A high-ranking member of the LAPD has debunked viral reports about the remains of Celeste Rivas, as police come under fire for withholding information about the teenager’s death.
On Monday, Nov. 24, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner released a statement criticizing the police department for getting a court order to prevent the release of new details in the case.
The coroner’s office said it was served with the order on Friday, which placed a “security hold” on all files related to the investigation. The order prevents the medical examiner from publicly releasing the teenager’s cause of death, manner of death, and the full autopsy report until further notice.
“The Department’s mission is to have full transparency with the community by providing information about our cases to empower people to make changes that save lives,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo. “Since becoming the department head, I’ve worked on eradicating the practice of placing security holds on Medical Examiner cases simply by law enforcement request.
The medical examiner called security holds “unheard of in other counties,” and insisted there is no proof that the practice helps lead to convictions.
Related: D4vd ‘Identified as Suspect’ in Death of Teenager Celeste Rivas
Related: D4vd Bolts From House at Center of Investigation Into Teen’s Death
The decomposed remains of Rivas, 14, were discovered on Sept. 8, when LAPD officers responded to a tow yard in Hollywood — after employees noticed a strong odor coming from an impounded Tesla. The vehicle had Texas plates and was registered to 20-year-old pop singer D4vd.
Ukpo said now that the LAPD has gone to court, the medical examiner’s office must comply.
“We are dedicated to serving our community with full transparency; however, the law precludes us from doing so while the court order remains in this case.”
The medical examiner’s office said it received a previous “hold” request from the LAPD on Sept. 15 — but ignored the order “due to insufficient justification to warrant the hold.”
Now that the LAPD has gone to court, “information will be made available once the court order is lifted,” Ukpo said.
News of the security hold followed a weekend report by TMZ claiming Rivas’ dismembered and decomposing body was “partially frozen” and had been “decapitated” before it was placed in the Tesla’s front trunk. Rolling Stone published a similar report, saying the teenager’s body was “refrigerated” before it was put in the vehicle’s trunk.
Earlier today, a high-ranking member of the LAPD addressed the case, and said the viral reports were false.
“Celeste’s body was not frozen… She was not decapitated,” Capt. Scot Williams, commanding officer of the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division, told People magazine.
Williams reiterated a Sept. 29 statement from the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division, saying Rivas’ body had been in the vehicle “for weeks.” He added that there was no way the body could have still been frozen in L.A.’s triple digit heat.
“The whole frozen thing doesn’t even make sense,” Williams said. “Even if she had been frozen solid when she was put in the car (which there is NO evidence to suggest she was), five or more weeks in the trunk of a car in sweltering heat in the middle of summer would not have resulted in a partially frozen body being discovered on September 8th.”
Reports surfaced last week saying D4vd is a suspect in Rivas’ death. The LAPD has remained tight lipped and released few details about its investigation.
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
