The missing teenager whose body was discovered decomposing in singer D4vd’s Tesla in early September likely died several weeks earlier, according to the Los Angeles police department.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dead in the trunk of the singer’s car on 8 September, one day after her 15th birthday, following reports of a foul odor emanating from the vehicle. The then 13-year-old Rivas Hernandez was first reported missing on 5 April 2024.
On Monday, Los Angeles police department Capt Scot Williams told People: “We know that the Tesla had been parked at the location from which it was towed for several weeks, so it is very likely Celeste Rivas Hernandez had been dead for several weeks prior to her body being discovered.”
According to ABC News Los Angeles, D4vd’s Tesla was ticketed in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood on 3 September, after overstaying the neighborhood’s three-day parking limit. A parking enforcement officer first marked the car on 27 August. The car was then towed on 5 September. After Rivas Hernandez’s body was discovered, Hollywood Hills residents told NBC News Los Angeles that the Tesla had been parked in their neighborhood for more than a month.
Last week, the medical examiner’s office said in a statement that Rivas Hernandez “appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found”.
In his statement to People, Williams added: “The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not determined a cause or manner of her death, so we don’t know for sure if anyone has any criminal culpability for her death beyond the concealment of her dead body,” though the robbery-homicide division is still investigating the case.
D4vd (pronounced “David”), 20, is a Houston-born singer-songwriter known for hits Romantic Homicide and Here With Me. He and his manager were staying at a Los Angeles property in the Hollywood Hills in September, according to the property’s landlord, until police searched the residence, according to SFGate. D4vd had been scheduled to perform at The Warfield and The Greek Theatre as part of his US tour, but cancelled those appearances following the discovery of Rivas Hernandez’s body.