California authorities have identified the girl who was found dead last week in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to the musician D4vd.
The severely decomposed remains belong to Celeste Rivas, 15, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner reported on its website. The cause of the teen’s death was still classified as “deferred” on Wednesday morning.
Friends later confirmed that the victim was Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a teen from Lake Elsinore, California, who was reported missing by her family last year. A GoFundMe fundraiser was organized online to help cover the cost of funeral arrangements. The girl’s mother reportedly told TMZ that Celeste had been dating someone named “David” before her death. D4vd’s real name is David Anthony Burke. Burke’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
The Rivas family declined to speak with reporters assembled outside their home Wednesday. A friend who visited the house described Celeste as sweet and “studious,” saying the teen previously attended Lakeland Village School with her own child. “It’s so sad,” Rubi Alonso tells Rolling Stone. “She was very beautiful.”
Burke, 20, is a platinum-selling artist who gained international popularity on TikTok. He has not issued a public comment about the grisly discovery in his Tesla or posted about it on his Instagram account with 2.1 million followers. His concert set for Wednesday night at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle was cancelled after news of the teen’s identification spread.
In another development in the mysterious case, sources in the neighborhood where the Tesla was last parked tell Rolling Stone that the 2023 Tesla Model Y was spotted in various places over the past few months. The sedan was left in its final spot on Bluebird Avenue for about three weeks, and before that, it was seen parked a few blocks south as far back as the end of May, the sources allege. “It moved around,” one source in the tony Bird Streets neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills says. “It’s chilling.”
The victim’s body was found on Sept. 8 after authorities were called about a horrible stench emanating from a car at a Los Angeles tow yard. A Los Angeles County Medical Examiner report said the victim was a female with wavy black hair and a distinct tattoo on her right index finger that read, “Shhh …”
The report added that the body was “severely decomposed” and that the victim apparently was “inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found. We are unable to determine her age or race/ethnicity.”
When the body was discovered, it was revealed that the Tesla was registered to D4vd. Burke was notified of the investigation, and a spokesperson said he was “cooperating” with authorities as he continued to perform shows on his Withered world tour.
The car was towed after someone reported it had been abandoned. When the body was discovered, police sources said the car had been in the lot for days.
This story was updated Sept. 17, 2025, with the name of the victim.