D4vd: The complete case timeline from disappearance to arrest

The case against D4vd moved from scattered missing-person reports to a formal murder charge in just over two years, and the timeline now sits at the center of national coverage. Every date, agency action, and court filing matters because the victim was fourteen and the suspect is a musician whose name already circulated on TikTok feeds. Readers tracking the investigation want the sequence without speculation or career sidebars.

First contact with police

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies reached D4vd on February 17, 2024, after his number appeared in Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s records. They told him she was a thirteen-year-old runaway. The call established an early warning that later resurfaced in charging documents.

Detectives logged the conversation as routine outreach, not an accusation. No arrest followed. The contact, however, placed D4vd on official radar nearly eighteen months before the body surfaced.

Phone records from that period later became part of the grand-jury presentation, showing repeated contact between the two despite the age gap.

Multiple missing reports

Celeste’s family filed missing-person reports in February 2024 and again in April 2024. Each filing triggered local bulletins but produced no sustained multi-agency search at the time.

Prosecutors now allege that D4vd arranged for the girl to stay at his Hollywood Hills residence on several occasions between those reports. Court papers cite Uber receipts and location data to support the claim.

The pattern of short disappearances followed by returns home created a fragmented record that complicated early investigative focus.

Last confirmed sighting

April 23, 2025, marks the final date prosecutors say Celeste was seen alive. An Uber ordered from D4vd’s account took her from Lake Elsinore to the Hollywood Hills address.

Phone pings and driver statements placed her inside the residence that evening. No verified sightings occurred after that pickup.

Family members continued to file welfare checks, but the case remained classified as a runaway situation rather than an abduction probe.

Vehicle discovery

On September 8, 2025, a tow-yard worker opened the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to D4vd. The remains inside were severely decomposed and later identified as Celeste’s.

The car had sat for weeks after being parked near the Hollywood Hills residence. Impound records showed no recent activity on the account.

One day earlier would have been Celeste’s fifteenth birthday, a detail noted by investigators and later referenced in press briefings.

Immediate investigative steps

LAPD Robbery-Homicide took the lead once the body was identified, coordinating with Riverside County on prior missing reports. Search warrants targeted the residence and digital accounts within forty-eight hours.

Forensic teams processed the Tesla for trace evidence and DNA. Results from those exams fed directly into the grand-jury presentation months later.

D4vd canceled remaining tour dates and stepped back from public appearances as the investigation expanded.

Grand jury review

Prosecutors presented evidence over several weeks in early 2026, including phone records, Uber logs, and forensic findings from the vehicle. The panel returned an indictment on multiple counts.

Financial-gain motive surfaced in the filings, tied to protecting an emerging music career. No public statements from the defense addressed that allegation at the time.

The sealed nature of grand-jury proceedings kept most details out of the press until the arrest warrant became active.

Arrest and booking

On April 16, 2026, officers took D4vd into custody at the Hollywood Hills residence around 5 p.m. He was transported to LAPD’s 77th Street Station and booked just after 11 p.m.

Height and weight listed on the booking sheet read 5'5" and 125 pounds. Bail was denied at intake.

Media outlets confirmed the arrest through official channels the same evening, prompting immediate online discussion among fans and true-crime communities.

Medical and charging decisions

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide on April 17, 2026, citing cause and manner consistent with the prosecution’s later description of “lying in wait.”

Three days later the district attorney filed first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under fourteen, and mutilation of a body. D4vd entered not-guilty pleas on all counts.

Court calendars now schedule pretrial hearings without a trial date set, leaving the timeline open for further motions and discovery disputes.

Next procedural milestones

Defense attorneys are expected to challenge the financial-gain theory and the chain of custody on the Tesla evidence. Prosecution filings indicate additional digital records remain under review.

Both sides will navigate California’s rules on juvenile-victim cases, which impose stricter sealing requirements on certain exhibits.

Observers following the docket note that any plea discussions would likely surface only after forensic reports are fully exchanged.

Case status moving forward

The record now stretches from the first Riverside County contact in February 2024 to the April 2026 charging decision, with every listed date anchored in official documents. What happens next depends on motions already filed and evidence still under seal, but the sequence itself is no longer in dispute.