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() There may a surprising witness in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez: the very Tesla in which her remains were found earlier this month.
Police recovered the remains of the teen from an impounded vehicle associated with singer D4vd, who has been linked with the runaway girl.
The 2023 Model Y Tesla, which is loaded with sensors and cameras, could yield a trove of information, depending on how the vehicle had been configured, says Jason Lewis, a digital forensic expert.
“If ‘Sentry Mode’ was actually activated on the vehicle, then it’s doing a lot of recording of video footage from its eight external cameras,” Lewis told “Banfield” this week, referring to the security system for parked and locked Teslas. “You’d actually have clips of the people actually opening the door, a clip of someone opening the trunk, and that could possibly be recovered by the police.”
If Sentry Mode was not activated, he added, there would not be footage recorded by the stationary vehicle. Another thing to consider, Lewis said, is that owners can delete videos remotely if any were recorded, though police may still have a chance at recovering the information.
Could Telsa driver be induced to flip?
If investigators can find images of someone opening the car or loading something into it, that would give police potential leverage against an accomplice to identify the killer, says Jon Buehler, a former detective who worked on the Laci Peterson case.
“I want the guy who killed the girl,” Buehler said. “I would be willing to trade somebody who is involved in the cleanup if I could get him to make the case stronger against the actual killer.”
D4vd has not been accused of wrongdoing. The singer’s representatives say he has been cooperating with police.