The call came in around 12:30 p. m. on September 8th, 2025. Residents near Hollywood Tow on North Mansfield Avenue had been complaining about a foul odor coming from a Tesla that had been sitting impounded for days.
The car had Texas plates. It was registered to David Burke. When police opened the front trunk, they found the remains of a young girl. Her body was heavily decomposed, dismembered into several pieces, and wrapped inside a plastic bag.
She had been inside that car for a very long time. She was wearing a tube top, black leggings, a gold chain bracelet, and metal stud earrings. She had wavy black hair. She stood 5’2″ and weighed about 71 pounds.
On her right index finger was a small tattoo that read “sh. ”
David Burke has the exact same tattoo in the exact same spot. The remains belonged to Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a 13-year-old from the Inland Empire who had vanished from Lake Elsinore on April 5th, 2024. Her body was found one day after what would have been her 15th birthday.
David was on tour when the news broke. He was handing out Lalilos to his audience in Minneapolis. He claimed to be completely clueless. According to sources, he agreed to cooperate with the police.
Officers served a search warrant on a Hollywood Hills home where David had been staying before touring. His manager had apparently rented it for him. They searched for blood evidence and confiscated electronics and computers. One neighbor remembered seeing the Tesla parked on the street and thought it was odd.
It had a big dent and out-of-state plates. Hollister dropped David as their spokesperson for a Crocs collaboration. His record label refused to promote the deluxe edition of his album “Withered. ” He cancelled the remainder of his US tour, though international dates were still listed online, at least at the time of this recording.
Celeste’s family was left to plan a funeral. Her brother Matthew tried to hold it together: “I’m just trying to stay positive. I’m just trying to move forward. My mom’s grieving really bad.
My dad’s grieving really bad. ” Neighbors held a candlelight vigil on the street where Celeste grew up. One banner read: “Justice for Celeste. ”
Her mother told reporters that the moment police released the description of the remains, she had a feeling it was her daughter.
She also mentioned something else: before Celeste disappeared in 2024, she had been dating someone named David. That was only the beginning of the connections. Screenshots from David’s Discord server, called “David’s Closet,” surfaced all over social media. When a user asked if he was happily married or single, he replied: “Me and deleted user got a kid on the way.
” Server members identified the deleted user as Celeste. Another deleted account posted a picture of an engagement ring on her left finger, with the name “David” scrolled across her skin. His moderators claimed they never knew Celeste was underage or even missing. Then, within 48 hours, they locked down the server completely.
Nothing was viewable anymore except the announcement. Photos began surfacing of David with a young girl who bore a striking resemblance to the missing teen. He was also photographed in Lake Elsinore, just over three miles from the home where Celeste lived with her family. A year before she disappeared, David composed an unreleased track that mentioned her by name.
The leaked song, titled “Celeste Demo Unfin,” included the lyrics: “Oh, Celeste, the girl with my name tattooed on her chest. I smell her on my clothes like cigarettes. I hear her voice each time I take a breath. I’m obsessed.
”
And: “Oh, Celeste, afraid you’ll only love me when undressed. But you look so damn gorgeous in that dress. Missing you so much makes me depressed. ”
People on TikTok turned those lyrics into a trend.
A young girl resembling Celeste also appeared on a live stream with David. The audio is partially cut out, and the interaction is hard to watch. At the end, a voice says: “Delete everything. Delete.
Delete everything. ”
In another clip, David talked about his plans for the future. He said he wanted to retire and live off the grid on an island with no social media within the next three to four years. Some noticed that in three to four years, Celeste would have turned 18.
A former teacher of Celeste’s posted a warning to students about meeting people on social media. But he was a mandated reporter, which raised a different question: if he knew something, why didn’t he report it before? He described how Celeste had met a rapper from LA, ran away from home, was gone for about a month, and was found by police in Hollywood and brought back to school. She disappeared again in May of 2024.
Then he found out yesterday that she was found dead in that rapper’s car. He asked: “You want to know how they met? Social media. ”
In the wake of the news, David’s song “Romantic Homicide” went viral again.
It climbed to number 42 on Spotify’s global top 50 and number 13 in the US, amassing over 1. 7 billion streams. Fans discussed its lyrics, particularly: “In the back of my mind, I killed you. And I didn’t even regret it.
”
Others pointed out that the song was released on Celeste’s birthday. Some condemned the song’s rise in popularity as exploitation. One comment said it plainly: a tragedy shouldn’t turn into chart fuel. It also came to light that David’s tour included themes of death and remembrance.
Fans entering the show were greeted by a casket and a guest book. His merch store sold shirts covered in bloody handprints for $35. In an April 2025 interview, David spoke about his album “Withered” and described his relationships as fuel for his art. He admitted that he used to enter friendships expecting them to end in tragic and devastating ways so that they could inspire songs.
He said he hoped he wasn’t manifesting that outcome. He mentioned one person who kept telling him “I love you” and was no longer in his life. In 2022, David released a song called “Decide. ” The lyrics included: “Save your tears.
Seven years. I know life is complicated. ” In 2022, Celeste was 11 years old. A picture from the time Celeste met David shows her at 11.
He allegedly tried to pass her off as 19. As of the date of this recording, a cause of death has not been released. Police have not officially named David as a suspect. He has not been arrested.
In fact, according to his subreddit, he has been lurking on Discord and playing Fortnite and Roblox. One user posted a title that seemed to sum it all up: “A little girl is dead, and all you care about is losing your favorite song. “
