages show him with a girl who closely resembles descriptions and photos of Rivas
Detectives are also investigating whether more than one person may have been involved in the alleged dismemberment and disposal of Rivas’s remains, according to TMZ.
The outlet said detectives are looking into a trip that Burke made to a remote area of Santa Barbara County in spring 2025, in the middle of the night, where he reportedly spent several hours.
The LAPD has not confirmed any known ties between Rivas and Burke, but the matter is said to be central to the investigation, with numerous images purporting to show the pair together having emerged online in the last few months.
Sources close to the girl told the Daily Mail that the pair were in an illicit relationship, and first made contact via social media when Rivas was 11 or 12. The same sources claimed to have last heard from the girl in late June or early July, while Fischer claims he has material proving she was still alive as of January 2, 2025.
Fischer has also been poring over hours of surveillance footage to piece together a timeline of the black Tesla’s final movements – and to determine when Rivas may have died.
He told the Daily Mail the footage shows that the car – which was dented and covered in mud – was last moved on July 29 and clearly shows the face of the driver, whom he has since identified but declines to name.
The vehicle was parked at the cross streets of Doheny Place and Bluebird Avenue, where it was later towed in early September.
Burke moved out of Trifunovic’s home within days of the property being raided
Video from March 2024, published by TMZ, appeared to show Rivas – dressed in light trousers and a dark sweater – briskly walking past a liquor store at the end of her street
Fischer said that Burke was in LA at the time the car was moved. He departed later the same day for his Withered World Tour.
He added that the footage – combined with evidence found at the house – has led him to believe the singer had a tight-knit entourage of trusted associates.
‘There was a small inner circle – two, three, maybe four people – who appeared to be living at the house and were very close with David,’ shared Fischer earlier this month.
‘There’s also an indication that multiple people had access to the Tesla, which I believe to be the case.’
Rivas ran away from home several times in the months before her April 2024 disappearance.
Sources claimed she had a troubled home life and had started skipping school.
Her mother told local media that she had an older boyfriend named David. Rivas’s brother would later name the boyfriend as Burke, claiming they last saw her when he picked her up in his car to go see a movie, but she never returned.
The family has not issued any public statements since.
Burke’s current whereabouts are not known.
