A (0:00)

Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts new episodes out every Monday. This is Crime House. The body of 15 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been returned to her family more than two weeks after she was found dead in the trunk of a car registered to singer David. Allegedly the mother of Celeste said that she had a boyfriend named David. We know that they said that they had matching tattoos. Shush. On their index finger. He posted about a girl named Celeste. There was. There's a lot of things going on there that there's a connection between the both of them. Internet sleuths have also been hard at work digging up unverified videos and photos of Burke with a young woman bearing a strong resemblance to Rivas. Many times with her face partially covered. Confirmed photos of Rivas were circulating on missing posters in 2024. One of his songs is called Romantic Homicide and in it he says I killed her in my mind. There is a music video where he is drenched in blood, dragging the body and putting it in the trunk. And so a lot of people are saying now that all of this has surfaced. Even though he's not a person of interest, these images seem odd, particularly given what happened to someone that he was, he was connected to. It's the question on almost everyone's mind, how has he not been arrested yet? On September 8, the remains of 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez were discovered in the front trunk of a rising stars Tesla. Tonight we will go over what we know so far and why there hasn't been an arrest. Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime analyst, sub self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on the biggest cases. Every night, Nightwatch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily. Wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts for video, check out our YouTube channel @CrimeHouse Daily. Tonight we're covering the tragic case of 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who vanished from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, only to be found more than a year later, dismembered and hidden inside the trunk of an abandoned Tesla in the Hollywood Hills. The car was registered to rising music star David Burke, or as you may know him, David, spelled D4VD. Since his alleged connections to the victim have come out, he has canceled his tour and mounting online scrutiny has fueled speculation. But as of this recording, there have been no charges. Although we will be discussing a lot of alleged connections between the singer and the victim, I want to again note that no formal charges have been filed against him. And although he has not been listed as a suspect, police did execute a search warrant on September 17 and confiscated a laptop and some other electronics. They also sent in a team to look for blood. The LAPD recently made a statement saying, quote, we know that the Tesla had been parked at the location from which it was towed for several weeks. So it is very likely Celeste Rivas Hernandez had been dead for several weeks prior to her body being discovered. Celeste's body has also now been returned to her family with more details coming out every day. We'll break it all down for you tonight. We're covering a case that's been all over the news and that we've been keeping a really close eye on here at Crime House. The murder of a teenage girl named Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who is found dead in a vehicle registered to 20 year old David Anthony Burke, a singer and songwriter you may know as David, spelled D4 v. D. The case is moving fast and new updates are coming in every day. TMZ obtained footage from a liquor store in California that shows Celeste jogging down the street on Mar 19, 2024 at 7:00am her family has confirmed it was Celeste because her sister went into the store that day asking for the footage to see if Celeste had run away. Let's get into what we know as of this recording. On September 6, 2025, an abandoned Tesla was reported in the upscale bird streets of the Hollywood Hills in California. Witness reports differ in how long the car had been sitting there. Some said it had been on the street for at least three days. But one neighbor said it had been abandoned on the block for weeks. Another unnamed resident found the car's presence strange and unsettling. It seemed out of place with Texas license plates and a giant dent on the side. And on September 6th, someone finally called to have it towed, and it was taken to an impound lot nearby called Hollywood Tower. The car is registered to the singer David, who at the time was on tour. But aside from having been abandoned, there doesn't seem to be anything suspicious about the car. But everything changed two days later, on Monday, September 8, when an employee reported to police that there was a foul smell coming from the Tesla. And while no one wants to jump to conclusions, the smell is so pungent that the employees suspect it could be a body. When officers arrive, they open the front trunk and find a plastic trash bag inside. When they open the bag, they're hit with a distinct foul smell of decomp, and their worst suspicions are confirmed. Inside that bag is a dismembered body of a teenage girl. The body is so badly decomposed that investigators can't initially identify her. This means the police only have a few pieces of data to work with. They know the girl is wearing leggings and a tube top, along with stud earrings and a yellow chain bracelet. They also know that she has dark, wavy hair, and she is 5 foot 2 and weighed just 71 pounds. She also has a tattoo on her right index finger that says shh. That's S with three Hs after it. The authorities release this information and ask for help identifying the girl. And it's not long before her mother sees the tattoo and realizes that it's her daughter. Nine days after the body was discovered on September 17, she's officially identified as 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a girl who had been reported missing by her parents over a year earlier, on April 5, 2024. She was last seen near her home in Lake Elsinore, California, which is over 75 miles from where her body was found. We don't know much about her family life, although we know she had a brother and a sister. You may have heard some outlets refer to her as a 15 year old. But her body was discovered the day after her 15th birthday, and the state of her body clearly showed she had been killed before she made it to 15. People who knew Celeste described her as studious, hard working and smart. A local shop owner whose store is near her home recalls her as being shy and sweet. But there were also signs that underneath this quiet, bright exterior, there was trouble in her life. Celeste was first reported missing on Valentine's Day 2024, when she was just 13 years old. People in her neighborhood remembered signs going up with her face on them. She was eventually found and returned home, but it wouldn't be long before she disappeared. Again, as of this recording, it's not known how many times Celeste was reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore or how many times she was brought back. However, what is known is that on Friday, April 5, 2024, Celeste left her house in gray pants, a black sweater, and hello Kitty sandals and was reported missing for over a year. Again, as of this recording, authorities have not confirmed where Celeste went or what she did during that time or even who she was with. But people have come forward with alleged evidence that the two were in a relationship. Tragically, we don't know how she ended up dead inside the trunk of that car, but we do know one thing. Her mother shared something with the press that is bone chilling. Celeste had a boyfriend named David. By the time Celeste's body is officially identified, the media has already reported that the Tesla belonged to the singer David. And around midnight on September 17th, police executed a search warrant on an address where David had been living, which was located only 500ft from where the Tesla was found. Officers are seen carrying out a computer and other electronics, and police sources say they were looking for blood evidence. When the news comes out about Celeste, David cancels the remaining dates on his tour. And his team has made a statement that he is fully cooperating with investigators. But reporters and Internet sleuths alike start digging into any possible connections between Celeste and David. One of the first things Internet sleuths notice is that David and Celeste had matching Shh. Tattoos on their fingers. However, this is a fairly common tattoo that Rihanna made popular. But that was only the beginning of their alleged connection. Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with zero artificial artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new energy multiplier. Sugar free. Unlike other energy drinks, you know the ones that make you feel like you're glitching, it's made with natural caffeine and electrolytes, so you get the boost without the burnout. Liquid IV's new energy multiplier. Sugar free hydrating energy. Tap the banner to learn more. David burke is a 20 year old singer and songwriter who got popular for his dark, romantic music. His music career began when he was a teenager through his love of video games. David really liked playing Fortnite and would create YouTube montages of the game set to popular songs. But they kept getting taken down for copyright infringement. In an interview, David said that he had complained to his mom about his videos being taken down for copyright strikes. And she tells David to just make his own music. And that's what he did. David watches videos on how to produce your own music and starts recording music in his sister's closet. In addition to putting his songs over gameplay montages, David starts posting them on TikTok, and it wasn't long before the posts went viral. Still, David was slow to reveal who he really was to the world and he didn't show his face in the videos. Meanwhile, his music made its way into the mainstream and one of his songs peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Coincidentally, the name of that track is Romantic Homicide. David then releases the music video for his song on September 7, 2022, which Internet sleuths have pieced together as Celeste Rivas Hernandez's 12th birthday. In this video, David plays a character he calls Itami, which is the Japanese word for pain. David says the character is his alter ego who is committing murders that real life David has to solve a sort of Jekyll and Hyde plot. According to a recent TikTok Live, someone said that Celeste and David had met when she was even younger while playing Fortnite, and eventually they brought the conversation to Discord, which is a popular communication app. Again, none of this information has been officially verified as of this recording, but about six weeks after romantic homicide was posted on October 23, 2022, there is a screenshot of a comment from David's Discord where his username writes Celeste in here and someone with the username Celeste responds hi David Bark. But at this point in time nobody was raising any alarm bells and David's star continued to rise. In 2023, 18 year old David performs his first concerts which are part of a six city tour. He had signed with Dark Room Interscope and had dropped his first EP Petals to thorns. Around the same time he gets a gig opening for SZA on her blockbuster SOS tour. Then in September 2023, just one day after Celeste's 13th birthday, David posts another video for a song called Rehab. The Itami character makes another appearance and in this one Itami's murderous alter ego appears in animated form to commit atrocities like cutting off a woman's arm while David sings she fell in love with the devil again. There's so much interest in his music that in December 2023 some of David's alleged music is leaked and one song is called Celeste. Some of the lyrics read, oh Celeste, the girl with my name tattooed on her chest. Smell her on my clothes like cigarettes. I hear her voice each time I take a breath. I'm obsessed. And a few weeks later, Celeste appears with David in a live stream in January 2024, which has been confirmed by moderators, but they claim that they didn't know how old she was. For the record, she was only 13 at this time while David was 18. Then on February 7, 2024, David posts a TikTok saying when your card declines at therapy and they bring in that one hello Kitty girl you met in 2021. This is not confirmed to be about Celeste, but Celeste was obsessed with hello Kitty and remember when she was reported missing she was wearing hello Kitty sandals. A week later, on Valentine's Day, Celeste goes missing for the first time but is later returned home and at the end of the month on February 26, a user comments on one of David's posts writing waiting for the LAPD to get your for messing with a 13 year old girl. The rumor mill is in full swing by this point. Another month after that, on March 28, David's fans discuss whether he is dating someone and a user comments yeah, her name is Celeste. An image of David in Celeste's hometown of Lake Elsinore has also surfaced and been confirmed by tmz. In the photo, David is shown with two kids. One of them is holding a bag, which added even more suspicion to rumors that David was paying kids off to keep his secret, though it's worth saying here that this has not been confirmed by law enforcement at the time of this recording. But one thing is confirmed. On April 5, 2024, 13 year old Celeste is reported missing again and her brother says she was going to the movies to meet up with David. On April 6th, the day after Celeste is reported missing, David posts a photo of him crying with the caption never being able to express my feelings properly because I was homeschooled and had no social life for five years. Throughout all of this, David is releasing more music and videos and in August 2024, one user on David's Discord server comments drop the one with the missing girl, Celeste Rivas Hernandez. But nobody is officially looking into David in connection with her Disappear appearance. And in February 2025 he releases another music video starring the Itami character once again called One More Dance. This one shows Itami dragging a body into the trunk of a car. Shortly after, in April, David drops his next album called Withered. It's a hit and David goes on tour to promote it starting on August 5, 2025. It's worth noting that despite Celeste being reported missing, she was allegedly still in contact with some of her friends throughout this time and some of them have come forward saying August was the last time any of them heard from her, but it's not clear if anyone knew exactly where she was. So officially she was still missing, but the next month her body is discovered in David's Tesla. There's so much we don't know about this actively unfolding case, but right now everyone seems to be asking two major questions. If David was on tour when Celeste was found, who had access to the car and when were they using it? When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn more@WhatsApp.com this episode is brought to you by Netflix. Everyone is telling her she dreamt it, but in the woman in cabin 10, Lo Blacklock is determined to uncover the truth in the gripping new thriller coming to Netflix October 10th. Keira Knightley plays a journalist aboard a luxury yacht who witnesses a crime she can't unsee. Adapted from Ruth Ware's best selling novel, directed by Simon Stone. Watch the woman in Cabin 10 only on Netflix on October 10th at New Balance we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way@newbalance.com Running on September 23, 2025, two weeks after 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla, her remains were returned to her family. During this time, intense speculation swirled around her final days, her cause of death, and her connection to the car's owner, multi platinum recording artist David. Based on the state of her remains, she had likely been dead for a while before her body was discovered, but it's hard to make any determinations beyond that because the car she was found in may have been abandoned for a number of weeks. The question we are now left wondering is if that was before David left for his tour or after. It's important to note that the car was never reported stolen. However, that's not necessarily a surprise given how long a touring schedule can take someone out of town, so it's possible that someone took it after David left. With all of the speculation around David's connection to Celeste and the fact that a dead body was found in his car. A lot of people are questioning why hasn't he been arrested yet. One issue they are facing is the cause of death, because the medical examiner is having trouble determining an exact one and has listed it as deferred, which means that they need more information to determine an exact cause of death. My thoughts on the delay are probably the state of her decomposition and also waiting on toxicology reports. At the time of this recording, it has still not been listed, and apparently it could be months until we have an answer. These findings could be crucial to the investigation because it could help point to a murder weapon or discover if Celeste had been drugged or incapacitated. If the toxicology report does show that something was in her system, they'd be able to determine when Celeste had taken it, which could help determine when she was killed. With all of this going on, David's career has been essentially put on hold. All upcoming dates for his new album tour have been canceled on his website, and a number of companies he promoted, like Crocs and Hollister, have quietly dropped him from their campaigns. A deluxe edition of his withered album that was due to be released on September 19 has been shelved, too, Although the album artwork, which features drawings of three people frolicking on the beach with a cartoon sketch of David standing sharply in the foreground, is still up on his Instagram. Meanwhile, Celeste's friends and family are doing the best they can to cope with her death. On September 21, mourners in her hometown of Lake Elsinore held an impromptu vigil. Her family couldn't be reached for comment and didn't attend, but friends, acquaintances, former teachers, and folks who simply recognized her from the neighborhood gathered to share stories of someone they remembered as a quiet, sweet girl. Intermingled with the sadness was a call for the person who killed her to be found and brought to justice. As of this recording, the only official statement from Celeste's family is on a GoFundMe page. It says, quote, as many of you know, Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been identified as the body found last week. She was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend. Her family is heartbroken and devastated by this tragic loss. As of this recording, we know that an address in the Hollywood Hills that David had been living at has been searched by the police and that a laptop was secured from the premises. Police were looking for blood evidence that might implicate David or someone else in the crime, but it's not clear if they have found anything yet. Right now, Internet sleuths are still dissecting David's heavy online presence and finding ways to connect him to Celeste. The New York Post reported that a girl wearing hello Kitty Crocs was often seen in the background of David's posts or videos. And as we know, Celeste was reportedly last seen wearing hello Kitty sandals. Many Internet sleuths thought Celeste could have potentially been pregnant after a screenshot of one of David's alleged discord comments was leaked that said me and Eleteduser have a kid otw, which means on the way because when they clicked on the deleted user, it showed a photo of a hand with a red tattoo with David's name on it and it had a diamond ring on her ring finger. But police have announced that Celeste was not pregnant at the time of her death. This is definitely a case we'll continue to keep an eye on, so as always, we'll be bringing you all the major updates here. What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. You stay curious and I'll stay on the case. See you next time.