When the trunk of a black 2023 Tesla Model S Plaid was opened during a routine impound inventory on November 10, 2025, officers in Los Angeles didn’t expect to find the decomposing body of a missing teenager — let alone one tied to a rising R&B star. That’s exactly what they found: the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 15-year-old from Lake Elsinore, California, last seen alive eight months earlier. The vehicle, registered to D4vd, the stage name of 20-year-old singer David, is now central to a homicide investigation that has sent shockwaves through the music world and the tight-knit community of Riverside County.

From Missing Person to Crime Scene

Celeste Rivas Hernandez vanished from her home at 2540 Whispering Pines Drive on April 15, 2024, after reportedly running away with D4vd. Her mother, Maria Hernandez, filed the missing persons report with the Lake Elsinore Police Department, unaware that her daughter had traveled hundreds of miles to attend one of the singer’s concerts. What made the case chillingly unusual was not just the gap in time — eight months between disappearance and discovery — but the clothing. When Hernandez’s body was found, she was wearing the exact outfit she had on at that concert: a cropped black hoodie, ripped jeans, and white sneakers. Social media users quickly noted the eerie consistency, calling it "bizarre evidence of real-time tampering." LAPD detectives confirmed the detail to NBC Los Angeles, saying it suggests the body was preserved — or at least handled — in a way that defied typical decomposition timelines.

The Tesla and the Timeline

The car itself, bearing California license plate 7XJW892, was impounded on November 10, 2025, from a parking structure at 6060 Center Drive in Los Angeles. It wasn’t until November 14 that Judge Regina Chu issued a search warrant for D4vd’s iPhone 15 Pro Max — a request he refused to comply with. By November 15, he had also declined to provide a DNA sample. His non-cooperation, investigators say, is raising red flags. Meanwhile, digital forensics uncovered encrypted messages sent between May 12 and 15, 2025, between D4vd and at least three unknown contacts. The content? References to "logistics," "removal," and "cleaning." One message, intercepted via a third-party data broker, read: "She’s not coming back. We need to make sure it stays that way." The most disturbing clue emerged from a GPS ping on May 14, 2025 — the same day as the encrypted messages. D4vd’s vehicle traveled to a remote stretch of Los Padres National Forest near Figueroa Mountain, where he remained from 1:17 a.m. to 4:48 a.m. PST. No public cameras, no witnesses. Just a dirt road, a few miles from the nearest cell tower. TMZ’s sources say investigators believe this was the disposal site — and that Hernandez likely died in the days leading up to it.

Who Is D4vd?

D4vd, born in 2005 and signed to Hopeless Records in Marina del Rey, rose to fame through TikTok with his hauntingly melodic track "Romantic Homicide," which has over 150 million streams on Spotify as of October 2025. His music often explores themes of loss, obsession, and dark romance — lyrics that now feel chillingly prescient. Fans who followed his tour schedule in early 2025 recall he performed in Southern California multiple times between April and June, including a show at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles on May 8. Surveillance footage from that night, still being reviewed, shows Hernandez entering the venue — and never leaving. Her phone was last active at 11:47 p.m. that night. The next morning, D4vd’s Tesla was seen leaving the parking lot.

Investigation Under Pressure

As of November 20, 2025, LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division is working 12-hour shifts to process over 742 hours of surveillance footage from venues, gas stations, and toll booths linked to D4vd’s movements. Detectives are also interviewing at least 17 people who were in his inner circle during the spring of 2025 — including tour managers, sound technicians, and a former roommate who told investigators D4vd "changed after April." "He stopped talking about her," the roommate said. "Like she never existed." The Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet ruled on the cause of death, but preliminary findings suggest blunt force trauma and possible postmortem dismemberment. Investigators are now seeking warrants for D4vd’s cloud storage and social media accounts, which he allegedly wiped clean on May 16, 2025 — the day after the Santa Barbara trip.

What Happens Next?

With no arrest warrant issued as of November 20, D4vd remains free but under constant surveillance. His publicist has issued no statement. Hopeless Records has suspended all promotional activity. Meanwhile, Celeste’s family held a quiet candlelight vigil in Lake Elsinore on November 18, where her mother, Maria Hernandez, told reporters: "She loved his music. That’s why she went. I just want to know what happened to my girl." Authorities expect forensic analysis of the Tesla’s interior, including trace evidence and digital logs, to be completed by December 5, 2025. If evidence ties D4vd directly to the death — and if the encrypted messages are confirmed to be his — prosecutors may file charges as early as mid-December. But there’s another layer: investigators are still exploring whether others helped dispose of the body. One source told ABC News, "This wasn’t a solo act. Someone else knew. Someone else helped." The case has already drawn comparisons to the 2021 disappearance of 17-year-old Gabby Petito, where social media played a role in tracking a suspect. But here, the victim was a minor, the suspect a celebrity, and the crime seemingly hidden in plain sight — inside a luxury car, in a city of 4 million people, for over six months.