D4vd case: how the body was discovered shocks everyone
The discovery of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains inside a Tesla Model X registered to singer D4vd turned a routine tow-yard odor complaint into one of the most unsettling cases in recent Los Angeles memory. The car had sat impounded for two days before workers flagged the smell, and the details that followed left investigators and the public stunned by both the location and the condition of the body.
Abandoned vehicle in Hollywood Hills
The Tesla Model X registered to David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd, was reported abandoned on a street near a Hollywood Hills rental he had been using. Surveillance footage later showed he was the last known driver. The vehicle was towed to Hollywood Tow on the 1000 block of North Mansfield Avenue around September 5 or 6, 2025.
The registration traced back to Hempstead, Texas, where D4vd’s family ties remained. At the time, the singer was on tour promoting his debut album Withered, leaving the car unattended in Los Angeles. The combination of an abandoned luxury electric vehicle and a missing-teen investigation set the stage for what came next.
Two days later, the car remained in the impound lot with no one claiming it. Tow-yard staff followed standard procedure for unclaimed vehicles, which included checking for mechanical issues or safety concerns before further storage fees accrued.
Odor complaint triggers response
On September 8, 2025, around 12:30 p.m., a tow-yard worker contacted Los Angeles police after noticing a strong foul odor coming from the Tesla. Officers arrived expecting a typical sanitation issue, such as spoiled food or a dead animal left inside the vehicle.
LAPD statements described the call as routine. The responding officers approached the Model X without initial suspicion of a homicide, focusing instead on locating the source of the smell within the front storage compartment.
The front trunk, commonly called the frunk in Tesla models, is not a space most people associate with hidden cargo. That detail later contributed to the shock when investigators realized what had been stored there for days.
Opening the front trunk
Officers opened the frunk and immediately encountered two bags. One was a black cadaver-style bag showing advanced decomposition and covered with insects. The second bag underneath contained severed limbs. Court documents later described the scene in precise, clinical language.
The remains had been placed inside the bags before being loaded into the vehicle. The decomposition was far enough along that the odor had become impossible to ignore inside the enclosed tow-yard space.
Investigators secured the area and began documenting the scene. The discovery shifted the call from a welfare or sanitation check into a full death investigation within minutes.
Condition of the remains
One bag held the head and torso, while the other contained the arms and legs. The body had been dismembered before placement, a fact that complicated initial identification efforts at the scene.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed the identity as Celeste Rivas Hernandez on September 16, 2025. She would have turned 15 the day before the discovery. Her name had appeared in missing-person reports prior to the find.
Autopsy details, including cause of death, remain sealed by court order. The condition of the remains and their placement inside the vehicle became central points in subsequent search warrants and charging documents.
Vehicle registration link
The Tesla’s registration directly connected the discovery to D4vd. Although the singer was on tour at the time, the car’s ownership records and surveillance evidence placed him as the last known operator before it was abandoned.
Police executed a search warrant at the Hollywood Hills rental shortly after the identification. Items recovered from that location later factored into the broader investigation, though specific evidence has not been publicly detailed beyond charging documents.
The registration tie turned what might have remained a local mystery into a national story involving a musician with millions of TikTok followers and a rapidly rising profile in the music industry.
Public and media reaction
The image of a luxury electric vehicle holding dismembered remains in an ordinary Hollywood tow yard spread quickly across social media. Fans who associated D4vd with viral hits such as “Romantic Homicide” struggled to reconcile the artist’s public persona with the discovery.
Local outlets and national networks carried the LAPD’s initial statements about the odor complaint. Court documents released in the following months added the graphic details that explained why the find was described as particularly shocking even by veteran investigators.
Discussions online focused on the everyday nature of the tow-yard setting and the fact that the body had gone unnoticed for two days inside a popular model of car. The contrast between routine impound procedure and the eventual discovery fueled continued coverage.
Months-long investigation follows
The September 8 discovery launched a Robbery-Homicide Division case that stretched into 2026. Detectives traced the vehicle’s movements, reviewed surveillance footage, and executed additional warrants tied to D4vd’s known addresses and associates.
D4vd was arrested in April 2026 and charged with first-degree murder along with additional counts. He entered a not-guilty plea. The case has remained in active court proceedings with periodic status hearings.
The initial tow-yard response continued to shape the investigation’s timeline. Because the body was found during a standard odor complaint rather than a targeted search, prosecutors later emphasized the element of concealment in charging documents.
Why the discovery stood out
Investigators noted that the placement of remains inside the frunk of a Tesla Model X was unusual enough to draw attention during evidence review. The front trunk is smaller and more accessible than a traditional rear trunk, yet it had been overlooked during the initial tow.
The use of separate bags—one cadaver-style, one a standard garbage bag—suggested deliberate handling before the body entered the vehicle. Court filings highlighted these details when describing the state in which officers found the remains.
The combination of an abandoned registered vehicle, an unclaimed impound period, and a routine odor call created a sequence that delayed discovery by two full days. That delay became a recurring point in later reporting and legal arguments.
Case continues into 2026
The D4vd case remains active in Los Angeles County courts with ongoing hearings. The initial discovery at Hollywood Tow continues to anchor every subsequent development, from search warrants to the eventual arrest and arraignment.
As proceedings move forward, the details of how the body was found inside the Tesla frunk remain the clearest public record of the case’s starting point. The contrast between a standard impound-lot procedure and the condition of the remains continues to define the investigation’s early narrative.
