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() The body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, found mutilated inside a bag stuffed into the trunk of a rising R&B singer’s impounded Tesla earlier this month, has been released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner to the teen’s family in Lake Elsinore.  

This most recent development means the medical examiner has completed the autopsy and lab tests and likely determined the cause of death in the case.  

Rivas’ dismembered remains, her “head and torso,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department, were discovered on Sept. 8 after employees at Hollywood Tow reported a foul odor coming from the Tesla, which had been on the lot for five days after it was reported abandoned in the Hollywood Hills.  

The teen had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024 when she was just 13. 

“She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time,” the medical examiner’s report stated.  

LAPD said the vehicle, which had Texas plates, was registered to David Anthony Burke, 20, a well-known musician out of Texas who performs under the name D4vd and has millions of fans and followers.  

As the investigation into Rivas’ death continues, details have emerged that seemingly tie Burke to the missing girl.  

The Tesla was reportedly located not far from the $20,000 monthly rental home Burke was staying in. Her mother claims that before she went missing, she had a boyfriend named David. It later emerged that there was reportedly a photo of the singer with a girl in Lake Elsinore, not far from the teen’s family home.  

Along with a song entitled “Romantic Homicide,” TMZ reported that in a leaked song, the artist is heard singing about a person named Celeste, with lyrics that include, “Oh Celeste / The girl with my name tattooed on her chest / I hear her voice each time I take a breath / I’m obsessed.”  

Leaked in December 2023, the track was titled “Celeste_Demo unfin.” 

Burke and the 15-year-old also reportedly have matching tattoos on their right index fingers with the letters “Shhh.”  

Last week, a former science teacher at Lakeland Village School in Lake Elsinore was filmed telling students at a different school that Rivas met the singer through social media. He also said that she had run away to Hollywood months before her April 2024 disappearance, but was found by police and returned home.

While Burke has not spoken publicly about the investigation, since news of the teen’s alleged connections to the singer broke, he has lost several endorsements, his new album has been indefinitely held back and both his U.S. and European tours have been cancelled. 

Observers have noted that some of the R&B singer’s music is eerily macabre, with him performing in what looks like a bloodied shirt, a coffin on stage and lyrics like, “In the back of my mind, I killed you// And I didn’t even regret it// I can’t believe I said it// But it’s true// I hate you.”

There is also a music video, released in February this year, that features a body being dragged and put into the trunk of a car.  

Police have not identified Burke, who has reportedly cooperated with investigators, as a suspect. They have said, however, that a search warrant was executed on Sept. 17 in the 13000 block of Doheny Place, the Hollywood Hills home where D4vd had been living, according to TMZ’s reporting.   

“Several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed by detectives in the coming days. This is an ongoing investigation,” the LAPD spokesperson said. “Investigators are following up on several leads.” 

Both police and the 15-year-old girl’s family have said very little else about the investigation. A man who identified himself as Rivas’ brother would only tell KTLA that the family was “grieving.”

On Sept. 21, a candlelight vigil was held for the teenage girl in Lake Elsinore where some of the mourners were demanding “Justice for Celeste.”  

“This really hits home as a mom,” one attendee named Evelyn told KTLA. “This could have been anybody’s kid.”