A decomposed body found inside an impounded Tesla in Los Angeles has been identified as that of a teenage girl who went missing last year.
Several local news outlets reported the vehicle was registered to the singer D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, 20. Neither his representatives nor police responded to requests for comment. Authorities have not implicated D4vd in her death.
Celeste Rivas, 15, was found dead inside the vehicle, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wednesday. Officials have not determined her cause of death.
The body was discovered Sept 8 at a tow lot in Hollywood after someone noticed a stench coming from the Tesla, police said, according to news outlets.
In a statement, the medical examiner’s office said the body "was found severely decomposed.”
"She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” officials said.
An unnamed representative for D4vd told NBC Los Angeles that the singer has been cooperating with authorities since the body was found. It's not clear why his car had been impounded.
Celeste was last seen in April 2024 in Lake Elsinore, about 60 miles (95km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles. She was 13 at the time.
D4vd (pronounced "David”) is a Houston-born singer-songwriter who went from recording music in his sister’s closet to becoming one of Gen Z’s most buzzed-about artistes. His music blends indie rock, R&B, and lo-fi pop, which has made him a fresh, genre-bending voice in today’s alt-pop scene.
D4vd broke through in 2022 with the hit Romantic Homicide, which went viral on TikTok and peaked at No.4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then followed with Here With Me, which further cemented his moody, emotional style. Each of those two songs has racked up more than 1.5 billion streams on Spotify.
D4vd has since signed with Darkroom and Interscope - home to Billie Eilish - and released his debut EP Petals To Thorns and a follow-up, The Lost Petals, in 2023. He released his first full-length album, Withered, in April. – AP
