← Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present
UPDATE: Why Still NO Answers in the D4VD Investigation, 4 Months After Dismembered Body Found in His Tesla
00:21:37
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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:06]
B
Hey there, folks. It is Monday, January 5th. Four months ago, a teenager's dead body was found in the trunk of singer David's car. And here we sit. Still, no arrest in that case. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. This and several cases that we're following, but this was one. I don't know if we felt we'd be sitting here four months later still talking about who's gonna be held responsible for this.
- [00:37]
A
Yes, and I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to say at least weekly, but sometimes even daily, we check to see if anything is going on with this case and several others because there are some high profile cases that seem, or at least at the time seemed like there were going to be immediate charges or within a reasonable amount of time there would be charges. Never did we think when we heard about not just the fact that a teenager's dead body was found in David's Tesla four months ago, but the fact that she was found decomposing and dismembered. Clearly she didn't go in there on her own volition and somehow get locked in. There was no explanation as to how she got in there other than someone put her there and someone did something to her body and put it in there. So to think that they have not been able to cross enough T's or dot enough I's to bring formal charges against someone is kind of baffling.
- [01:42]
B
And it's one of a number of cases that have baffled us. What we're going to do here, folks, what we decided as we're starting the new year, we're going to be looking and looking ahead to what these big cases are that have not done just say solved. But they remain incredible mysteries, at least to the public. This is one of them. Anna Kepner, the teenager that died on that cruise ship. Travis Turner, still missing, a coach wanted on child porn charges. Martha Nolan Oslatterer, that young woman died in August in Montauk. And I am saying not a peep have we heard about that. So we decided these are cases we have been following, really Robes almost daily we are looking for stuff on them and there have been so few updates that these kind of remain mysteries. So we wanted to start here with David. If people don't know the singer is, it's spelled d, the number 4, then VD. If you see it written down, it's written with a 4 there. But his name, it is printed, pronounced David. And this Was the guy we weren't familiar with when we first started hearing his name connected to this case?
- [02:51]
A
No. Your 12 year old daughter Sabine was familiar with him because he is somebody who came up through TikTok, through social media. He actually started composing his own music because he wanted to use it when he was playing his Fortnite games. And so it evolved organically and his following did too. And he amassed quite a following in a pretty short period of time. And he was 20 years old at the time of all of this. I'm not sure if he's grown a year older since then, but a young artist, emerging artist who was on his way up, he had just set off on this world tour. His professional career was skyrocketing when this happened.
- [03:33]
B
So young, 20 is so young. And didn't you tell me, I don't know if you have any, your note there, but there was some. Was it. I don't know if it was time, but of upcoming artists, he was number one on the list, one year of upcoming artists from whatever publication that was. This guy was. We didn't know him, but a lot of people did and the industry knew him.
- [03:53]
A
And if you hadn't known him before the scandal or the controversy, I even hate to call it that because there was a murder, I would say they haven't. Have they classified it even as a murder yet?
- [04:06]
B
Homicide, yes, finally.
- [04:07]
A
Homicide. That took months. So, yes. So before all of this, I think it would be fair to say you were going to know his name, but just for his musical talent, not for any of this. And yes, he was. Billboard, I believe was the publication that named him such and even year enders, you know, they go through artists, people who had buzz about them, top artists. His name was among some of those artists because unfortunately of all the curiosity about his music based on now the fact that this young woman who, you know, it's she was a teenager and we've been calling her a 15 year old and just so we can get her name out right away, because of course there is a young girl who suffered an unimaginable fate. Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Her body was found the day after she turned 15. But authorities who haven't told us much have said that she had been dead for at least weeks, perhaps even months before her body was discovered. So she died at the age of 14. That is very fair to say and incredibly, incredibly sad. But big age difference between Celeste and David. And a lot of people mentioned, I think by all accounts they met online when she was just 12 years old. We don't know if she didn't fully disclose her age, but certainly the people who have spoken who were around David, friends of his who actually saw Celeste or saw them hanging out, said she acted like she was older, said she was 19, made everyone believe she was a college student. So obviously, who knows what he knew about her actual age. But this is just a tragic story with a young, young woman who lost her life far too short.
- [05:49]
B
She was troubled and clearly had a troubled home life. She had been missing what, year, year and a half before she was discovered in the trunk of that car. But what happens that a 14 year old, 13 year old is missing for that long? I mean, so it's. It was a tragic end to what was a young, tragic life in a lot of ways already. So it was sad just to hear it. But now what is justice supposed to look like all these months later? Robes. We don't know at this point where David is. Haven't heard a peep. I'm trying to remember early on, maybe there was one attorney that said one thing, but there's been nothing from his camp.
- [06:30]
A
So yes, it was in September. And so again, the same month that Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body was discovered. His management company said that David was cooperating with police. That is the last we heard from them and it has been radio silent from police as well since November 18th. That was one of the last updates we got from the lapd because that's when they formally announced that David was officially a suspect in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. So that took two plus months for them to even acknowledge that he was a suspect in this case, which was puzzling.
- [07:13]
B
Look, they are out there in LA that this is one most scrutinized, highly scrutinized police forces on planet Earth, certainly in this country. Look, maybe we've dealt with them plenty. Look, they're real careful after 94, right? And how they got eviscerated in front of the country for how they handle things, and they do, to our frustration in the media, at least hold things close to the vest. Maybe they have a very good reason for doing so. But it has been wildly frustrating. I can't imagine for the family. We haven't heard much from them either.
- [07:47]
A
They haven't spoken out very much initially. Her mother did. She's the one who said she almost knew immediately it was her daughter when the body was described, because there was a very specific tattoo that Celeste had. She had shh, shhh on her index finger and David had that exact same matching Tattoo, which was one of the first links between those two. His real name, by the way, David Anthony Burke wanted to get that out there and think it's very important to say David or David Anthony Burke has not been charged with any crime as of yet. And yes, the LAPD has been tight lipped, but it's interesting because we heard at the end of November from the medical examiner in LA and they announced that they actually received a court order initiated by the LAPD to place a security hold on any information that came out of her autopsy. And I haven't seen this before, but the medical examiner, the chief medical examiner came out and basically said he was pissed off about it. He made a very formal statement and he didn't mince words. He said no records or details associated with the case, including the cause and, and manner of death and medical examiner report can be released or posted on this website until further notice. The department understands the public interest in this case and remains committed to transparency when possible. But then he went on to say that his mission with his department is to have full transparency. And so he feels like that empowers people to make changes that save lives. And he said, I've worked on eradicating the practice of placing security holds on medical examiner cases simply by law enforcement because he believes, believes it's unheard of in other counties and has not proven to improve outcomes in the legal system. So he actually made that statement. He was puzzled and frustrated that he has a security hold placed on information that he feels should be made public, that should be a part of the transparency of his office.
- [09:51]
B
Look, I defer to police. We've seen this and a part of their investigative tools sometimes are to keep things close to the vest because there are some details that only the police and the killer knows and they like that. I get, and I understand maybe his frustration, but I mean, I can't take issue with police for possibly wanting to hold on to something.
- [10:15]
A
No, I mean, obviously if it is going to make or break a case, when it comes to what you see in a courtroom, you get it, we get it. We followed enough court cases over the years to know that yes, certain types of information are important to maintain the integrity of an investigation and to be able to prove certain points. And if you let it all out, then it, it can muddy the waters. But it was interesting to see this particular medical examiner say it doesn't actually improve outcomes in the legal system. But you know, people have different opinions.
- [10:49]
B
Somebody will probably take issue with that and what's really fact and who's going to go look it up? And everybody. Is he running?
- [10:56]
A
I mean. Yes, I get that we don't hear.
- [10:59]
B
A lot of public statements from medical examiners.
- [11:03]
A
Who knows if there's some private beef going on between the head of the LAPD and the chief medical examiner. You know, of course, there's. There's rivalries. There's. Things that we don't even understand that go on back and forth. But, yeah, from the lapd, we know that. We know that her body was found dismembered. We know that it was found badly decomposed. We know that they acknowledged that David and Revis were involved in a romantic relationship. They did acknowledge that. And they did acknowledge that David, in fact, is a suspect in her death.
- [11:33]
B
Wait, what was what? The police were the ones acknowledging some type of relationship.
- [11:37]
A
They confirmed it. They confirmed it to several news outlets who were constantly asking, do you know the nature of the relationship? And finally, in November, they acknowledged publicly and officially that, yes, David and Celeste were involved in a romantic relationship.
- [11:52]
B
I mean, I don't know where this goes, but this is a case we thought was going to be wrapped up. I don't know why we just. Somebody's. A dead body's found in your trunk. Assume that's suspect number one. And to think it's still been that difficult to piece it together. Again, this dude might have had absolutely nothing to do with it. This dude could have had somebody driving that car, somebody on his team. All those things are still possible. And also from I keep Brian Walsh. Think about that. What if the girl died some other way? You can make the argument somebody freaked out and put the body in the trunk, tried to dismember her first. Try to. Who knows? I mean, just. We got nothing. And we should have something, and maybe we will eventually. But I have a hard time thinking there's not enough evidence to piece something together here. This isn't one of those.
- [12:40]
A
Yes, because it should be noted that this Tesla was moved a couple of times. It is registered to David, and he never reported it stolen. So those are all very important pieces of information. We also know that police raided the home that he was staying in, reportedly with Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the Hollywood Hills, and they were seen taking evidence out of that home. We know there was a private investigator hired by the homeowner who's been talking and saying things that he knows without giving away too much, but breadcrumbing the press a little bit with that. And really, the only other people who are talking is tmz, who Claims to have police sources who know this and that. And then we've actually had in multiple occasions the LAPD come out and refute what TMZ is saying. And then TMZ says, we stand by our story, but truly there is a vacuum of information. And so, yeah, people are gonna try to fill in those bits of information. So when we come back, we're gonna talk about what we do know about the investigation into. Into singer David. What police have acknowledged that they do know. And we'll also talk about this young man and his burgeoning career, where he was when this all went down and what he did was when the news broke. Welcome back, everyone. We are going over all that we know right now about the investigation into singer David following the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She was technically 15 years old when police found her body dismembered by badly decomposed. It happened on August 8th of 2025. And so, yeah, now four months later, it's pretty much been radio silent from the police as they're putting their case together. And we understand potentially from a couple different sources that there may have been a grand jury going on where they are listening to evidence. There have even been reports about David's manager testifying for days in front of this grand jury. And there are reports that maybe in February they're going to possibly have some indictments. But none of this has been confirmed by lapd. So we are at a place where here is what we do know. Here is what they have actually confirmed for us. They said that David has not been cooperative. That's a big deal. Because initially in September, we heard from his management company that he had been. That's a major statement to have police come out and say singer David is no longer cooperating with the investigation and.
- [15:20]
B
That'S what his lawyer should tell him to do and stand by. That doesn't. At least for me, I get it. It's. That doesn't say a lot to me about his guilt or innocence. I think in that position, we all sit down and shut up.
- [15:33]
A
And you mentioned his lawyer and a lot of people have pointed to who he hired. Blair Burke. She is a high profile criminal defense attorney out of Los Angeles. Her clients include Harvey Weinstein, Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, and I've even seen people online saying, o, he must be guilty. Look who he hired. That's ridiculous. If you are potentially going to be charged with murder, whether you did it or not, if you have the means, you are most likely going to hire the best lawyer you possibly can. Find.
- [16:04]
B
You know, I defer to my boys sometimes. Chris Rock, he has a whole thing about Johnny Cochran in this. Like, I don't care what you want to hire Johnnie Cochran and look guilty. So what?
- [16:19]
A
Right.
- [16:20]
B
I want to be innocent. And at the mall, I mean, it doesn't matter. Said. You get the absolute best. It doesn't matter what it looks like. So. No, that's absolutely true. So this guy. And again, we were pointing to all this evidence. It has to be said. We're pointing to the. The case and the circumstances, but it has to be said, my God, this kid could be 100 innocent. There is no explanation at this point of anything. Just speculation from everywhere. So until that, I mean, he. He is presumed innocent. And we should have that presumption of him as well.
- [16:52]
A
I'm curious just the delay in hearing anything from the police or getting any actual confirmation about where the case is headed or what they're thinking, if that is actually better or worse for David in terms of public opinion, because it seems like when you go online, people have already tried him in the court of public opinion, and it's not good. I have not seen anyone going or coming to his defense. People are being their own Internet sleuths, which is never a good thing because you aren't dealing with all the information. You don't know a lot of the facts. And police are making a point to make sure you don't know a lot of the facts. So I. I do wonder how much harm that does to him in. If he is innocent, if he had nothing to do with her death. That's gotta be tough to just be twisting in the wind and having everyone throwing their shots at you.
- [17:43]
B
What do you do? I mean, you could argue an innocent person steps to that microphone and screams it to the. At the highest mountaintop. I did not do this. I am sorry for this girl and her family, and I hope they figure out who does it. I am not going to stand by and let anybody. That's what you do when you're innocent.
- [18:04]
A
Exactly. And the other problem he has when it comes to perception of his choices, when all of this stuff came out, when the body was found, they didn't initially know. It took a couple. I think it took at least a week for them to get a name and an identity to this body. But when the body was first found in a car that was registered to him, he kept touring, he kept singing, he kept going up on stage. Wasn't a good look. And the day her name was actually released, he canceled his concert. That night, and then shortly thereafter, the rest of his tour, which was going to include San Francisco, Los Angeles, a European leg, they all got canceled.
- [18:46]
B
I just. It all looks bad. That's what. That's the first thing that's out of his mouth. If he walks into a room with people say, okay, I know what you're thinking.
- [18:56]
A
I know what this looks like.
- [18:57]
B
Yeah. Because we. It all looks awful. His behavior, every step has been what you would deem not from a sympathetic. Somebody who is in mourning for someone he knew. This. It just. It just reads completely wrong. This is not supposed to be a PR game, but it's. It's. From a human being standpoint, you're surprised at some of the stuff he's done, especially if this was someone he knew and possibly cared about.
- [19:23]
A
Yes. And police have also said that they believe Rivas Hernandez most likely died in the spring. So if that's the case, we are talking about her being dead for months, not weeks, and that's a significant difference. They've also said that they believe David most likely had help dismembering and disposing of the body. A lot of legal experts will say when they look at this case, the problem for the police and the problem for prosecutors, ultimately, when you take this to court, is that, yes, you can possibly point to who dismembered her, who put her body in that Tesla. There's surveillance video everywhere. Where this car was. There are door cams and surveillance cameras. This is a very affluent part of the country, and it's certainly affluent part of la. So a lot of people said they've gotta be looking through surveillance. They can see who the last person was, who moved the car, who drove the car, all of this. But how do you prove how she died? How do you prove who killed her? It's a major issue. And if you don't have a cooperative suspect, it's a difficult thing to prove.
- [20:31]
B
This is one we're keeping an eye on. We have for past. For the past several months. But here as we turn the calendar, it's a new year, and we don't have a whole lot new information in this case, even from the moment we first found out about it. But I want to get you updated here. We will continue to update you this week on a couple of other big cases, including Martha Nolan, that death in Montauk. Travis Turner is still missing. Coach, what am I missing?
- [20:59]
A
And then you also have Anna Kettner. So, you know you've got a lot of potentially damning evidence and certainly a lot of stuff has been leaked in the press about her stepbrother and his potential role in her death. So yes, we're going to look into all of these cases and just know we will be following them daily as we have been. But just wanted to let you know we have our eye on this and so many other stories that continued to plague us and just be mysterious in 2012, 2025. Hopefully we'll have some answers in 2026. And with that, everyone, thank you so much for listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside T.J. holmes. We will talk to you soon. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.