Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/WWD
Topics: Crime, Los Angeles, California, Tesla
Liv Bridge
A new development has emerged in the case of a teenage girl whose body was mysteriously found in the trunk of a musician's car.
On September 8 this year, the decomposing remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were found in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla on what would have been her fifteenth birthday, inside a tow yard in Hollywood, California.
It appeared the electric vehicle had been towed to the lot after it was reported abandoned in Hollywood Hills some days earlier.
After reports of a foul odor coming from the car, police made the grim discovery of the teen's reportedly severely decomposed remains.
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Investigators then found the car was registered to 20-year-old musician D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke.
He has not been named as a person of interest in connection with Celeste's death or charged with any crimes related to it.
Now, it has emerged the musician was renting and living in a $4.1 million Hollywood Hills mansion, possibly with others, which was raided by cops.
After the raid, it is reported the homeowner, Mladen Trifunovic, hired a private investigator called Steve Fischer, as per The Mirror US.
Fischer allegedly told the Daily Mail that the musician wasn't the only one to have access to the Tesla; according to him, a 'small inner circle' of around two to four people believed to have been residing in the property and were 'very close with David'.
The investigator further claimed there is evidence to suggest 'multiple people had access to the Tesla'.
After the incident, he told the outlet the supposed friendship group severed ties with one another, including unfollowing each other on social media and 'deleting posts that showed them together'.
"I don’t know what impact these items could have on the overall narrative, if any," he concluded before revealing he had informed Los Angeles police of his findings.
The investigator's claims have not been confirmed or denied by authorities.
The teen was first reported missing by her mother in April 2024 after reportedly running away from her home in Lake Elsinore, California.
The remains in the vehicle were identified as Celeste eight days after the discovery.
The authorities believe the youngster died weeks before her body was discovered, but it could be months until officials are able to determine what happened to her.
The Los Angeles Police Department also told The Mirror US that the investigation is ongoing while waiting autopsy and toxicology results.
"LAPD detectives are still waiting on the results of the autopsy, and the investigation is ongoing," it said in a statement.
The force is also treating the case as a death investigation, not a homicide.
A spokesperson for the singer told the BBC that he is 'fully cooperating with authorities' and has hired a criminal defence attorney.
UNILAD has contacted LAPD for comment.