The Hollywood Horror: Private Investigator’s Bombshell Theory Places Slain Teen’s Death Inside D4vd’s Mansion Months Early

The discovery was as gruesome as it was deeply unsettling, instantly transforming a routine impoundment into a celebrity-adjacent mystery that has gripped the nation. On September 8, 2025, in the heart of Hollywood, workers at a tow yard detected an overwhelming, putrid stench emanating from an abandoned Tesla. This was no ordinary impound vehicle; it was registered to David Anthony Burke, the 20-year-old viral singing sensation known to millions as D4vd. When LAPD officers responded and opened the front trunk, they uncovered a horrific secret: the severely decomposed remains of a young girl, wrapped in plastic packaging.

The victim was later identified as 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a teen runaway missing from Lake Elenor since April 2024. For a brief, agonizing period, the public narrative focused on the car, the singer, and the unsettling question of how a young fan’s body ended up in the vehicle of a star on the rise. However, the initial horror has since given way to an even darker, more complex story, thanks to a parallel investigation initiated by a desperate property owner. The findings of this private probe suggest that Celeste’s death—and the subsequent, calculated actions of a culprit—occurred months before the Tesla was abandoned, placing the tragic event squarely inside a Hollywood Hills home rented by D4vd.

The Unsettling Discovery and the Star’s Shadow

The vehicle, which had been towed from a street near the Hollywood Hills on September 5 after racking up parking tickets, had been sitting at the Mansfield Avenue tow yard for only three days when the foul odor demanded attention. The decomposition of the body was so advanced that forensic experts concluded death had occurred weeks, possibly even months, earlier. This time gap immediately introduced a layer of sinister mystery. While the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office deferred the cause of death—a common practice in cases of advanced decomposition that require extensive toxicology reports—the victim’s identity was quickly confirmed through distinct identifying markers.

Among the clothing and jewelry, a haunting detail broke the case wide open: a simple “sh” tattoo on the victim’s right index finger. This seemingly small piece of ink became the lynchpin connecting the deceased teen to the chart-topping artist. Fans and online sleuths immediately pointed out that D4vd reportedly possessed the very same tattoo, leading to a frenzy of speculation that the two were in contact, possibly even in a relationship. The evidence mounted with the revelation of an unreleased D4vd song allegedly bearing Celeste’s name in the title, fueling a social media firestorm that propelled the investigation into a full-blown current affairs crisis.

D4vd, whose career had exploded from creating music for YouTube Fortnite montages to a major record deal with Interscope, watched his world collapse in an instant. His entire Withered World Tour was canceled, album promotions were halted, and lucrative brand partnerships with major companies like Hollister and Crocs were terminated. The singer, who has retained high-profile defense attorney Blair Burke, has remained publicly silent, though he is reportedly cooperating with law enforcement. His actions—transferring two Houston-area properties to his mother just days after the body’s discovery and the subsequent police raid—were seen by many as clear attempts to distance himself from the brewing legal and financial storm.

The Landlord’s Frustration and the PI’s Intervention

The LAPD initially treated the case as an “open-death investigation,” carefully emphasizing that no immediate evidence of foul play had been confirmed. However, the official process was anything but quiet. Nine days after the discovery, LAPD officers executed a search warrant at the luxurious Hollywood Hills mansion D4vd had been renting for a staggering $20,000 per month. The extensive raid was methodical, involving the seizure of the property’s digital video recorder (DVR) from the surveillance system and forensic testing for blood or tissue, even searching the home’s drains.

Yet, it was the frustration of the property owner, Meadin Trafunovich, that ultimately led to the most explosive revelations. Trafunovich claimed he received almost no communication from the LAPD following the raid, leaving him and his family desperate for answers about what might have transpired on their property. Feeling stonewalled by the official investigation, Trafunovich made a bold and pivotal decision: he hired his own private investigator, the seasoned professional Steve Fischer, to conduct a parallel probe.

Fischer’s involvement immediately began to reshape the entire narrative. Through his own legwork, the PI was able to obtain surveillance footage from neighboring properties in the Hollywood Hills, capturing a crucial piece of the timeline: the last known movement of the now-infamous Tesla.

A New, Chilling Timeline Emerges

Fischer’s investigation confirmed that the Tesla had been moved to its final, ill-fated parking spot on or around July 29th, shortly before D4vd was scheduled to begin his now-canceled tour. Furthermore, the car itself was described as “super dirty,” covered in “caked on dirt,” indicating prolonged disuse. Fischer noted that when the car was moved, “it was already like that,” meaning the body was concealed long before the July abandonment. The investigator has publicly stated that he has identified the driver of the Tesla when it was moved to its final spot, a name he has deliberately withheld due to the ongoing LAPD case, but which has been communicated directly to law enforcement.

However, the most shocking element of Fischer’s findings involved the true timeline and location of Celeste’s death. Based on physical evidence he collected, the PI theorized that Celeste’s death occurred not in July, but much earlier—potentially as far back as January or February 2025. Furthermore, he believes the tragedy did not occur in the mansion that was raided, but at a different rental property D4vd had occupied located just one mile down the same Hollywood Hills street.

“I tend to believe it happened a while ago, a long time ago. And I think January, February things change,” Fischer told reporters, referencing the abrupt shift he observed in the situation. This revelation transforms the case from a tragedy resulting from a spontaneous bad decision into a long-term, calculated operation of concealment.

‘Scary, Sadistic Stuff’: The Sinister Implication

Fischer’s description of his findings left no doubt about the darker implications of the case. He chillingly referred to what he found as “scary, sadistic stuff,” suggesting that there may have been elaborate, though ultimately failed, attempts to dispose of Celeste’s body permanently. The PI theorized that while Celeste’s death might have been a tragic drug overdose—a scenario that would align with initial reports being treated as an “open-death investigation”—the subsequent actions were undeniably criminal.

“A crime 100% happened here. At minimum, it’s the concealment of a body, right? So we know somebody did that,” Fischer stated plainly. This legal distinction is crucial: even if a death is accidental, the act of wrapping a corpse in plastic, hiding it, and eventually abandoning it in a vehicle constitutes a serious felony, suggesting a panicked and prolonged cover-up by those involved. The meticulous concealment, potentially over a period of months, speaks to a desperate attempt to erase the incident from existence and protect a burgeoning, multi-million dollar career.

As of October 19, 2025, the case remains officially open. No suspects have been named, and no arrests have been made. The cloud of suspicion hangs heavily over D4vd, his career in shambles, his silence deafening. The delayed toxicology reports from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office are the final, crucial piece of the puzzle, holding the key to confirming the cause of death and determining if the initial incident was truly accidental or something more heinous.

The combined efforts of the LAPD and the independent probe have painted a picture not just of a celebrity scandal, but of a profound human tragedy compounded by a stunning act of deception. The story of Celeste Rivas Hernandez—a vulnerable runaway whose life ended in the shadow of Hollywood success—is now inextricably linked to the dark secrets that can be hidden behind the glamorous façade of a viral music star. The public, the property owner, and Celeste’s family all wait for the definitive answer: who drove the car, what exactly happened inside that Hollywood home in the dead of winter, and when will justice finally be served for the teen whose life was tragically extinguished and then painstakingly concealed. The full truth, it seems, is far more disturbing than the abandoned car at the impound lot ever suggested.