Tesla ticketed Beforeโข Discovery of Body in Trunk
A โTeslaโฃ registered to musician David Anthony Burke, knownโ professionally as D4Vd, received a parking citation 11 days before the discovery โฃofโ aโฃ deceased female in itsโฃ trunk. The vehicle was ticketed by Los Angeles authorities on Bluebird Avenue in the Hollywood Hills, an area near where the victim resided.
Law enforcement sourcesโ andโข records indicate residents began complaining about the tesla remainingโฃ parked onโฃ the street in late August.On August 27th, a parking enforcement officer documented the vehicle’sโ tire position. A citation was issued on September 3rd for violating the city’s 72-hour parking ordinance. The Tesla was afterward impounded and โtowed to โขthe Hollywood tow yard on September 5th.
The grim โฃdiscovery occurred three daysโ later. On September 8th, a towโข yard worker noticed a suspicious odor emanating from the vehicle and alerted โLos โAngeles police.โฃ A detective secured a search warrant and opened the trunk, revealing aโฃ black holdall containing the heavily decomposed remainsโ of Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
Hernandez,who weighed 71 pounds โขand hadโค a โฃ”Shhh” tattoo on her finger,was identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. She had recently turned 15,havingโ passed her birthday the day before her body was found.
Hernandez was a seventh-grade student from Lake Elsinore, approximately 76 miles southeast of Hollywood. Her family had reported her missing to the Riverside County Sheriff’s office on at โขleast three occasions in 2024.
Police detectives are investigating the โcircumstances surroundingโข Hernandez’s death andโ attempting to determine theโฃ duration the Tesla was parked on Bluebird Avenue and when her body was placed โinside.โค Burke is cooperating with the investigation.
Investigators executed a โขsearch โwarrant at โขBurke’s rental property north ofโฃ Sunset Boulevard,recovering โฃelectronics and โcomputers. Burke, who released his debut album “Withered” in April,โ had โbeen on a national โขtour promoting the album โsince early August. The tour was canceled as the investigation progressed. “Withered” reached No. 13โฃ on โฃthe Billboard 200 and has garnered โขover 521 million โstreams on Spotify. On โฃSeptember 7th, Burke announced a deluxe โขversion of the album on Instagram, his last social media post beforeโ the discovery.
Times staff writers Nathanโ Solis and Salvador โHernandez contributed to this โreport.
