Celeste Rivas & D4vd (Happening Now) // 540

Summary

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Going West: True Crime

Episode 540 – Celeste Rivas & D4vd (Happening Now)

Release Date: September 23, 2025
Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman

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Overview

In this breaking “Happening Now” episode, hosts Daphne and Heath examine the disturbing disappearance and murder of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose remains were recently discovered in the trunk (“frunk”) of a Tesla registered to music artist D4vd (David Anthony Burke) in Los Angeles. This episode dives deep into what is currently known, separating fact from speculation amid swirling rumors and conspiracy theories—while exploring the possible connection between the rising star and the underage victim. The hosts break down the timeline, evidence, social media activity, and public reaction to the unfolding investigation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Navigating Rumor vs. Fact (02:17–03:34)

• The hosts emphasize clarity amidst rampant misinformation, pledging to distinguish between verified facts and speculation:

  “If there is something that is alleged or it seems like it could be a rumor, we will state that before giving you guys that information.” (Daphne, 02:32)

• The episode is framed as an update “happening now” with focus on up-to-date details.

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Case Summary: Who Was Celeste Rivas Hernandez? (04:25–07:12)

• Celeste, age 15 at time of discovery, grew up in Lake Elsinore, California. Community members remembered her as “a good student, a happy child” (Heath, 06:54).
• Little is known publicly about her personal life except she was seen as intelligent and hardworking.
• Made routine stops to a local store on the way to school for Takis and soda—typical teenage behavior.

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First Disappearance, Reoccurrences, and Timeline Discrepancies (07:20–09:36)

• Initially reported missing on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2024 (age 13), but returned shortly after.
• Later disappeared more permanently on April 5, 2024, last seen leaving her house at 9pm wearing gray pants, a black sweater, a hat, and Hello Kitty sandals.

  “Put a pin in the Hello Kitty shoes…” (Heath, 09:36)

• Notable confusion: teacher reports indicate Celeste both returned and went missing multiple times, complicating investigators’ attempts to establish her last confirmed sighting.

[Notable Quote: Celeste’s Teacher on Timeline]

“She met this dude, media. He was a rapper in LA. He came and got her. She ran away from home… The cops found her in Hollywood, brought her back… She disappeared again in May of that year…”
(Celeste’s Teacher, as recorded and played on air, 10:18–11:24)

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Connection to Artist D4vd (David Anthony Burke) (12:07–14:25)

• David/D4vd is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter known for TikTok hits “Here With Me” and “Romantic Homicide.”
• The connection to Celeste traces back to repeated runaways; both her teacher and parents suspected she was seeing someone named David.
• Rumors proliferated online, especially fueled by age gap and D4vd’s rising music career.

[Lyrics of Interest]

“In the back of my mind, I killed you and I didn’t even regret it...”
(D4vd, “Romantic Homicide,” highlighted by Daphne, 13:49)
Note: Hosts clarify the song predated their meeting but acknowledge the public’s sensitivity to the lyrics in light of the case.

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Discovery of Celeste’s Body & Vehicle Timeline (14:25–24:52; 26:20–33:15)

• On September 8, 2025 (the day after her 15th birthday), Celeste’s decomposed, dismembered remains were discovered in the frunk of a black Tesla Model 3, parked and abandoned in the Bird Streets area of West Hollywood.
• The Tesla, registered to David, had Texas plates and was parked for weeks before being towed due to complaints.
• Remains were found in a plastic bag; autopsy confirmed identity but cause and manner of death have not been released:

  “…her severely decomposed, severed head, torso, and arm were found in a plastic bag in that frunk.” (Daphne, 23:21)

• The intense LA summer heat likely accelerated decomposition, further complicating efforts to determine time of death.

[Timeline & Location Discussion]

• David’s US tour began August 5, 2025, raising questions about when the Tesla was abandoned:

  “We don’t yet know if it was abandoned before he left for tour or after.” (Heath, 14:41)

• Neighborhood surveillance and Tesla’s built-in cameras discussed as potential sources of evidence (40:19–42:55).

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Social Media & Public Evidence (45:12–51:25)

• Age Gap: Celeste (13–14), David (19–20) during their suspected association—universally called “disgusting” and “gross” by hosts.
• Multiple online videos and images (not fully verified) appear to show Celeste at David’s shows and on his social media:
  • June 27, 2024: Video of a girl matching Celeste’s description, wearing Hello Kitty Crocs, going backstage at David’s Fonda Theater concert, accompanied by David’s brother.
  • Several selfies and livestreams show David with a hooded, curly-haired girl strongly resembling Celeste.

[Notable Quote: On the Backstage Video]

“It’s like it’s her. We can’t say—I can’t tell you for sure—but it’s her, you know...”
(Heath, 50:00)

• Matching Tattoos: Both had the word “Shh” tattooed on their right index finger (56:20–57:21).

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Music, Motifs, and Conspiracy Theories (57:31–68:54)

• Alter Ego “Itami” & Aesthetic: David’s music videos and interviews reference a manga-inspired alter ego and recurring themes:

  “I wanted to make my own manga series at one point… a big part of that manga was an evil version of me named Itami, which means pain in Japanese...”
  (D4vd, interview audio, 57:56)

• Online sleuths obsess over David’s song lyrics, video motifs (e.g., music videos involving car trunks), and TikTok comments referencing “Hello Kitty” and the date “0907” (Celeste’s birthday).
• Unverified rumors and song leaks (“Celeste”) are discussed but treated cautiously by the hosts.

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Reaction & Career Fallout (35:56–39:06)

• David abruptly canceled the remainder of his US and Europe tour following escalating press coverage but continued performing for several days after public revelations. His labels and sponsors (Interscope, Crocs, Hollister) rapidly distanced themselves.
• A search warrant was executed at the Hollywood Hills house linked to David’s management; computers and other items were seized as possible evidence.

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Investigation & Ongoing Evidence Review (40:19–45:00)

• Emphasis placed on the highly technical nature of determining who accessed the car and when, using Tesla’s data logs and external surveillance.
• The hosts defend law enforcement’s patience as necessary for building a case that stands up in court:

  “They need a slam dunk case… they can’t get it wrong.” (Heath, 44:28)

  • Predict an arrest may be imminent once evidence is processed.

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Community Impact & Call for Information (69:30–71:00)

• Celeste’s family, while private, has set up a GoFundMe that surpassed its fundraising goal.
• Vigil held in Lake Elsinore.
• Information hotlines provided:
  • LA County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau: 323-890-5500
  • Riverside Sheriff’s Department (Officer Contreras): 951-776-1099

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Notable Quotes

• On separating fact and rumor:

  “Navigate through all of the BS. We’re going to try to supply you guys with the facts.”
  (Daphne, 02:32)

• Teacher’s account of Celeste’s runaways and relationship with David:

  “She met this dude, media. He was a rapper in LA. He came and got her. She ran away… cops found her in Hollywood…”
  (Celeste’s Teacher, 10:18–11:24)

• On evidence in tech era:

  “There’s probably going to be a lot of [security] footage… which, spoiler alert, is why there have not been arrests made in the case. Because they have so much to go through.”
  (Heath, 43:57)

• On patience with ongoing investigation:

  “I guess, you know, the main thing here is just patience because I do think that they’re trying to get it right.”
  (Daphne, 45:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|---------------| | Hosts’ introduction and case context | 02:10–03:34 | | Victim profile and Lake Elsinore community | 04:25–07:12 | | Timeline confusion and teacher’s testimony | 09:33–12:00 | | D4vd’s profile and musical career | 12:07–14:25 | | Discovery of remains and vehicle details | 14:25–24:52 | | Decomposition, forensics, and tech forensics | 31:41–33:15 | | Conspiracies and social media connections | 45:12–51:25 | | Music, motifs, and public online response | 57:31–68:54 | | Community vigil and call for tips | 69:30–70:39 | | Case wrap and next steps | 71:28–72:31 |

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Memorable Moments

• Teacher’s viral TikTok testimony [10:18–11:24]: Direct classroom account of Celeste’s behavior, disappearances, and relationship with David.
• Discovery of body details [23:21]: The shocking specifics of finding Celeste’s remains in the frunk.
• Social media sleuthing [45:12–51:25]: Hosts debate the evidence in backstage videos, livestreams, and matching tattoos.
• Hosts’ social commentary:
  • “If they were in a relationship or even a friendship, you know, honestly, there’s no reason for that, right?” (Heath, 45:52)
  • “If he is a pedophile or a murderer or both.” (Daphne, 35:56)

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Tone & Language

The hosts maintain a conversational, empathetic tone. They stress the complexity and emotion of the situation while clarifying uncertainty:

• Frequently remind listeners not to jump to conclusions.
• Openly express disgust at the age gap and at the possible exploitation, with direct language (“disgusting”, “gross”).
• Use caution and repetitive disclaimers when discussing unverified claims or rumors.
• Emphasize their mission: clarity, empathy for the victim’s family, and the need for “patience” as the investigation develops.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

• Based on present evidence, Celeste Rivas, a 15-year-old from Lake Elsinore, was found dead and dismembered in the frunk of a Tesla Model 3 registered to pop singer David “D4vd” Burke, a 20-year-old rising artist.
• The Tesla was parked and abandoned in LA’s Bird Streets for weeks while David was on tour; only discovered after odor complaints caused it to be towed.
• Authorities are meticulously reviewing complex forensic, technological, and social media evidence, with high scrutiny due to public interest and conspiracy theories.
• Although the timeline is confused by repeated runaway incidents, there is substantial visual and anecdotal evidence connecting David and Celeste in the months leading up to her disappearance.
• As of recording, no arrests have been made; David’s tour and promotions are suspended and sponsors have publicly disassociated.
• The community, as well as Celeste’s family, is calling for clues and justice.

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If you have tips on the case, contact Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or Riverside Sheriff’s Department (Officer Contreras) at 951-776-1099.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Ad Voice]

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[Daphne]

What is going on? True crime fans? I'm your host he and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to Going West.

[Heath]

Hello everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today to this happening now case. This has been a breaking story in LA the last couple weeks. Heath and I have been watching for updates every single day. I'm sure a lot of you have been seeing the news.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And there is a lot of misinformation regarding this case. So I just want to say right now that we are going to try and just navigate. Navigate through all of the bs. We're going to try to supply you guys with the facts. If there is something that is alleged or it seems like it could be a rumor, we will state that before giving you guys that information.

[Heath]

Yeah, there's a pretty decent amount of factual information out there to like lay this out. But then later we're kind of going to get into some of the more conspiratorial angles just to kind of address that stuff. We're probably going to say conspiracy a lot and allegedly and reportedly. But we really wanted to cover this case because again, it's happening now. Her family needs answers and the investigation is underway.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And because this case has to do with the music industry, there is a lot of rumors flying around on a lot of different places on the Internet, like Reddit or Discord or even X.

[Heath]

A lot of videos, a lot of photos. There's. There really is so much. So without further ado, let's dive right in.

[Daphne]

All right, guys, this is episode 540 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[Heath]

We're learning more about the possible connection.

[Daphne]

Between singer David and a missing teenage.

[Heath]

Girl found dead in the trunk of.

[Daphne]

A Tesla owned by him.

[Heath]

It was a grisly discovery in a.

[Jeff Bridges]

Hollywood tow yard, but we still don't know how the girl died.

[Daphne]

However, it was enough to force singer.

[Heath]

David to cancel the rest of his US Tour.

[Jeff Bridges]

The question is, what happened to Celeste Rivas?

[Heath]

A community coming together in solemn tribute tonight to remember a life cut short. Yeah.

[Daphne]

A vigil was held in Lake Elsinore.

[Heath]

For Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

[Daphne]

She is, as Karine mentioned, the teenager.

[Heath]

Whose decomposed remains were discovered in the.

[Daphne]

Trunk of a Tesla and then tied.

[Heath]

To a popular singer named David. Lake Elsinore community mourning the suspicious death of 15 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Celeste was last seen alive in April 2024 in her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 60 miles southeast of LA. She was 13 at the time. Her mom tells TMZ her daughter had a boyfriend named David. While the court of public opinion may already believe David was involved in Celeste's death, proving it in court will be far more diffic. Celeste Rivas Hernandez was born on September 7, 2010, growing up in Lake Elsinore, California, which is a city in western Riverside county hosting around 70, 000 residents. Now, Lake Elsinore itself is a large natural freshwater lake, and many residents and out of towners alike enjoy fishing there as well as, like various Water sports. And I thought it was interesting. I read that in the mid-1900s, a lot of celebrities started building homes out there to kind of escape the Hollywood craziness because it's only a little over an hour away. So a lot of like, old film actors like Bela Lugosi, obviously Dracula did that. And it's still very much known for its outdoor activities and natural beauty, lots of skydiving and extreme sports, motor sports, even its canyons of wildflowers in the spring. So this is where Celeste grew up. Now, very little has been made public about her upbringing at this point, but according to neighbors, quote, she was a good student, a happy child. That is obviously super vague, but that is sadly what we're working with, other than the fact that she was apparently intelligent and very hard working and often stopped by a local store on her way to school to grab Takis and soda.

[Daphne]

That sounds like it's a natural thing that most teenagers would probably do.

[Heath]

Yeah, seriously, that's what I mean. I'm like, we, we don't have a lot here, sadly. Again, I'm sure a lot more is going to come out over time, but we felt like it was important to cover this story right now. So.

[Daphne]

Yeah, one of the. One of the things that I noticed somebody said at her vigil was that she was studious. And that's kind of what I took away from that.

[Heath]

Yeah, it feels like a lot of people are making comments like that about her smarts and her, like, connecting her to school. Actually. She attended Lakeland Village Middle School, which is A K through 8 school. And one of her old teachers has actually gone viral for making a video about her being one of his students in the past. Which we will dive into in a sec. Now, first, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Celeste was originally reported missing on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. So that obviously is over a year and a half ago. That's on Valentine's Day when she was 13 years old. And I thought that was a lie at first. And then I saw missing posters that came out a little bit after this, so. And I think that's such a shocking part of this case as well, knowing that her body was just found, but she's been missing for a long time. And we do have some answers as to why that is. Yeah, you know, usually when you see that, you'd be like, well, maybe it's because they were murdered back then. But that does not seem to be the case here.

[Daphne]

Yeah, it really does not.

[Heath]

So, you know, when she originally went Missing on Valentine's Day. It was a Wednesday. This was during the school year, of course, in the middle of the week, obviously. But I will say Celeste was apparently known to run away from home sometimes. So she did come back after going missing on Valentine's Day and then went missing again in a time that felt concerning enough for the missing persons posters that I was just talking about to be made and the police to once again be notified. So these the missing persons posters that are out there that you'll find on the Internet, report that she vanished on Friday, April 5, 2024, from Lake Elsinore. So that's obviously a couple months after Valentine's Day. The poster reads, celeste Rivas Hernandez. Date of birth, which you already know. September 7, 2010. Current age, 13. Height, 5:3, 120 lbs. Eyes, brown. Hair dark brown. Last seen wearing gray pants and a black sweater, a hat, and hello Kitty sandals.

[Daphne]

And that is going to come up later as well. Those sandals.

[Heath]

Yeah, put a pin in the hello Kitty shoes. Left the house at 9pm Friday, April 5th.

[Daphne]

All right, so let's dive into what her old teacher said, because right now, certain details are coming from those who knew Celeste, as the police are keeping a lot of this investigation close to the vest now, especially in Los Angeles, especially in Lake Ellisinore, the story is being heavily discussed. So you can imagine her old teacher had something to say about it, and someone in his class recorded him and posted it on TikTok. So we're gonna play that clip for you guys so you can hear his voice, hear what he has to say about Celeste.

[Celeste's Teacher]

That's her in my classroom in front of this poster right here. Okay, hold up. I got another one, because I got a picture on TMZ of this other kid exchanging stuff with the rapper who we alleged. Wait, did this stuff. Hold on a second, because he's also in my classroom.

[Daphne]

How long ago was this?

[Celeste's Teacher]

This? I. We all just found out yesterday who it was. But she's been missing since I taught her. So when I taught her, she met this dude, media. He was a rapper in la. He came and got her. She ran away from home. She was gone for like a month. The cops found her in Hollywood, brought her back to our school. She came back to our school, kind of told people this story. She disappeared again in May of that year, May of 2024. That's when her friends told me what happened, that it was this rapper, that they were, like, blackmailing him, all of this stuff. And then I found out yesterday that she's now Dead in that rapper's car, cut into pieces. You want to know how they met? I feel like I just said it. Social media.

[Daphne]

So according to him and some other sources that we found, Celeste returned shortly after going missing in April, proving that she had run away. But then in May of 2024. So a couple of weeks later, she went missing yet again. This teacher and Celeste's parents state that she was actively dating someone named David and seemed to be running away to him. Which makes things really tough in this case because we just can't say yet when she actually did go missing. Like, there's a lot of misunderstandings happening with the timeline.

[Heath]

Yeah. To figure out, like, when she was actually last seen and how that connects to her death.

[Daphne]

Exactly. Because this is where the story is headed. Now, before we go into how her body was found, let's get into David a little bit here. Now, based on the evidence surrounding this case and what Celeste's friends and family have reported and some videos and photos online, it appears that David was David Anthony Burke, also known as David, which he spells D4V. D, who was a singer, songwriter, bedroom pop, kind of R and B indie artist who's currently signed with Interscope and Dark Room Records. So this guy, he's kind of a big deal. I mean, obviously, being with Interscope, that's huge. He was born in Queens, New York, on March 28, 2005, but primarily grew up in Houston, Texas. Now, his career started taking off in 2022 on TikTok when he released the single Here With Me and Romantic Homicide. So those are. Those are two different singles. So Here With Me and Romantic Homicide, two different songs.

[Heath]

Yeah. If you don't know who David is, but you are on Tick Tock, you've probably heard a clip from Here With Me because it was like a trending part of the. I'm not gonna sing it, but part of it was, like a trending sound for a long time.

[Daphne]

Yeah, it's. It's. I mean, I'll sing it. I'll attempt. I'll attempt. It's kind of like, I don't care how long it takes.

[Heath]

It's usually with like a. That's pretty good. It usually goes with, like, a SA video.

[Daphne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Heath]

So that is, like, one of the first singles that he released that started, you know, getting him popular because the song or. And the sound itself on TikTok started going viral.

[Daphne]

So obviously there's a lot of conversation and conspiracy around his song Romantic Homicide, as you guys can imagine, especially because of the lyrics. Some of the lyrics include, quote, 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. But I will say it is important for us to remember that this song came out in 2022. So two years before Celeste was even reported missing and potentially like before they even met and certainly years before she died.

[Heath]

Yes. But the reason people are bringing that up and that it is, you know, does feel a little wow, that's kind of weird, is because on September 8, 2025, the remains of Celeste Rivas, who, if she was alive up until that point, I mean, really the day before was her birthday, she would have turned 15. But we can safely say that she was 14 when she passed. Her remains were found in the trunk of a Tesla at Hollywood Tow, located on North Mansfield Avenue in Hollywood. Good. Let's go back for a moment. So this year in 2025, David the artist, announced a world tour starting in North America on August 5th in Del Mar, California. So San Diego, basically playing 29 shows across the US and in Canada, ending in Los Angeles. So he started in San Diego, went all the way across the country, up into Canada and then turn around, come back last shows in la. Then he'd have a week and a half off and he'd go out and Tour Europe starting October 1, 2025 in Oslo, Norway, ending November 4 in Warsaw, Poland. So he's doing a ton of shows over a few months at some point in August. We don't yet know if it was abandoned before he left for tour or after. But at some point in August, David's black Tesla was abandoned a block from a house that he's connected to on Doheny Place. It's also called Vireo Drive. Not sure why it has two names. Now, it has been said that this house is in the Hollywood Hills, but for those who know the area more specifically, it's in the Bird Streets. So where the Hollywood Hills kind of bleed into Beverly Hills just above West Hollywood. Now, the street that David was saying on, I'm going to say David's house just for right now, is on a narrow street that looks like it would dead end because it's so narrow. But that's kind of the nature of this neighborhood, in this area. But there are houses on both sides of the street. Most of them are gated and very expensive. So they're not. They don't sit right out on the curb. You know, there's a lot of foliage, a Lot of privacy. But David's house currently zestimates, you know, Zillow estimate to almost $5 million. But I keep saying David's house. I just want to note, I know this is kind of confusing, but apparently this wasn't actually or isn't actually David's house. Now, some reports say that this is David's manager's house. Some say the manager helped him secure the house. But it is mostly reported that his manager rented the house and had been since about 2019. And David stayed there when he was in LA. This is a four bed, four bath, 4,000 square foot house. So either, you know, if this is David's manager's house, maybe that's not his primary house, or he just has that extra space and says, hey, yeah, come stay here whenever you're in la. That's so normal for people in the industry. So this would also explain why David's Tesla was parked out on the street despite the house having three garages. Especially with his tour starting in San Diego and ending in la. Like maybe he was staying at the house for a while, left his car out front while he was on tour because he knew that he was going to come back for it. But because reports state that his car was found about a block away from this house, it wasn't directly in front of the house that he was staying at and therefore it was not familiar to the neighbors when it had been sitting out there for a while.

[Daphne]

Yeah, the neighbors kind of saw this car. They're like, that's really weird. Also, on top of that, the car had Texas license plates, which we will get into here in a second.

[Heath]

Yeah, actually I'm going to go into that now, but I want to say I, I don't want this to be confusing. So like I said, Celeste remains were found in a black Tesla at a tow yard. Right. That black Tesla was registered to David. So I'm just telling you how the car got to the tow yard, which is why I was like, let's go back. But yeah, if you didn't already know that, that would not be obvious. So I'm sorry for not clearing that up. So his car, his black Tesla with Texas plates, like Heath just said, because he grew up in Texas, had been parked out on the street outside of the house that his manager apparently rents for, quote, some time, essentially just collecting dust out on the street. So his car is parked outside. We don't know exactly how long, probably a few weeks based on what people are saying. But according to ABC News, quote, one neighbor remembered seeing the distinct looking Tesla parked on the street for some time in front of David's house that he was staying at and later in two other parking spots on the street. Now this is tough because we don't know dates. So was it wow, like, wow. In our head we're wondering, while David was on tour, was the car being moved to different spots on the street? Did this neighbor see it in different spots over the course of the summer itself?

[Daphne]

Like, yeah. Did that happen before he even went on tour? Like that timeline of when the car was moved? We don't know.

[Heath]

Yeah, that's why it's hard, because they're saying that and in their head they might be saying, oh, well, yeah, it moved. I saw it in different spots over the last three months. Like we don't know when, if it was recently moved, if it was moved while he was on tour. That would be very important to know, especially because as we're going to get into in a second, Celeste, remains were found in that car. So if somebody else had access to the car, that's really important for us to know. But we can't tell right now, especially based on these neighbors accounts.

[Daphne]

Yes, there is a lot, I will say real quick, there's a lot that's probably going to come out in the next couple weeks. I'm assuming more connections, probably a lot more information. But this is as up to date with information as we have for the.

[Heath]

Car, though we at least know right now that it was in the same spot for, quote, some time, like I said, and long enough for it to be considered abandoned for it, you know, for it to be towed. Right. So, you know, even if your car, which I didn't know this until this happened to Heath and I, even if your car is on the street in front of your house, it can be towed if it's there for a while. If somebody reports it, like if a neighbor doesn't know what car you have and they see a car parked out on their street for a couple weeks, they can call and say, hey, get this car off my street.

[Daphne]

Yeah, that's exactly what happened to us. We had a long driveway and our car was parked down at the bottom of the driveway and it had just been there. We hadn't been driving that car and it got towed, you know.

[Heath]

Yeah, we lived in the hills near where David lived and it was a really narrow street, so we never wanted to put our car up there. And then we just didn't use that car for a couple weeks and then suddenly the car was gone and we Were like, oh, my God, did our car get stolen? So we called the police. Then we called a tow yard, and it got towed because basically a parking. Like, parking enforcement thought that it was abandoned. They had driven by a couple times over the course of a week, saw it was still there in the same exact spot. Like, I guess they even marked our.

[Daphne]

Tire, and we just didn't know, had no idea.

[Heath]

So I bet, honestly, that same thing happened here. David's on tour. His car is parked out on the street. Maybe parking enforcement thought that it was abandoned. I mean, it was very dirty. There's pictures of it, it's covered in dirt. There's. There's bird shit on it. Like, all we know is that it was there for a certain amount of time. And then a citizen complained about it being there. One report said, for, quote, more than 72 hours. But like I said, more than 72 hours could be a month, we don't know.

[Daphne]

Yeah, could have been. So this all leads us to September 6, 2025, when David's Black Tesla was taken to a Hollywood tow yard. Actually, it's called Hollywood tow yard. So two days later, on Monday, September 8, 2025, employees of this tow yard noticed a foul smell coming from the Tesla's trunk, or I should say its Frunk, which is the trunk that's located in the front of the car, since it's a Tesla, of course, and Tesla's don't have conventional engines. Now, this Tesla is a Model 3, and it has a front trunk and a back trunk, and the back of which is larger, like a regular sedan's trunk. And the Frunk is notably smaller, approximately 30 inches wide, 20 inches deep, and 15 inches tall. So think just a bit bigger than a Carry on suitcase. Now, interestingly, the frunk is known to be mostly airtight, so some people even put, like, special Tesla insulated bags in the Frunk to make it a cooler or to just, like, store groceries while they're driving. But still, employees of this tow yard noticed a foul odor emitting from the Tesla's Frunk after it was brought in. So naturally, they opened it up to find something horrific. Inside the frunk in a plastic bag, were dismembered human remains. The police were called immediately, with LAPD responding to the scene. And after an autopsy, the remains were determined to belong to Celeste Rivas. It has yet to be released when she was last seen by her family and when she died. But according to reports, her severely decomposed, severed head, torso, and arm were found in a plastic bag in that Frunk. Her cause of death was either not determined or or has not been released and the same goes for her manner of death. So we can't even yet call this a homicide. But police really aren't releasing much at all because of course this is an ongoing investigation. So quickly, in less than a day, police linked and announced that this Tesla was registered to David Anthony Burke, also known as the music artist David, and the investigation into Celeste's likely murder began.

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Get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com goingwest that's betterhelp.com goingwest. Although a date of death has yet to be determined or released, Celeste's remains were severely decomposed. And the medical examiner stated that her body was inside the vehicle for, quote, an extended period of time.

[Daphne]

And also something that we need to mention is that in Los Angeles in the summer, of course, like most places, it's very, very hot. It's very dry.

[Heath]

It has been so hot here.

[Daphne]

Yeah, too. Yes. So remains being in the frunk of a car, that's going to accelerate the decomposition process. And it's probably going to emit those, those fumes or those sm, those smells a lot quicker because of the time frame.

[Heath]

And I'm glad you brought that up because that also makes it harder to determine the date of death because the heat itself could be advancing that decomposition. Especially even though you said that it was pretty airtight, that you could put, like an insulated bag in it, the frunk itself isn't insulated, at least not like, like automatically. Like, you can add certain Features to your Tesla, of course. But, yeah, so, so that's, that makes it harder because it was out on the street, out in the sun, out in the heat for X amount of time. Now, knowing David's Tesla had been abandoned on the street for likely at least a few weeks while he was away on tour, this could mean that she was killed shortly before he left, while he was gone, or even significantly before he left for tour. Because the last official report of her being missing was in the spring of 2024, almost a year and a half ago. So we can't even be sure yet when she was concretely last seen. We are going to dive into where she could have been for a lot of that time in a bit or.

[Daphne]

Some, you know, some sightings that have not been fully confirmed.

[Heath]

Right. But. But that's part of the more like potential conspiratorial side of things, even though I do believe that. But I do believe we know where she was.

[Daphne]

You and I both believe that it was her in those photos.

[Heath]

Yeah, that she was with David. I'll just say it now, but we'll get into that soon. So it has been released that her head, torso and arm were found in the frunk in the front trunk. But here is what else the county of Los Angeles medical examiner released, quote, the person whose remains were discovered, Celeste Rivas, in The vehicle was 5:2, weighed 71 pounds, had wavy black hair and was wearing a tube top and black, or, sorry, small black leggings. Now, I said earlier she was 5 3, so this is an inch shorter. But that could just be a simple, you know, I'm 5 10. Somebody else could say I'm five, nine and a half, you know, so let's just, just that's, that's neither here nor there. But the, the 71 pounds is interesting because that's 50 pounds lighter than what her missing poster says. But also decomp, you know, loss of fluids, loss of soft tissue, and missing remains here. Because it does seem like not all of her remains were in that plastic bag in the frunk could absolutely factor into that. So Celeste's remains were found on September 8, the day after her 15th birthday. So again, we can safely assume that she died at some point while she was still 14, even though she went missing when she was 13. So this, I think, is a big part of why, you know, with their age gap with David this year being 20, why this news spread like wildfire, especially because as well, David is a growing rising music artist. He had. Has a couple million followers on instagram he's signed to a major label, Interscope, but automatically a lot of people, at first, even when I was talking about this to our friends, they were like, oh, well, he's on tour, so he couldn't have done it. And maybe he was framed. Like, you know, he. He's not even in town. He's in Seattle right now. Like, a lot of people were talking about those items and, oh, somebody must have stolen his car. And there was all these things going around, but as you and I both know, he. There are no reports that his car was stolen. Yeah, it was right out front of the house he had been staying at, just around the block. And, you know, now with everything that's coming out, the photos of David and Celeste allegedly together, it's painting a very grim picture.

[Daphne]

Yeah. So left and right, his career is being affected. I mean, rightfully so, if he is a pedophile or a murderer or both. But her body was found on September 8th. David had the night off of Tor to travel from his September 7th gig in Madison, Wisconsin, to his September 9th gig in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And September 9th was the same day that the first article started popping up on ABC, etc. That David was connected to the Tesla that the human remains were found in. Only reporting a decomposing body in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to singer David. And still he continued to play shows. He wasn't arrested. He wasn't even publicly stating that he was innocent. He was just continuing his tour as if all these articles weren't out there on the Internet.

[Heath]

Well, and it's interesting, you know, Heath was looking on TikTok earlier, just trying to see, okay, when was the last show that he played? Was he just performing? And I think that was kind of a crazy week for the news. You know, if that was coming out on the 9th, I personally didn't really, even being in LA, didn't start really hearing a lot about it until Celeste's name was announced a few days after that. Yeah, but I think most of the news, as we know, was focused on Charlie Kirk's assassination that occurred on September 10th. So the day after it was released that it was David's Tesla. And that really dominated headlines for days. And then this story started kind of trickling back in, especially once her name was released and people started making the connection between Celeste and David based on what we have on social media.

[Daphne]

Right. So speaking of her being named, four days after she was found on September 12 is when the news began releasing her name. And that's when Internet sleuths started linking them together. But before we dive into that, it wasn't until September 15 that David played his last show, and that last show he played was in Portland, Oregon, canceling the remainder of his US tour and Europe tour. So he didn't end up playing the Seattle show that he was scheduled to play on September 16, because the news really was everywhere by then. And then, of course, on top of that, he did not play his San Francisco show that was scheduled for September 19, or his LA show that was on September 20, which obviously is three days before this episode is coming out. Now, right now, we do not know exactly where David is or what he's said to police. All that's stated is that he is cooperating. So, yeah, right now nobody knows if he's in la, if he's in Texas or where the hell he is. All we know is that he canceled the rest of his tour after that September 15th show in Portland, Oregon.

[Heath]

But of course, this is a bad look, like a 20 year old rising musician could have been dating a 14 year old girl, could have potentially murdered her. So tell us, tell us what's happened. Yeah, since.

[Daphne]

So essentially Interscope has stopped promoting him and his tour, which obviously has been canceled anyway. And they also halted the release of his deluxe album, which was set to release on September 19th. And then on top of that, Crocs and Hollister have removed him from their joint campaign and various artists that have collabs with him are pulling all of their collabs down. They're like, we don't want to be connected to him right now. Then on September 17, a search warrant was conducted on the house on Doheny, place that David reportedly was staying at. Considering the fact that Celeste was reportedly dismembered. They're looking for the crime scene here as well as any other evidence that could paint the full picture here. Now, based on photos taken from outside the house as it was being searched. Since the media is all over this case, a computer and several other items were seized from that house. According to the lapd, several items of evidence were recovered and will be analyzed by detectives in the coming days. This is an ongoing investigation. Investigators are following up on several leads.

[Heath]

Well, let's talk quickly about an angle that I think a lot of you guys are probably curious about. That was like one of the first things Heath and I started talking about behind the scenes when we learned about this case is the fact that her remains were found in a Tesla.

[Daphne]

Yeah, that is a big deal because.

[Heath]

As many of you know, the Tesla Model 3 and pretty much all. I think all Teslas have the same amount of cameras. I can't be sure, though. I do not have one. They have eight exterior cameras, plus a cabin camera, driver facing camera. So that's nine cameras total. None of the cameras record inside the locked frunk. Understandable. But, you know, I was kind of wondering, would the cameras have picked up up because the remains got into the front of David's Tesla somehow? Whether he put them in there or somebody else did. They got in there. So who put them in there? And when. There's so many factors here. There's a lot of different. There's something called sentry mode, and that is a security feature on a Tesla that uses the car's external cameras and its many sensors around the car to detect suspicious activity. So this is like, you know, will trigger an alarm if somebody gets close to your car. So that will help deter somebody before they try to break in.

[Daphne]

Yeah, and we actually saw a lot of this happening when people were, like, keying Teslas and stuff. Those cameras were being used to figure out who was doing it.

[Heath]

Right. So if you have sentry mode activated, if somebody gets close to the car at any time, from my research, that the car will record it. Now, those recordings will only be saved if you have a USB connected. If you don't have a USB connected, then the files can be deleted. But, you know, so I kind of would doubt that these would, you know, maybe he didn't have sentry mode activated. So if he didn't have sentry mode, if the car is off, it's not just going to be recording somebody next to the car at all times. So if the remains were put. If Celeste remains were put in the car when the car was off and sentry mode was not activated, then the car's cameras would not have recorded it. But apparently, from my research, when the frunk or the trunk is opened, that is recorded in the car's data. So assuming that's the case for David's exact Tesla, police might be able to determine when the last time the frunk was open before her remains were found. Which would tell us when they were put in there.

[Daphne]

Right, because you'd imagine that if David didn't really use his frunk that often, they could go back and check and see how many times the frunk was opened and, you know, what the date was. Because it's possible that he didn't even really use that frunk for anything else. It's possible. Or maybe he did. Maybe he used it all the time. One other thing I wanted to bring up, though, real quick is the fact that on that street in that bird area.

[Heath]

The Bird street, that bird area, it's a neighborhood called the Bird Streets. For anybody who's not familiar, it's just. It's just a neighborhood.

[Daphne]

Yeah. So the Bird Streets, that area, there's a lot of very expensive houses up there. Okay. So just thinking about that angle, I'm sure that a lot of those houses probably have security cameras that surround the property.

[Heath]

100%.

[Daphne]

That's another thing that I think police are probably looking into right now to determine if they can see anything, if they can get footage from people's cameras from around that neighborhood and just sift through it the best they can, 100%.

[Heath]

There's probably going to be a lot of footage like that, which I think spoiler alert is why there have not been arrests made in the case. Because they have so much to go through and they want to get this right.

[Daphne]

Right. That's another thing I wanted to mention is that a lot of people are saying, hey, why has nobody been arrested? Why has David not been arrested? Well, it's because this is an ongoing investigation. Police are taking it slow. They're gathering all the evidence that they can because, like you said, they want to get it right. Because if they do it wrong, there would be no conviction.

[Heath]

If they don't present enough to a judge to garner that. That arrest warrant, they'll need to get even more evidence and come back at a later date. And they can't. They can't get it wrong. They need a slam dunk case. Which we, in our opinion, from what we have, from all the circumstantial evidence, we're like, hello, ding, ding, ding.

[Daphne]

Of course. And that's what everybody thinks.

[Heath]

But they need, like, the real shit. But honestly, I will be so surprised if there is not damning video evidence of this.

[Daphne]

Yeah.

[Heath]

Somewhere from that neighborhood. Because everybody in this area has cameras. So.

[Daphne]

So I guess, you know, the main thing here is just patience because I do think that they're trying to get it right, and I do think that there will be an arrest sometime soon, probably within the next week or two.

[Heath]

Well, for anybody who has not been keeping up with this case or has not been reading about it, you might have for the last 40 minutes been wondering what the hell is even the connection between Celeste and David. Sorry to keep you guys waiting so long, but let's go into that. So, obviously, as we have stated, there was an age gap between Celeste Rivas Hernandez and David Anthony Burke. When she went missing in April and May of 2024, she was only 13 years old. David, however, back in that time was 19. Which is disgusting, of course.

[Daphne]

Gross.

[Heath]

If they were in a relationship or even a friendship, you know, honestly, there's no reason for that, right? They're not family members, they're not family friends. It has been reported that they met on social media. Even the teacher said they met on social media. This is, is just not acceptable. So, you know, there's, there's really a lot to speculate on here. Like I was going through his TikTok because he posts a lot on TikTok and a week before she went missing the first time, really I want to say she ran away that time because she ran away a few times the before. The first reported time that she ran away, remember that was on Valentine's Day. A week before that, February 7, 2024, David posted a video on TikTok with the text. When your car declines at therapy and they bring in that one hello Kitty girl you met in 2021. Now this was a promotional little tick tock. It's a six second video of him like slow motion on his knees collapsing onto the ground, the floor of his hotel room paired with a little audio clip of his then unreleased song leave Her. And it's like six seconds of the lyrics, I can't stop falling for her falling to the ground. Again, the text over it was when your car declines at therapy and they bring in that one hello Kitty girl you met in 2021. The caption said, now everything I wear is hello Kitty. Remember that? Let's put a pin in that for a second. Now unfortunately right now we're working with a lot of Internet sleuthing, a lot of circumstantial evidence, as we've said a hundred million times. And you know, we, Heath and I much prefer ongoing west to dig through actual evidence and verified claims. But we really wanted to cover this story. So take everything from here on out with a little grain of salt as police work hard to get answers for Celeste and her family. But there are a lot of photos, online videos that, that very much appear to be David and Celeste together on various occasions over the last couple years. As we stated earlier on Celeste's missing poster From April of 2024, she was last seen wearing hello Kitty sandals. There is a video circulating that was taken on the evening of Thursday, June 27, 2024. So weeks after she went missing for the last time in, in May of 2024. And this video shows a young girl wearing hello Kitty Crocs and a big, oversized black hoodie sweatshirt with the hood up, going backstage to David's concert with David's brother. This was at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, right here in Los Angeles. So it was a local show for Celeste. Right. This girl in the hello Kitty Crocs looks a lot. I want. I want to say right now that it's her, because I feel like that's her.

[Daphne]

Oh, I think it is her for.

[Heath]

Sure, but I'm saying it looks a lot like her because it has not been confirmed by her family or her circle that it's her. They have not spoken publicly about this particular video. But she has curly hair. You can even see it under the hood. And I remember when I first saw that video and I saw a picture of Celeste, I'm like, oh, well, Celeste has dark hair. And there's, like. This girl has, like, reddish tones to her hair, even though it looks like her face. And. And her hair is really curly. And then I saw this one other picture of Celeste, and at another time in her life when her hair was not, like, more black, it had red undertones, like. Like cherry red.

[Daphne]

Yeah. You can kind of see it just by the angle in which she's looking and also by the spotlight that's hitting her hair. Like, you can definitely see those kind of red undertones in her hair.

[Heath]

Right. So that would essentially be Celeste going backstage to a David concert in Hollywood on June 27, 2024.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And if you guys think that we're crazy, go look up the video, because I'll post it. Yeah, yeah, we'll post it for you guys, because I really do believe that that's her. The face. The face that you can see with the hood up. Yeah, I mean, it really does look like her.

[Heath]

It's like it's her. You know, it's like, we can't. We can't say. I can't tell you for sure it's her, but it's like, it's her. You know, there's that, and then there's also various photos of David. Like, photos he's posted, like, from that. He has also taken, like, it's a mirror selfie of him and a girl with super curly dark hair. Exactly like. Like Celeste had. And her. She's covering her face with her hand, or she's covering her face with her purse, which, like, she would probably do that because he is freaking 20 years old and she is 14.

[Daphne]

Yeah. If we're looking at the situation as it is, if he's gonna take photos with her, I'm sure that the conversation was, hey, you need to cover your face because I don't want people to know who you are. But there's also, like, a video of the two of them live streaming.

[Heath]

Yeah, we'll post that, too. There's.

[Daphne]

So there's a connection there.

[Heath]

Yeah. Last year, David livestreamed, and he is with a girl that looks exactly like the girl in the backstage video with the hello Kitty crocodile. Looks exactly like her. She has a big hoodie on. She has curly hair under the hood. She's wearing glasses, and she looks exactly like Celeste. And here they are on live stream together. So that. That brings a lot of questions as well, that it's like, he was almost public with her, but she's underage, so it's like, what. How was that happening? Like, it's just there's. There's so many questions surrounding the thought process here.

[Daphne]

Yeah. And I'm sure a lot of people are going towards or leaning towards, like, what. What is the motive here? Well, what could be the motive? The fact that he is a rising artist and potentially was in a relationship with an underage girl.

[Heath]

Well, I want to go back really quick to the hello Kitty thing, because I was just telling you guys about the TikTok that I found that he posted where he was like, the. The therapy. Your core gets declined at therapy. And the one girl from. That you met in 2021 with. Oh, God, I'm, like, butchering the hello.

[Daphne]

Kitty girl from 2021 that you met.

[Heath]

Thank you. So, you know, Celeste, allegedly, according to her clothes, loved hello Kitty. On the missing poster from April 2024, she was last seen wearing hello Kitty sandals. Did those mean hello Kitty Crocs?

[Daphne]

That's kind of. That's kind of what I was thinking is, like, maybe they said sandals, but really, I mean, if, like, you can kind of say they're kind of sandals. Yeah. So I wonder if that was just a discrepancy. And see, and, like, that's what they were talking about.

[Heath]

I completely agree. And that doesn't mean that there's only one hello Kitty girl in David's life, because I will say he's very into anime. His profile picture on Instagram is hello Kitty flipping somebody off with, like, a big explosion behind her. Like. Yeah, there's another picture that we're going to talk about where he has a hello Kitty mug and a hello Kitty shirt. So is he into hello Kitty because of Celeste? Was Celeste into hello Kitty. Because of David, like, it's just. It just felt like it was kind of worth mentioning.

[Daphne]

Well, there's also a lot of, like, Internet and gamer culture that's surrounded around David because actually, before he became a famous singer, he wanted to be a pro Fortnite player. That's actually how he got into. Apparently, he was streaming, playing Fortnite, and he was using music that wasn't licensed. Licensed, like music that he's not allowed to, like, show in his live streams. So his mom said, hey, why don't you make your own music, right, so that you don't have to use this or, like, have anything to do with, like, licensed music, and then you can use that music while you're streaming and playing Fortnite.

[Heath]

Which is really interesting because he has, like. He recently did, like, a theme song for. For Fortnite this year. Yeah, that's really interesting. It was probably, like, a big career moment for him as well, with his past with Fortnite. But, yeah, he's. He's definitely one of those, like, Twitch Discord kind of guys.

[Daphne]

Yes, of course. And there is a lot of people that follow him on those spaces.

[Heath]

There's also a lot of people talking about the fact that Celeste and David may have met on Discord and that there's an account that seems like it's Celeste and there's all this conversation between them.

[Daphne]

Could you guys tell that this is the speculation portion of the episode?

[Heath]

That's what I'm like. I wanted to tell, like, to say that first, because we want to. We want to address all this stuff, because this is what everybody's talking about, because a lot of the things we're going to bring up were kind of, like, partially debunking. So that's why we're bringing. Bringing all this up, really. But it's. It all stems back and goes back to the public's belief that Celeste Rivas and David were in a relationship, if we can even really call it a relationship, since she was a minor. And then after she disappeared in the spring of 2024, when she was 13, that she potentially ran away to stay with David, who would have been 19. Which would answer the question of why did she run away a few times and where did she go to David's. Where did she go between June of 2024, when she's most likely in that video, going backstage to his concert in Hollywood to now to her being found in the trunk of his Tesla? Like, that's over a year. So where was she that whole time? Well, Obviously, it depends when she was killed, but probably as it seems, she may have been with David.

[Daphne]

Right. And, you know, again, her family apparently said that she was dating a person named David, a person that they had never met before.

[Heath]

Right, of course. Which. Why would they meet him if this was a secret relationship? I also read some unverified claims that he paid off her friends not to talk about their relationship because she was so young. Again, that's unsubstantiated. But if that was the case and they were together, he would have reason for. For her. Her people in her circle not to know about it. So, you know, that's what makes this case very touchy. But here's a little bit more of a concrete thing. Something that has been that was actually reported very early on after her identity was released, is the fact that David and Celeste have matching tattoos. The medical examiner who performed Celeste's autopsy found the tattoo Shh.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Like shushing someone. Like, shh.

[Heath]

On her right index finger. So, like, if you put up your index finger to shush somebody. To shush somebody, it will say Shh on it. This is a tattoo that David also has. I tried to figure out when he got this tattoo. I literally zoomed in on every photo of him over the last two years on his Instagram, and I couldn't figure out when he got it. To me, I feel like he got it this year because I didn't see it on his fingers last year. But that's really interesting.

[Daphne]

That is an extremely interesting thing to.

[Heath]

Note, especially because this year she turned 14. Or she would have turned 15 this year, of course, but this year she was 14. So if she has a tattoo on her finger that says Shh on it, that's illegal. You can't have a Tattoo at age 14 in the state of California. I don't even think you can anywhere in the US So somebody would have given her this tattoo. Perhaps she got it with David. Maybe they got it together. Maybe she got it before or after him.

[Daphne]

But the most important thing to note is that they both have that tattoo.

[Heath]

Yeah, it's not a super unique one. Rihanna has this tattoo. Like a lot of people have this. Lindsay Lohan has this tattoo, but they both have it, and that's interesting.

[Daphne]

So let's talk a little bit about David's music, his music videos, his social media, because, you know, obviously there's a lot going on behind the scenes. There's a lot of things going flying around on the Internet, like we've said.

[Heath]

Yeah. Down the rabbit hole.

[Daphne]

Yeah. But I want to touch back on the anime thing. So here's an audio clip of David being interviewed on the breakdown in March of 2025. So here's that clip.

[DSW Ad Voice]

And I had the idea to kind of make this first music video introduced a character that I had been kind of ideating for a really long time. That's why you see him with the blindfold and the bloody shirt aesthetic and the bow tie. I'm really big into anime, and I'm really big into manga, and I wanted to make my own manga series at one point. And I was writing a lot of poems and writing a lot of things for it. And a big part of that manga was an evil version of me named Itami, which means pain in Japanese. And he wears his blindfold, and he's basically an agent of chaos and kind of my alter ego. And the story of the manga went like, I was a detective, and there was an evil version of myself that would kind of come out at random moments, kind of like Fight Club with Tyler Durden. And he would commit the crimes that I would have to solve as the detective. So, like, when I was as a detective, I'd be like. Like solving murders that I'm committing myself. And it was like a cool little story. I didn't think anything would come of it. Like, it was in the vault for, like, months and months and months. And I introduced it for the first time on screen because I had the opportunity with music to kind of explore this idea further with the Romantic Homicide music video. And people were asking so many questions. I was like, yo, this is kind of fire. Because, like, nobody would have ever heard of it if it wasn't for this music video. But Atami was a staple of this music video. You kind of see him throughout the entire thing. He's holding the knife with the bloody thing. You get the girl who's basically at the ghost of the person that he killed was his first victim in the manga. And I put that all on screen. And me and Taimi had a great time just, like, chopping it up and getting to kind of merge creative ideas on the entire thing. And the Bloody Rose aesthetic was birthed in that music video as well. And kind of me representing my entire artistry through this rose, which is like, beautiful things can hurt you with the stems having thorns on. I mean, that became my entire aesthetic for like. Like, the rest of time. I kind of still, even to this day, use that Bloody Rose to kind of show how beautiful things can hurt you even through music. Like, music is very beautiful. But it can also hurt you with the lyrics or make you think about certain things in your own life that make you think about painful things and stuff like that.

[Daphne]

And the blindfolded character with blood on him has showed up in numerous videos of his. Actually, earlier we spoke about his song Romantic Homicide, which came out in July of 2022. But the music video featuring this alter ego of David's was released on Celeste's birthday, September 7, 2022, which would have been her 12th birthday. And there is absolutely no confirmation that they knew each other at that point. Could this just be a coincidence? We really don't know. But it's very likely that David did have control over when that video was released. Because. Because after dropping the single In July of 2022, major labels started kinda chasing him and he didn't sign with Interscope until mid to late September of 2022. So after that video came out, now we can assume, just based on how major labels operate, that Interscope was fully in charge of when music and music videos released after that point. Now we're bringing this up because it definitely is strange how much that date comes up. Now on TikTok, Celeste seemingly used to have the username 0907. So September 7th and on January 25th, 2024. So a couple weeks before she originally went missing again on Valentine's Day, David posted a photo slide on TikTok that included a picture of him holding a hello Kitty mug wearing a hello Kitty shirt with the text across it that says who had the best outfit in 2016. And then when you swipe, it's a school picture of him. Now, that day, a user who appears to be a teenage boy commented, please adopt me, I need it. Then afterwards, David replied, 0907, should we? And then when you click on the user 0907, it's a private account with a new username of 825-391-1964. It's like a randomly generated name and it has a black profile picture, so it's blank and then just no bio. Now we can guess. Obviously not confirm that this account could have belonged to Celeste. If it did, this could confirm that they were dating or possibly just hanging out in January of 2024 leading up to her running away in February again when she was 13 and David was about to turn 19.

[Heath]

It's just. It's kind of hard to ignore these little things, you know, like, yes, at 0907 could be somebody else. But it's just weird. It's like I was trying to see if he replied to any other comments like that. And he didn't. It's almost like, oh, should we. Like there was, there wasn't even a question mark after. It was just, should we? At 0907. Should we, we. Yeah, that you would imagine that if you're tagging, if that is Celeste and they're dating, it's like, oh, should we as a couple adopt this person?

[Daphne]

Not actually like as a joke.

[Heath]

Yeah. But it's still like, huh, like, yeah, it just makes you think.

[Daphne]

And normally you probably wouldn't respond to very many comments like on pages like that, you know, because it's like you're a music artist.

[Heath]

Yeah. You don't really get a lot of comments.

[Daphne]

Yeah. So, but the fact that he, he's, he's adding that username or atting that username means something. I feel like.

[Heath]

Well, another thing that has come up in the same kind of theme of just that's a little weird. Come up a lot in the news and online discourse on this case. And it's the music video for his song One More Dance, which released on February 6, 2025, which includes a couple. It's actors Nicholas Page and Layla Gross. And they, together in the video, place David's body in the trunk of a white vehicle. Obviously we can understand why this is being discussed right now, especially with the lead actress having super curly dark hair. But with David being a part of a major label, it's possible that this idea and the casting had nothing to do with him. He also could have suggested the idea to the director, a guy named Cody laplant, but we really can't be sure. I mean, either way, it's definitely a little strange. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. I asked my brother in law about this because he shoots, he's a DP and he shoots a ton of music videos. And he was like, yeah, he definitely could have given that idea to the director. But I've probably shot 10 music videos with bodies going in trunks. And I was like, yeah, it's not like the most unique idea.

[Daphne]

Totally. It is a, it is a very common theme amongst music videos, of course, but still, I guess just given the context of what is going on, the fact that Celeste was found in that frunk, it's just, yeah, it does feel weird. And that's where a lot of these conspiracies are coming from. That's where a lot of the discourse, as you mentioned online, is coming from. Because people are like that, you know, they're listening to his songs to see if there are any hidden clues and things like that. In fact, I just saw that his song Romantic Homicide just exploded on the charts in the last couple days after they found Celeste's body in the front of his car. So it's weird that people. And maybe it's just people trying to find those context clues, but I do feel like it's very strange timing that now that song in particular is exploding.

[Heath]

Well, I think it is. Is because of that. It is because everyone's like, what? He has a song called Romantic Homicide and now he's linked to a potential murder. What? A lot of people aren't connecting it to a timeline. And yes, to be fair, we can't connect it to a timeline either because we don't know when he and Celeste met. We don't know his role in what happened to her. You were. You played that tick tock to me earlier where. Where. You know, that song that you really wonderfully sang for us earlier.

[Daphne]

Thanks. Yeah.

[Heath]

Where he says, I don't care how long it takes, as long as I'm with you, I've got a smile on my face. Save your tears, It'll be okay. You're here with me. That's how the song goes. And he's not the only writer on that song. There's two other writers on it. But someone was like, oh, my God, he wrote this song about that's being with an underage girl. And they're putting it out there like it's a fact. And it's like, well, we have no idea what that song is about. Somebody could have written that song for him. He could have one line that he contributed to this song.

[Daphne]

That's so true.

[Heath]

And we don't know.

[Daphne]

I think that's the most important thing in happening now cases is that we don't get ahead of ourselves. We try to lay out the facts that are, you know, concretely have been put out there. One. One more time, I'm going to say patience, because I feel like in this next week there's going to be a lot more information that's going to come forward.

[Heath]

Well, even one last more conspiratorial thing. I wanted to talk about the Celeste song. And I even asked you, Heath, before we got in the studio today, do we even know if this is a real song or is it AI?

[Daphne]

Yeah, apparently there's. There's a song that was leaked, I think it was on SoundCloud, that people are saying is David's song, and it's called Celeste. The lyrics I found kind of interesting for sure.

[Heath]

Let's see. They are. So it says. Recorded in late December 2023, Celeste is an unreleased song allegedly about David's former partner, Celeste. So does that Celeste Rivas, Is it a different Celeste? You and I, Heath, were also just talking about the fact before we got in the studio that there many music artists make songs about a girl or whatever, or about a boy or whoever. And the name is not the same name as who the song is about. Our friend John has a song called Gloria. That song isn't about anybody in particular. And he doesn't even know a woman named Gloria.

[Daphne]

Yeah, he just made up the name.

[Heath]

Yeah. So sometimes it's like, oh, Celeste rhymes with blank. So I'm using the name Celeste, but because of what's happening, people are saying, is this the Celeste?

[Daphne]

Yeah. And I want to read just some lyrics from that song, of course, again, take it with a grain of salt. But these are the lyrics of that song, Celeste. So it goes, 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. Oh, Celeste.

[Heath]

I mean, who knows? When this first started breaking, I looked on his Instagram to see if he was following any Celeste, and he was following one who is now no longer on his follow list. So I don't know if she changed her name because it seems like she was getting a lot of DMS because her bio was. Was not that Celeste. So is it possible there's another Celeste in his life? You know, this is the kind of, like, conversation everybody's having.

[Daphne]

You can. You can go down the rabbit hole. But as far as right now, as far as what we do know is David canceled his tour. He has not been arrested. He is apparently cooperating with the LAPD and detectives. We know that Celeste remains were found in David's Tesla in that tow yard. So everything else, Everything else that you could bring up, everything could be just a lot of speculation that will not be confirmed. Who knows if it will? But again, those are the facts of the case that we have.

[Heath]

Yeah. After Celeste Rivas Hernandez's remains were found, her family created a GoFundMe link. They were asking for $20,000 to lay Celeste to rest, which has currently surpassed or has since surpassed its goal. It's going on 25,000 as of today. But her family is desperate for answers. They have not done any media interviews. The only thing I've seen that they've really said is, like, Celeste's mom told tmz like, they've only talked to tmz, interestingly enough. Well, her. Her parents names aren't even on the Internet. Like, they're not really talking yet. I think they're very much trying to navigate this impossible situation, really just wanting swift justice for their daughter. They're probably so confused that she went missing numerous times. They probably didn't know where she was or if she was okay. And now they have met their worst nightmare.

[Daphne]

The other thing that we do know is that last night there was a vigil that was held for Celeste in Lake Elsinore where a lot of community members came together asking the same questions. What happened and who did this?

[Heath]

So if you have any information on the disappearance and believed murder of Celeste Rivas, please call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Also, because she was an active missing person in Riverside, we know that Officer Contreras was a part of that investigation with the Riverside Sheriff's Department. That number is 951-776-1099. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West.

[Daphne]

Yes. Yes. Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. If you want to see photos from this case that is happening right now, head on over to our Instagram. We're on Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're also on Facebook. And also I want to say that we're going to try and keep you guys updated with anything new that comes out. We may do a part 2 if more information is released in the next couple weeks.

[Heath]

Yeah, we definitely will see. I mean, obviously it feels like the police are working so hard on this. They're really trying to get it right. So not a ton of new information has come out over the last few days, but they could be moments, days from a huge break. We're actually recording this episode on Monday, so the day before this comes out, just so it's the most up to date. So, yeah, this is. This is the very most recent information and we will keep you guys updated. Follow our socials, subscribe here, wherever you're listening on Spotify, Apple, wherever. And we will see you guys on Friday.

[Daphne]

All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the.

[Heath]

World, don't be a stranger.

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