Los Angeles police are reportedly eyeing D4vd as a suspect in the death of teenager Celeste Rivas, whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer.
NBC4 Los Angeles broke the news on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Citing an unnamed LAPD source with direct knowledge of the investigation, the outlet said the 20-year-old singer has now been “identified as a suspect” in the case.
The TV station reported the embattled pop singer stopped cooperating with investigators who believe Rivas, 14, died in the spring before her 15th birthday.
Related: LAPD: Celeste Rivas’ Body May Have Been in D4vd’s Trunk ‘Several Weeks’
NBC4 said its source revealed investigators believe D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, “likely had help in dismembering and disposing of the body.”
Urban Hollywood 411 contacted the LAPD’s media relations division, but was unable to confirm the report.
Celeste’s brother told NBC4 earlier this year that she was last seen going to a movie with D4vd, but never returned home. She had been missing for over a year when her body was found.
On Sept. 8, LAPD officers were summoned to a tow yard in Hollywood about a strong odor coming from an impounded Tesla.
They found a decomposed and dismembered body in the front trunk that had been placed inside a bag.
The vehicle had Texas plates and was registered to rising star D4vd.
The Tesla was towed from a wealthy neighborhood in the Hollywood hills, near the $4.1 million house where D4vd had been staying.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner identified the body as that of missing teenager Celeste Rivas on Sept. 17.
The coroner listed her age as 15. Rivas’ birthday was on Sept. 7, but the decomposition suggested she had been dead for some time.
The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) later issued a statement, saying the vehicle was “parked at the location from which it was towed, for several weeks, so Ms. Rivas Hernandez may have been deceased for several weeks before the discovery of her body.”
The coroner’s office said the body had a tattoo on the right index finger that read “Shhh…” Multiple outlets later published pictures showing D4vd had the same tattoo on his right index finger.
Rivas’ cause of death has not yet been released. As of this evening, the medical examiner’s online records database still lists the cause of death as “deferred,” meaning additional testing is needed.
On Sept. 18, detectives served a search warrant at the Hollywood Hills home where the singer had been staying. Footage aired by local news stations showed plain clothes detectives carrying out a computer and bags of evidence.
Multiple media outlets reported D4vd’s manager Josh Marshall was leasing the house for $20,000-a-month, but broke the lease after LAPD detectives served a search warrant on the property.
The LAPD has released few details about the case. But in a Sept. 25 interview with ABC7, Police Chief Jim McDonnell referred to the case as a “homicide” investigation.
“We have a lot of resources dedicated to bringing it to a conclusion,” McDonnell told the TV station.
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WTF, a grown man and a 14 year old going to movie? News says her body may have been kept frozen before ending up dismembered in his tesla? Where were her parents? Why haven’t cops arrested him? This whole deal is just bat**** nuts, beyond belief.