A private investigator working to unravel how a missing girl ended up dead in the trunk of D4vd’s abandoned Tesla has revealed new details about the ‘sadistic’ items allegedly found inside the singer’s luxurious LA rental home.
The severely decomposed remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were discovered on September 8 inside the impounded car registered to 20-year-old D4vd – real name David Anthony Burke.
Rivas had been missing for more than a year after running away from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, in April 2024. She would’ve turned 15 the day before her body was found, but police believe she’d been dead for some time.
Nine days after the grisly discovery, homicide detectives raided the $4.1 million Hollywood Hills mansion where Burke had been living. Officials confirmed the search was linked to Rivas’s death and that ‘several items of evidence’ were seized.
The home’s owner, Mladen Trifunovic, told the Daily Mail he hired private investigator Steve Fischer after the raid to determine whether Rivas ever stayed at the property – and, if so, when she was last seen there.
In the weeks since, Fischer has combed surveillance footage, interviewed neighbors, and searched the property for clues. He previously claimed to have recovered a series of strange items from inside that served no clear domestic purpose.
Speaking to the Daily Mail on Wednesday, Fischer elaborated: ‘There were multiple of these items that could all be used together – heavy-duty tools and machinery you’d never need in a Hollywood Hills home. You’d be more likely to find them on a farm.’
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains were found dismembered and wrapped in plastic inside the front trunk of a Tesla owned by the singer D4vd last month
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
One of the items appeared to have been recently delivered to the property, he said, because it was still in its shipping packaging.
‘I don’t know what impact these items could have on the overall narrative, if any,’ he continued, adding that the presence of the mysterious items appeared strange, and LAPD has been notified.
Fischer, in interviews with Court TV and Law & Crime earlier this month, described the items recovered from the property as ‘sadistic’, suggesting that they could potentially be ‘used to get rid of a person.’ He reiterated those claims on Wednesday, without offering further explanation.
Bottles of prescription pain medication were also recovered inside, as were various items of drug paraphernalia. The condition of the home and the items found inside were otherwise normal, according to the PI.
The LAPD has not returned requests for comment about Fisher’s remarks, nor has an attorney for Burke.
Rivas’s cause of death remains undetermined, with autopsy and toxicology reports still pending. The LAPD is currently treating the case as a death investigation, not a homicide, and no suspects have been named.
Fischer said he and his team found evidence that multiple others were staying at the home with Burke, with personal belongings belonging to other men and women discovered in guest bedrooms, bedside tables, and bathroom cabinets.
None of the female effects appeared to belong to Rivas, he said.
Fischer is not in possession of any evidence that proves Rivas was ever inside the home. However, he claims a neighbor told him they once saw the girl sitting on the front curb, as if she was waiting for someone to come and let her in.
The LAPD has not confirmed any known ties between Rivas and Burke, but the matter remains under investigation. Sources close to the girl told the Daily Mail the pair were in an illicit relationship, and first made contact over social media when Rivas was 11 or 12.
Sources close to her said they last heard from her in late June or early July, while Fischer claims he has material proving she was still alive as of January 5, 2025.
Burke’s Tesla is seen being towed away into evidence by the LAPD last month
Mladen Trifunovic, who owns the mansion, told the Daily Mail he hired his own private investigator to probe the girl’s death
The investigator, Steve Fischer, has spent weeks combing surveillance footage, interviewing neighbors, and searching the property for clues
Fischer has also been poring over hours of surveillance footage to piece together a timeline around the black Tesla’s final movements – and to determine when Rivas may have died.
He told the Daily Mail the footage shows 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 Blue Bird Avenue, where it was later towed in early September.
Fischer said that Burke was in LA at the time the car was moved. He departed for San Francisco later the same day to perform the first show of 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,’ said Fischer.
He added: ‘After the story broke, they all started unfollowing each other and deleting posts that showed them together.
‘There’s also an indication that multiple people had access to the Tesla, which I believe to be the case.’
Burke moved out of Trifunovic’s home within days of the property being raided
Burke was out of state performing when Rivas’s remains were found. He quietly canceled the rest of his world tour when she was publicly identified the following week.
He has not publicly addressed her death, and it’s unclear whether he’s cooperating with investigators. Burke has not been accused of any crimes.
In their last public statement, the LAPD said it was unsure if there was ‘any criminal culpability beyond the concealment’ of Rivas’s remains.
Additional details have since surfaced about the months leading up to Rivas’s April 2024 disappearance.
Dispatch records obtained by the Daily Mail show police were called to Rivas’s family home in Lake Elsinore, California, 11 times before she vanished – and 22 more times after.
Sources said Rivas had a troubled home life and had run away multiple times.
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
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
Police and social-media records show she first fled on Valentine’s Day 2024, leaving a note for her family before she was reported missing later that morning. Deputies returned to the home several times over the next two days as relatives posted flyers and missing-person alerts online.
She eventually returned, though it’s unclear when. Friends told the LA Times she was upset by the public attention her disappearance had generated.
But by March 19, she was gone again. Police visited the house three times that day, and surveillance footage published by TMZ appeared to show her walking past a liquor store near her street toward a dark vehicle just out of frame.
Rivas was reported missing once more on April 5, and police made several follow-ups through late April, including a report of ‘suspicious circumstances.’ Local residents later told the Times they saw her back at home later that year.
A TikTok clip posted by a cousin in June appeared to show Rivas at a neighborhood cookout, though it’s unclear when it was filmed.
Over the next nine months, police logged more than a dozen additional calls to the home for disturbances, vandalism, and purported assaults.
Burke’s current whereabouts are not known.
He has since transferred the deeds to two properties he owns near Houston, Texas, into his mother’s name, property records show.
