Evidence investigators cite in Celeste Rivas Hernandez arrests

The Celeste Rivas Hernandez investigation produced a chain of physical, digital, and timeline evidence that prosecutors say directly linked David Anthony Burke to the crime. Court records and investigative summaries released in the months after the April 2026 arrests outline the steps taken from the initial discovery of remains through the house search and device seizures. Those materials now form the core of the case against the singer.

Discovery at the impound lot

Workers at a Hollywood impound facility reported a strong odor coming from a Tesla Model X in September 2025. Inside the front trunk they found two plastic bags containing the head and torso of a young female in one and the separated limbs in the other. The car was registered to Burke.

Surveillance footage from the lot showed the vehicle arriving weeks earlier and sitting untouched since then. Investigators traced the last known driver through parking records and confirmed that the singer had dropped the car off before leaving on tour.

The remains were later identified as Celeste Rivas Hernandez through dental records and DNA comparison with family members. Riverside County had listed her missing months earlier after she failed to return home from a reported trip to Los Angeles.

Autopsy and toxicology results

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner completed the autopsy in December 2025 and listed the cause of death as multiple penetrating injuries inflicted by one or more sharp objects. The manner was ruled a homicide. Toxicology screens returned presumptive positives for benzodiazepines and methamphetamine or MDMA.

Investigators noted that the pattern of injuries aligned with a stabbing rather than blunt force or strangulation. The decomposition stage indicated the body had been stored for several months before being placed in the vehicle.

These findings established that the death occurred on or about April 23, 2025, narrowing the window investigators needed to examine Burke’s movements and communications during that period.

Vehicle ownership and movement records

Registration documents tied the Tesla directly to Burke. Credit-card statements and ride-share logs placed him in the Los Angeles area in late April 2025, consistent with the estimated time of death. Cell-site data showed the phone associated with his account near the location where Celeste Rivas Hernandez was last seen.

Investigators obtained footage from traffic cameras and private security systems that captured the Tesla being driven on surface streets the day after the estimated date of death. The driver appeared to match Burke’s description and clothing from the same period.

Parking receipts and geolocation pings later showed the car being moved to the impound lot in May 2025, where it remained until the odor prompted the search that uncovered the remains.

House search and garage evidence

While Burke was on tour, Los Angeles police executed a search warrant at his residence. In the garage they recovered blood samples that matched Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s DNA profile. An inflatable pool stored nearby showed linear cuts consistent with the tool used to dismember the body.

Digital records from the home Wi-Fi and smart-home devices logged activity patterns that placed Burke at the address on the dates surrounding the homicide. Investigators also found receipts for heavy-duty plastic sheeting and cleaning supplies purchased in the same week.

Prosecutors described the garage findings as among the strongest physical links between the suspect and the crime scene, because the blood and tool marks could not be explained by routine household activity.

Digital device and cloud evidence

Forensic extraction of Burke’s phones and iCloud account produced what prosecutors called a significant volume of child pornography. The material included images and videos dated to periods when Celeste Rivas Hernandez was reported missing or otherwise unaccounted for.

Chat logs and deleted message threads recovered from the devices showed repeated contact between Burke and the victim stretching back to 2023, when she would have been 11 or 12. Some messages referenced plans to meet in Los Angeles.

Investigators also located location data and photographs stored on the same account that placed both individuals at the residence on dates consistent with the autopsy timeline.

Purchase and travel records

Credit-card and store surveillance records showed Burke buying a chainsaw and heavy-duty body bags shortly after the estimated date of death. The same accounts documented a trip to Santa Barbara County in early May 2025.

Investigators later recovered Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s passport card in a roadside ditch along the route he traveled. The card had been discarded in a manner that suggested an attempt to remove identifying documents from the scene.

These purchases and movements formed part of the prosecution’s narrative that Burke took concrete steps to dispose of evidence after the homicide.

Alleged motive and prior contact

Prosecutors allege the relationship began when Celeste Rivas Hernandez was between 11 and 13 and that she later threatened to expose it. Court filings state she was invited to the residence under that pretext and killed there.

Phone records obtained from the victim’s device showed multiple calls and texts to Burke’s number in the weeks before her disappearance. Riverside County deputies had already contacted him in early 2024 after locating his contact information during a welfare check.

The alleged threat of exposure is cited as the trigger for the homicide and the subsequent effort to conceal the body and any digital traces linking the two.

Arrest timeline and charges

Burke was taken into custody on April 16, 2026, while traveling between tour dates. Formal charges followed four days later and included first-degree murder with special circumstances, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

At the arraignment he entered a not-guilty plea. His defense team stated that evidence would show he did not cause Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s death and was not present when it occurred.

Preliminary hearings are scheduled to examine the admissibility of the digital evidence and the chain of custody for the garage samples before the case proceeds to trial.

Next steps in the case

Prosecutors continue to review additional device extractions and financial records that may expand the timeline of contact between Burke and Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Defense attorneys are expected to challenge the search warrants and the interpretation of the blood evidence found in the garage.

The outcome of those motions will determine how much of the digital and physical evidence reaches a jury. Both sides have indicated the proceedings will stretch well into 2027 given the volume of forensic material.