Law&Crime Sidebar - EXCLUSIVE: D4vd Private Investigator Knows Who Moved Tesla with Body in Trunk

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

After the body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was discovered in singer D4vd’s abandoned Tesla, police raided his $3.6 million Hollywood Hills home — but his landlord wasn’t satisfied with their answers. He hired a private investigator to find out more. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber sits down with that private investigator — Steve Fischer — to reveal what he’s uncovered so far, and what his findings could mean for this still-unfolding case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you or a loved one has suffered from addiction, financial hardship, or mental health issues due to sports betting apps, visit https://gamblinglawsuits.com/sidebar to take a short quiz and check your eligibility to file a claim.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. There could have been greater plans as far as getting rid of her, and it's scary, sadistic stuff. Big news on the David Celeste Rivas Hernandez case. We now know who the private investigator is that was hired by the Hollywood Hills landlord for the home that David had been staying at, right by where the Tesla was found. with Celeste's body inside. Well, we just sat down with this investigator himself, Steve Fisher, about what he has learned so far,

what we can expect next. Let me tell you, it is shocking. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, real quick, everybody, this is another law and crime legal alert. There are allegations right now claiming that online apps like Draft Kings and ESPN Bet and BetMGM and Bet-365

and Fanatic Sportsbook and Caesar Sportsbook, that they are engineered for addiction. These multi-billion-dollar companies allegedly continue to put profit over safety. Every small payout, free bet, boosted parlay, that can trigger a dopamine rush that creates dependency and a destructive habit. They can keep users hooked and trap people in a cycle that can lead to serious financial loss. Well, I'll tell you what, our legal sponsors, they are taking on the online gambling industry to seek justice and potential compensation.

So if you were a loved one has struggled with addiction, financial hardship, mental health issues due to sports betting apps, then visit Gambling Lawsuits. com slash sidebar to take a short quiz and check your eligibility to file a claim. All right. So you remember that we told you that the Hollywood Hills landlord, the property manager for that property that David, the singer, had been staying at, that that property owner, that landlord had hired a private investigator to look into the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the team found dismembered in David's abandoned Tesla that was nearby.

Well, not only do we know who this private investigator is, but I just interviewed him. You're going to see him on this episode, and I'm recording this introduction after I interviewed him, and let me just say, he reveals a lot, okay? A lot. Now, this may not provide all the answers, but I will tell you, if you are listening to what he has to say, you're starting to get a better picture of a lot of things, okay? So this PI himself, Steve Fisher, will play that interview in a minute. Now, quick refresher.

So police rated this $3.6, $4 million home, which Dave. had reportedly been paying tens of thousand dollars in rent. We know that Celeste's body was found in the trunk of his impounded Tesla back in September that the Tesla was near this property. And to be clear, since then, there's been no suspects that have been named, no persons of interest, no arrest. David has canceled his tour. He's moved out of that mansion. He has transferred properties that he owned in Texas to his mother. The whole thing has been a lot of unanswered questions. And that is where this L.A. landlord, apologies if I'm mispronouncing, name here, Malden Trouvenovich stepped in. He wasn't content to sit back and just wait for

the LAPD, so he brought in his own private investigator to start digging, to get some more answers. We've talked about that in a previous episode, but now we actually know who that investigator is, Steve Fisher. I'm going to play you that interview. It is something, but let me just say real quick, pin down exactly what this case is about. This all started on September 8th when LAPD officers were called to a tow yard on Mansfield Avenue in Hollywood after workers noticed this foul odor coming from a Tesla that had been sitting there. That car was registered to 20-year-old singer David, real-name David Anthony Burke, the Houston-born artist behind the hit romantic homicide. That Tesla had been abandoned near the Hollywood Hills rental property,

towed away, and was just sitting there. And when officers opened the front trunk, they found something horrific. Human remains wrapped in plastic. And a few days later, it was confirmed that that body belonged to 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. as a teen runaway who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April of 2024. Her remains were decomposed, suggesting that she had been in that car for weeks. The cause of death is still officially deferred. Now, while David is not being considered at this point officially as a suspect or even a person of interest, the internet started connecting the dots or seemingly connecting alleged dots between David and Celeste.

Screenshots from Discord chats, live stream clips, old photos started circulating, all suggesting that they had been in contact. Maybe they were even in some kind of relationship. TMZ, have reported those that were close to David, thought that Celeste was 19 years old, that maybe there was a relationship going on, and fans have pointed out that both she and David had that same small, sh tattoo on their fingers. And if that wasn't eerie enough, David has this unreleased song with Celeste in the title that's been reported. Everything has unraveled for David since the discovery. There's been a canceled tour date, pause on promotions for his upcoming album,

drop brand deals. And while all of this is happening, David has been making some major legal and financial moves. He's retained Blair Burke, the powerhouse Hollywood defense attorney who's represented people like Harvey Weinstein. David transferred the deeds to two Texas properties to his mother right after one of those houses was apparently swatted, this false reporting of a shooting and a dead body there. But now let's get to it. Okay, let's circle back to that Hollywood Hills rental property, how a private investigator or PI even got involved in this case. So according to LA Magazine, police had executed a search warrant on that property back on September 17. So since David had been renting it for reportedly about $20,000 a month, a home that was owned by a man named Malden Diffinich.

And officers reportedly collected electronics, computers. They searched the drains for traces of blood or tissue, at least that's the reporting from TMZ. Can't officially confirm that. But this homeowner had said that after he'd heard almost nothing from the LAPD about what they found, he was frustrated. And that is when he made his move and hired his own PI. He told TMZ and the Daily Mail that his family wanted answers about, about what might have happened in or around this home and that he wasn't trying to interfere with the police investigation. He just didn't want to be left in the dark about what connections,

if any, his property could have to all this. And TMZ reports that the LAPD has since seized surveillance footage from the same home cameras that could show exactly who entered or exited the property. Now, this homeowner reportedly told the outlet that he hasn't even seen the footage himself out of respect for his tenant's privacy. He also claims the police still haven't given him a copy of the warrant or told them exactly what they took. So the big question, now is what exactly happened in or around that home, right? And whether the private investigator hired by this landlord, this property owner, has found anything that could shed light on that timeline. And that is where we're heading next. Okay. Just one more thing before we get to him, something that we've

learned. L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hockman spoke out. Confirmed the case is still under investigation. No case has been presented to his office yet. We're going to get into that a little bit. But now I want to bring on our special guest. I'm joined by private investigator, Steve Fisher, who hired by David's former landlord. Really, really appreciate you taking the time here to talk about this. First off, Steve, how were you hired? How were you retained in this matter? So originally when the case, when the body was originally found,

I had another missing person's case going in L.A. of a female. And we thought that that could be that individual. And so I kind of stayed with the case for a little while until she was identified. and we knew it wasn't. And I had discovered some other things, such as when the car was towed and photos from being towed and whatnot. And, you know, the owner had gotten in touch with me of the house. And I shared some things with him and it just kind of evolved from there.

But one thing, you know, I would say is he is the owner of the house. He wasn't David's landlord. David wasn't even on the lease. You know, and the owner never even knew that David was in the house. It was actually Josh Marshall, his man. manager who had leased the house. But to be clear, David was living there, right? Yes, he was definitely staying there.

It just was not known to the owner. Right. Okay. And by the way, I understand this is, you know, an act of investigation. There might be limited what you can share. But what exactly is he looking for in this? What exactly is this property owner? What kind of answers is he looking for?

So we're really kind of evolved from was the search warrant was served, I believe on the 17th or 18th, and it was a forced entry search warrant, meaning that nobody was home at the time. And they did not leave a copy of the warrant or of the return, the inventory list of the items that they took from the house. And it was really kind of borne out of that. I was not officially retained at that time, but I helped him try to obtain that. And we told robbery homicide, hey, listen, you know, no warrant was left behind. David was out on tour. Josh Marshall lives out of state, we found out.

So the owner had his representative go to the house immediately after he found out about this. And there was no warrant and no return. He really just wants to understand what of his property could have been taken and what the status of that is. And then also, this is troublesome when you learn something like this, all of a sudden you're thrown into this. And he feels absolutely horrible for Celeste family. And he's like, you know, if there's anything that involves, you know, in and around my house that, that could help, then I want to discover that. And I'll tell you that there have been things that we've learned,

and we've turned right over to LAPD, but we think there's significant, you know, things that could help. Do you mean that there might be evidence that a crime was committed at that house? Not so much a crime. No, and I'll tell, I'll just be honest with you, we don't have any evidence that anything happens less at that house. but there is definitely evidence that we've collected that helps the timeline. We now have a much better understanding of when that Tesla arrived at that final parking spot.

I'll tell you, I do have surveillance from different houses in the neighborhood showing Tesla being moved. So things like that, and I'm not even saying that LAPD didn't have that. I'm sure they did, but we wanted to make sure. And we did some work on the upraising the footage to find out who was bribing. the vehicle. And there are some other items that were found at the house that weren't taken during the search warrant. And, you know, search warrants are limited, right? They can't just go take everything. It's what the judge, you know, and we don't know how broad that search warrant was because we haven't seen it. And that's what we'd like to see. But there were some things that were not taken into custody

of LAPD that we think are significant and including digital media and some other things that really helped nail down timeline and things like that. And you handed that over to LAPD. We have the day, literally the day that we, the things that we've recovered, we've given to LAPD within 24 hours, you know. Do you know who was driving that car, that Tesla? You don't have to tell me, but do you know the identity? You know, as far as it going to the final, that what we believe is the final parking spot where it was towed from, yes. And that information has been communicated to law enforcement. So it's been given to law enforcement. They don't, they're not going to tell us if they're confirming if that's a person or not.

Robbery, the homicide, the way they work is we'll take your information. We're not going to speak on it, you know, so I don't know. But listen, it's very clear that that neighborhood is filled with surveillance cameras. And the timelines, once we learn those dates and we can see other things that were happening, that were even public on Instagram and whatnot, or going on in those people's lives, it makes a lot of sense. So let me ask you this. If you see when the car was parked there, have you seen anything to indicate that Celeste's body was transferred into that car after the car was parked there?

Or in other words, do you believe that her body was in that car the minute it was parked in the location it was ultimately towed from? So I'll say I have no evidence of a body being transferred before or after. There's no evidence of that at all. But I will say, when it was moved to that position, it was already like that. So that car had not been used in a very long time. It was super dirty, caked on dirt. I'll tell you this was in late July. So it's bizarre because we also have got media that the car was used a lot.

David even spoke about it in Instagram videos. He took it to a detail shop and stuff like that. And then all of a sudden, the very beginning of the year, that car, something happens. You know, and that car doesn't show up anymore. it's not used. It seems to disappear. And then that red Tesla, which we didn't know until the search warrant was served, but there's a red Tesla on the garage, which I can tell you was at least on February 1st. Yeah, let me just narrow down here. Do you have the precise date of when that car, the one with the Tesla, with Tesla's, with Celeste Spiding side, when it was left there?

Do you know the specific date of when it was left in Hollywood Hills? I, you know, I believe, I believe so. I believe it, you know, late July, late July. Very late July. Very late July. So one thing that we've heard, and this is something we've talked about, is the LAPD has seized footage from the rental property, multiple security cameras around the property. There are even reports of a smashed ring camera on the ground. And according to TMZ, police seized all the footage for multiple security cameras at the house last month when they executed the search warrant. TMZ described that footage as a, quote, potential gold mine for investigators. And the question becomes, did you see anyone going, coming into, or leaving that property after the Tesla was there? So after the Tesla with Celeste Body Inside is there, can you tell us you saw people coming in and out of that property before the, let's say this, before the search warrant? No, not from the time that the Tesla was left. So for the time the Tesla was left there, he literally immediately started the tour.

There was a tour bus that was leased. And I'll tell you that, Tesla was moved and literally a bus departed for tour. Okay. You talked about things that might have been taken from the house, things that you handed over to LAPD. Is there anything you can share with us about what that information may be? You know, one thing that you just brought up and I guess was TMZ reported on, the security system, The house has got a very sophisticated security system, not just with cameras, but with sensors and all types of things. It all records to a DVR.

And for privacy reasons, the owner, when he leased the house, said, you know, this is the system that's in the house. And you can use whatever functions you want on it. That's not something that then the owner could access. So we don't know if the cameras were enabled or not enabled. But if they were, it wouldn't just be cameras. It would be we'd know any time. anybody came and went from the house, anytime I opened a window, everything, if they kept it like it was. But we don't know. LAPD came in and took that whole DVR. They took the entire

system, which you would expect. And I've talked to the security company that installed the system, and they've told me, you know, how it was set up. We think it was probably running because there's limited alerts that the security guy can see, which is stuff like if there's a major failure. And there was a low power failure that triggered right when they were executing search warrant. And I think that's when they unplugged the system. So there's reason to believe that the system was running, whether the cameras were covered or not. I don't know. I can tell you that some of the smoke sensors in the house were covered. And that's probably because maybe they were, I don't know what they were doing in the house. So the cameras might have been covered as well.

During the course of your investigation so far, have you learned more information about Celeste and David, perhaps their connection, anything we should be thinking about that hasn't been. publicly reported? Is your investigation also into them as well? Sure. Yeah. And, and, you know, one of the reasons that you kind of come public with what I'm doing is because, you know, I have a little bit different method of working than a lot of private investigators and then what people think is the proper way of doing it. I believe in this digital age and when, especially the younger generation when they're on places like Discord and you don't even know the real identities, you know, I put myself out there and those

people do come to me and a tremendous amount of people have come to me. And I've learned a lot. Now, listen, a lot of it's circumstantial, right? But there are people that are directly in his orbit. And there are people that have photos and videos. And we've gotten a lot of photos and videos from inside the home itself. So we can put people at certain dates and times at the house. And there's a lot of them. It's in the thousands. Do you know if Celeste was ever at that property? So, you know, what we recovered, we don't have any of her at that property. We have pictures of her and that were taken by David, we assume, because it's not on a camera phone, but these photos are on a regular camera at different locations. And it really makes me think

that it's likely she had another place she was staying. I can tell you that there was a lot of time spent towards downtown L.A. And I'll say the last photo that we have of Celeste is January 2nd, 2025. Okay. Now that's significant, because We were wondering when, you know, she was last seen alive. There was that surveillance footage of her seemingly running away from her neighborhood. And that was September of 24, I believe. So we didn't have anything. We were like, where was this girl in 2025?

But we do have a photo of her in July 2nd, early in the morning, July 2nd, 2025. Has anyone, and just to be clear, you don't know more information about when she died, right? No. I don't have any information of how. how she died, when exactly she died. I have, listen, investigations are always moving. And right now, I tend to believe it happened a while ago, a long time ago. And I think January, February, things changed.

I mean, you can see it in the photos and everything. And I also think when I first started looking at this case, I'm very much an, you know, Occam's a razor type person where I think things are a lot easier than people try to make them sometimes, especially online, and these big things. And I thought this was going to be a tragic overdose, which very well still could be. And they made a bad decision because they didn't want to take. exposed a potential relationship and put her in this Tesla and then maybe he thought he could get somebody to get rid of that car and they were just like, no, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it.

And just got left there. But I will say this. There are some things that, and I'm talking physical evidence that was at that house that is, there could have been greater plans as far as getting rid of her. And it's scary, sadistic stuff. And that's why we're trying to learn more about that. I wish I could say more, but for obvious reasons, I can't, but it doesn't have to do with how she died, but maybe how they were planning on ultimately getting rid of her and how maybe that Tesla was just a holding spot of time and things just, you know, their timing was just off as far as getting this done. But there's some, there's a few things that were just like, will blow your mind. Has anyone from David's team management legal, anybody reached out to you or your client?

You know, I know that my client's been in touch with his manager, but only for the purpose of the lease, because they did ask to terminate the lease. And I believe the other manager that technically was the owner of the Red Tesla, I think was in touch with him just for because they needed access to the house to get that vehicle and stuff out. Because that's another thing that they could be key in this is that there's only one key to that house and who had that and who had access to it and who was in it because we also have evidence. that while David was on tour, at the time between the Tesla being found and the search warrant being served, David was on tour, but somebody was in that house. And there was actually a report made, not with police, but that Homeowner Association has a robust private security company. And we've gotten videos from them and reports. And so who had that key is probably the same person that, you know, had access to the Tesla.

Do you know who that person is? And do you believe that is the person? that moved the Tesla? So I believe, I definitely know who moved that Tesla on that late July before they went on tour. I can't say who the person. I don't mean, I can't say for, I mean, but I don't know who exactly was in that house because it's just a report, but there's video, but you can't make a person out. But somebody was in the house.

And being that there's only one key, it's like, okay, who had access at that time? So is it the same person that moved the Tesla? was something, was another last part of the plan about to go in motion as far as getting rid of her body? I don't know. Now, we heard this week from LA County District Attorney Nathan Hockman, and he actually addressed this case directly when a TMZ reporter caught up with him outside the DA's office. And regarding the status of the case, he said, quote, it is currently under investigation. We don't discuss suspects of the points in a continuing investigation, when and if that case is presented to the DA's office. And we make a decision on it. I'll make sure you're one of the

first to know. A case has not been presented to our office for filing consideration. And just to underline that, a spokesperson for the DA's office confirmed to complex that, yeah, no case has been presented for filing consideration. The LAPD also told the outlet that the county medical examiner still hasn't determined a cause or manner of death, saying, quote, it remains unclear whether there is any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body. Now, Steve, you just told us a lot of information here. Are you surprised that we don't have a confirmed suspect from law enforcement or a person of interest or even an arrest at this point? Or can you say from what you're seeing, that makes sense, but Jesse maybe being on the look at for something soon?

Yeah, I would say, Jesse, that makes sense, but maybe we look on, be on look out for something soon. Yeah, I've seen this in a lot of cases. It tells me, listen, I don't have any inside information on this. I'm just saying from my opinion that this means that during the examination, autopsy, examination. There was nothing very obvious, such as a crushed skull, any bullet holes, anything like that. So they're waiting on toxicology to come back to make that final determination. Now, is the medical examiner in contact with the detectives in between this time? Are they? Absolutely. Do they have a preliminary determination? I'm sure they do. I think the DA's office is working side by side with the detectives and telling them, this is what we need for these charges.

this is what we would need for these charges. Can you get it or not get it? Listen, a crime 100% happened here. At minimum, it's the concealment of a body, right? So we know somebody did that. Hopefully, it's not, you know, a mutilation. Hopefully those initial reports were wrong about her being dismembered. But one thing I have to say, even though I talked about how we found some things

that could have meant they had a really twisted plan in place to get rid of her, it never went in motion. So you can't charge somebody for a crime that they may have thought about doing. So, you know, we may never know more about that. So, Steve, before I let you go, do you have any indication about where David is right now? I don't. I have no idea. And it's kind of bizarre because his group has stayed so silent with left of his group, I guess.

And I'm not even sure the conversations that the owner did have with his management in breaking that lease. I'm not even 100% sure his management knows at this time where he's at. I think his attorney might be the only one in his parents. Steve Fisher, really appreciate you taking the time. Thank you so much for providing a little bit more insight into what's going on right now. Thanks for having me out. And that is all we have for you right now here on Sidebar.

Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.