Harvey Levin of TMZ reports that an LAPD source tracked D4vd to a remote, deserted area of Santa Barbara County in the middle of the night in spring 2025; raising new and mounting questions in the Celeste Rivas Hernandez death investigation
Singer D4vd, real name David Anthony Burke, is now under intense scrutiny as the news broke Tuesday evening that multiple media outlets claim that an “LAPD source” has confirmed that he is a suspect in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The LAPD, of course, has not verified this, as it’s normally not protocol to disclose who a POI is in an active investigation. However, shocking new information was released by TMZ’s Harvey Levin, who claimed that his LAPD source confirmed that Los Angeles police have “tracking information” that placed Burke in a desolate stretch of Santa Barbara County in the dead of night during spring 2025-a trip investigators are now probing for possible ties to the teen’s disappearance and the gruesome discovery of her remains months later. It’s being speculated that Rivas Hernandez may have passed away in the Spring of 2025, and this remote trip could have something to do with her death.
Harvey Levin of @TMZ says he has confirmed with the LAPD that they have tracking data placing D4vd in the middle of nowhere in Santa Barbara County… in the middle of the night in the spring of 2025. Now THAT is a solid piece of new information. https://t.co/xNQ6db9Ogb
— Lauren Conlin (@conlin_lauren) November 19, 2025
Rivas Hernandez, a Lake Elsinore teen reported missing on April 5, 2024, at age 14, was last seen alive in photos in early 2025, confirmed by PI Steve Fischer. Her decomposed remains were discovered on September 8, 2025, stuffed in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to Burke, which had sat abandoned on a Hollywood street for weeks, racking up parking tickets before being towed to an impound lot. Early reports described her body as “wrapped in plastic” and possibly dismembered, though the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has deferred both cause and manner of death, pending toxicology results that could point to overdose, foul play, or something in between.
Rivas Hernandez’s mother and brother told TMZ previously that Celeste was in a relationship with a “David,” and online sleuths have unearthed alleged photos of the pair together, plus matching tattoos…claims unverified but under LAPD review. Additionally, Burke cancelled his tour dates, transferred his homes to his mother, moved out of his Hollywood Hills home and has remained in hiding. Los Angeles also reported that he previously hired high-profile attorney to the stars, Blair Berk.
As investigation delays mount, attorney Neama Rahmani told Los Angeles that the family of Rivas Hernandez could consider a civil suit against the LAPD for records, warning, “Even if her death was an accident, concealing her body is a crime,” and they most likely know exactly who placed Rivas Hernandez in Burke’s Tesla.