Missing teen’s ‘severely decomposed’ body found in impounded Tesla registered to music star

Remains found inside a car at a Los Angeles impound lot last week have been identified as those of a teenage girl who had been missing since April 2024, authorities said this week. The car where her remains were found was registered to the singer D4vd, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said on Tuesday (local time) that the remains were found in a Tesla at the impound lot and that they were those of Celeste Rivas, who was reported missing on April 5, 2024, from Lake Elsinore, California, about 112km south-east of Los Angeles.

A body has been found in a Tesla in an impound yard registered to D4vd.Credit: Getty Images

Officials have not yet determined how Celeste, who was 13 at the time of her disappearance, had died.

Her body was “severely decomposed” and appeared to have been inside the vehicle for an extended period of time, the medical examiner said.

The Tesla had been parked at an impound yard in West Hollywood since September 5. The city had towed it there after responding to a citizen complaint about the car having been abandoned for more than 72 hours, authorities said. It had not been reported stolen, said Officer Drake Madison, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.

A person familiar with the situation told The New York Times that the vehicle was registered to D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke and who has millions of followers on social media and music platforms. The person asked not to be identified in order to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Representatives for D4vd (pronounced like David), 20, who created the anthem for Fortnite, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The brands Hollister and Crocs said they were removing the singer from an ad campaign that ran this month as the investigation continued, according to a report in the industry media outlet Footwear News.

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On September 8, officers responded to reports of a foul odour at the impound yard on North Mansfield Avenue in Los Angeles, and found the remains inside the vehicle, Madison said.

According to a report last week from the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner, the person whose remains were discovered in the vehicle was 157.5 centimetres tall, weighed 32 kilograms, had wavy black hair and was wearing a tube top and small black leggings.

Video from ABC 7 Eyewitness News showed the vehicle, a 2023 Tesla, encircled by yellow police tape in the impound lot.

D4vd released his debut album this year and is touring North America and Europe. He appeared at the Fillmore Minneapolis on September 9 and was scheduled to perform in Seattle on Wednesday night. The venue hosting that concert did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A person answering the phone at the tow yard, Hollywood Tow Service, declined to comment.

Lieutenant Deirdre Vickers, a spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, which filed the missing person’s report for Celeste, said on Wednesday that the police in Los Angeles were overseeing the investigation into Celeste’s death.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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