Law&Crime Sidebar - EXCLUSIVE: D4vd was with Dead Teen Days After She Was Reported Missing, PI Says

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

After the body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in singer D4vd’s Tesla, new details are emerging that could change what we know about her final days. Private investigator Steve Fischer, hired to investigate the case, uncovered a clue linked to the same day D4vd posted a TikTok from a Six Flags roller coaster, just 16 days after Celeste was reported missing. In this episode, Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber sits down with Fischer to break down how this chilling discovery could reshape the timeline and raise new questions about who Celeste was with that day.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST: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. We have a new development in the David Celeste Rivas Hernandez story, and it centers on a builder bear certificate, a roller coaster, and an apparent trip to six flags. Private investigator Steve Fisher, who we've had on the show before, who is actually investigating this case, says that this could be a key moment in understanding what may have happened.

to Celeste. This detail could completely reframe the timeline and show that Celeste maybe wasn't just missing, but maybe was with somebody. We're going to dig into this and more right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Also, I've got to say, if anybody's been following us here on Sidebar for the last, I don't know, two months or so, we have been on top of this David's story from the very beginning. We are trying to hit you with any kind of update here, so we know exactly what happened here to Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And I will just say, the reason that we can do this is not only because of the amazing support that we get from all of you out there, and thank you so much for that, but also it's the support that we get from our incredible

sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. This is America's largest injury law firm. This is a firm with over a thousand attorneys. Do you know why they're so big? Because they win all the time. They have recovered over $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. In the past few months, you have a client in Florida that received $12 million after the insurance company offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26 million. That is, 40 times the insurer's $650,000 offer. You have another client in Pennsylvania that received $29 million after being offered only $500,000. And even if you think that your case isn't worth millions of dollars, why not just start a claim and fight for it. You deserve. Morgan and Morgan, they make it so simple. You can start a claim

from your phone in just eight clicks. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar by clicking the link below or scanning the QR code on screen. Okay, so it's been some time, but we're diving back into just such a shocking and confusing case, one that we've covered a lot this year, the disappearance and death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernan. out in Los Angeles. This all started, as you may know, when a Tesla in Hollywood was towed, and officers then discovered human remains in the trunk. The body was later identified as Celeste, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been reported missing months earlier from Lake Elsinore. Now, the Tesla was registered to 20-year-old singer David, real name David Anthony Burke,

the Houston-born artist behind the hit Romantic Homicide. To be clear, no one has officially been named a suspect. There have been no arrest. David, again, to be clear, has not officially been implicated in any wrongdoing or any crime. But obviously, there are questions. There are questions about David's connection to Celeste. There are questions about what this relationship could have been. When did he see her last? Did he see her? And these questions have never gone away. Social media lit up with claims of a possible relationship between the two, right? matching apparent matching tattoos, maybe private messages, a rumored unreleased song with her name in the title, TMZ had reported at one point in time that those around David believed that Celeste was

19 years old and now we have this new development, this Six Flags trip, which we want to talk about. But real quick, that Hollywood Hills home, which was near where the Tesla was found, that quickly became a centerpiece of this investigation. LAPD executed a search warrant. They collect electronics, maybe even search drains, maybe photographed different rooms, but not everything was taken, and that is where private investigator Steve Fisher had entered the picture. Now, Fisher was hired by the property's owner, the landlord, who said he was frustrated by what he called the lack of information from law enforcement about what role that property, his property, may have played in all of this.

And again, to be clear, this was a property that was leased, apparently, to David's manager, and David had been staying there. And again, this property was near the Tesla. So what does he do? He brings in Steve Fisher to conduct his own review of what was left behind. And now, Steve, who we've had on this program before, says he found something strange, something that could maybe reshape the timeline of this case.

During his investigation, Steve Fisher says that he uncovered a Bill DeBere certificate that was made out to a girl named Esmeralda, dated April 21, 2024. So that is just 16 days. after Celeste was reported missing. And that date stood out because on that same day, April 21st, David had apparently posted a TikTok video riding a roller coaster that appeared to have been filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain. There is a Buildabair located inside Six Flags. So you put those facts together, right? A Bilder Bear certificate for a child, a TikTok filmed at Six Flags, Then 13-year-old girl, because she was 13 at the time, who had been reported missing, six flags.

They require guests under 15 to be accompanied by a chaperone, age 21 or older. So the questions now become, who was that chaperone? Who was Celeste with that day? If that person was David, what does that mean? Does it mean that the story of what happened to Celeste is maybe even more disturbing than anyone realized? We don't know. But we're going to be speaking to Steve Fisher in a minute to get some. clarity in all this. And also a lot of misinformation he says is out there and things that

have been attributed to him that he says he didn't really say. So I want to get some clarity there. And we'll get into what the Six Flags development means and the timeline and any kind of other updates he may have. But to understand why this new Six Flags discovery matters so much, I just want to go back to where the case first broke wide open. Okay? September 8th, 2025, a Tesla that had been sitting at a tow yard in Hollywood was inspected after workers noticed a foul smell. Inside the front trunk, officers found human remains that were apparently wrapped in plastic. That car was registered to David. The remains were identified as Celeste. Her body was apparently decomposed, and while the official cause of death is still deferred, police said

they haven't ruled out foul play. However, based on comments from law enforcement, it's possible there may not even be a crime other than concealing the body. But since then, the investigation has focused a lot on that Hollywood Hills home where David had been living. And that is where private investigator Steve Fisher has spent months retracing every step. What was taken, what wasn't, what those overlooked details might reveal, who may have been driving that Tesla. If you've been following our coverage, you'll remember that Steve has shared a lot during his investigation. He uncovered some deeply unsettling details. He explained that there could have been greater plans as far as getting rid of Celeste describing the evidence as scary, sadistic stuff.

Steve says he's been able to track the Tesla's movements, understand who had actually. access to the property, recover photos, videos that help place people at the home at certain times. He's also been in contact with neighbors, reviewed digital media, gathered information that was handed directly to LAPD. All right, so now I want to bring on a special guest. I want to welcome back on to sidebar Steve Fisher. Now, Steve is the private investigator who was hired by the owner of that property, the landlord, where David had been staying in. It'd be clear, it wasn't David on the lease. It was his manager, but we know that David had And staying there and that property was close to the Tesla.

So, Steve, so good to see you again. Thanks so much for joining us. A lot's happened since the last time we talked. I mean, let's talk about this. You have uncovered something regarding this apparent six flags trip. I mentioned it a little bit before that you found this Bill DeBarre certificate in the name of Esmeralda. That was dated, I believe, April 21st. So this is just about, what, 16 days after Celeste was reported missing, that David had apparently posted a TikTok.

at a roller coaster on the same day? What is this, if I got anything wrong, please let me know, but what does this detail suggest to you? No, so that's right. So, you know, he posted that TikTok, and it can, you know, match that up to where it's a roller coaster called Scream at Six Flags. And Six Flags has a build-a-bear, you know,

the shop there, and them at different things parks, they have in knots and whatnot. And honestly, people are confused. about that, but he was at six flags that day and at the house, which is I think the important part that some of people are losing sight of is that we found the certificate at David's house and it's in the name Esmeralda and it's dated the same day, the 21st, that he was at Six Flags and, you know, and then just a few days later, you know, Celeste is photographed at Asmeralda's high school graduation.

And this is all during the time that Celeste is reported as a missing person. So does that give you a time of when she may have been alive? Well, yeah. So, you know, this is going back, you know, a year. But so this is right after she went missing. So we've all been under the impression that she's been gone, you know, over a year. But there's these times that we're now finding out, well, you know, was she missing or was this more, was she a missing? person so the family, whoever would get in trouble for her not being in school or there would

be a CPS report investigation opened right away. It appears that they knew where she was at. And, you know, she showed up at graduation. She's shown up now at the six flags along with a cousin. And then she shows up in September arguing with neighbors at her own home. So, you know, and the family has a responsibility to report that too long. enforcement if you have an open missing person's case on a minor you got to give any contact to them you can I report that and was this information that is just recently been discovered by you is this something that you believe the family or law enforcement new beforehand I don't know if yeah yeah so we discovered it um made two or three weeks ago I guess and not long after the

search warrant took place but I don't know if they really had reason you know i don't know what the scope of that search warrant even was so i don't know if it's something that they would have been looking forward even after you know they know that we know about it i don't know if it's of any value to their investigation i don't know if they're even investigating or if they even care if if people knew that celeste really wasn't a missing person i just think it's important for the overall story you know to be told that um you know there were people that knew and, you know, possibly people that could intervene in this situation. And to be clear, has this detail, you know, given you a better understanding of what the

possible relationship is or was between David and Celeste? Does it give you a time frame of maybe when they had last spoke or last had contact, if that's at all what's going on? Well, last spoke or contact, it doesn't really help with that. So so far, the last that I have proof of is January 2nd. Now, that's what I have proof of. I don't know what LAPD has. I don't know what some of her friends might have text messages from her, you know, but what I have is January 2nd. But I think what it does show is that there was, listen, there was a relationship. They were, they were doing things, you know, social things. And she was out of school. She was And, you know, she had dropped out.

She was, I think, seventh grade. This is, you know, as far as I was concerned, this is really serious stuff. And I think it's sad that it was allowed to continue. And that's, I don't know why I was allowed to continue, but it was. And I think people knew where she was at. And it also makes me think that as soon as the news came out that a body had been found in David's Tesla, I think that family probably knew exactly who it was right away. Now, last time we spoke, you had mentioned that there were these items at this Hollywood Hills property that weren't seized in the search warrant.

Since then, have you uncovered anything new that helps clarify the timeline, maybe what happened at the house? I mean, last time you were on with us, you talked about that you believe something sinister was being planned, the idea of maybe discarding her body. Is there anything else you can tell us about that? You know, I can't give details about what those items were still yet because I just don't want to step on, you know, LAPD. investigation. As far as finding anything new, you know, I spent the whole day at the house again yesterday. I don't know if there's going to be too much more there to gather. You know, there are really small pieces, you know, like the build of air and stuff in photos from the graduation that we can put this timeline together. But that really just kind of proves this relationship and

it was a known relationship. As far as what happened and when, it appears. to me that January, February is when there's something happens with the Tesla, stops being used regularly. And so I think that's going to end up being the date. But I, you know, I could be wrong. I don't have any proof of her what happened to her or being placed in that Tesla or being taken out of that Tesla. I was going to ask you, I mean, because in our last discussion, you talked about tracking the Tesla, who may have moved it. You believe that you have an indication about who may have moved it. Obviously, haven't identified the person. but have you been able to pinpoint any more details about the car?

Any new insights about it, how it fits into the picture? No, not on that car, but we have learned that there was another one of his close entourage, a person that was actually on tour with him that had actually, there was another car that was reported being left right by the house for like two months. And then they had actually called to have that one towed as well. And then the day before, it was going to be towed when they came out for the third time, two men came and picked up the car. And we've since found out that that is somebody that was owned by somebody that was out on tour with David. And they just left it in front of that, you know, across the street on the same street, just parked on the other side of the road, kind of blocking someone's driveway for two months.

To be clear, the two people that moved that other car was one of them the person that moved the Tesla? No. So these are, I only know who one of them. I've only ID one of them. These are not people that are regular. And they were the owner of the cars, I think, a family member and a friend or something like that, not people that were around and not David's like people or anything like that. Now, you've also been tracking the medical examiner timeline, the LADD's timelines, actively, very closely. Have there been any developments there that you can give a better sense of when we might maybe even see an official determination about the cause of death, the manner of death, anything like that? I think it could be in the next week to 10 days. And that's because, you know, what I've been doing is tracking, you know, her, you know, she was discovered on the 8th, on September 8th. So I've been tracking the deaths for the months, weeks before that date, and the ones that were in deferred status. Those are usually the ones that are pending toxicology.

And then I'm seeing that they're showing up as they're not deferred anymore and they're showing, you know, acute fentanyl intoxication or whatever. So they have, in other cases, yes. So they've, in other cases. So it shows that the toxicology has come back on those and they're making determinations. And I've seen those as recent as September 3rd right now. So we could be, you know, just days away from. Now, it doesn't mean the autopsy report is done in total, but it does show, it does mean that on the website we could see a determination of the cause and manner of death, which will then

should free up LAPD to do what they're going to do. Do you have any idea of what that could be based on what you're seeing? I mean, again, going back to our previous conversation, you mentioned that there seemed to be plans in that house of. potentially discarding Celeste's body. Is there anything that you could tell us, anything you can glean, obviously without compromising the investigation

about what happened to her? You know, I can tell you that we, you know, we did find opiate prescription medication bottles in the house. Now, they could, you know, whoever is those words, they could be taking them 100% legitimately. So just because you have pain medication.

But there was a few bottles. of it in the house and in my gut tells me i have no inside information on this at all but my gut tells me the way things are lining up right now i'm feeling this is probably going to be something like an accidental overdose and um they just made a horrible decision uh after the fact because they didn't want the relationship um to be um you know to get out there because it would hurt definitely hurt his you know career if not um him be criminally charged and I You know, I think they just made a really, really bad decision. I don't think, I think that the medical examiner would have been able to tell pretty quickly if, like, you know, it was strangulation or anything like that because, you know, you would still see the bone, you know, the hybrid bone broken or you see blood vessels broken in the eyes, stuff like that.

Or if it was a gunshot, you know, that's pretty obvious. So since they couldn't determine that, I think it's coming down to toxicology. so um well because the last one of the last times we talk or something been part of the conversation is that law enforcement as far as the we can see they haven't come out and said that there is a crime that was committed other than disposing of the body unless something's changed unless seen different that that's all that they say right now i mean they they say it's possible that it could be something else but it's also possible that like you said she died under circumstances where no one may not necessarily be held criminally liable, might not be a murder,

but someone who may be charged for disposing of the body. Yeah, I mean, they said there's like words where there might not be criminal capability beyond concealment of a body. Right. And, you know, that could be the truth. I think that I think LAPD right now has a preliminary indication from the medical examiner's office. I'm sure that the toxicology results are back.

I think that determination is still being made of what the cause and manner is. But I think LAPD has knows and we haven't really seen any, you know, nobody's been seen coming in and out at LAPD headquarters or anything being, you know, maybe being questioned or, you know, we haven't seen any statements or maybe attorneys getting ahead of what might be coming. So I don't know. I think it's going to be minimal. I want to talk about some of the posts that you've shared publicly about the case and get your thoughts on it because you've been very candid on social media, highlight some of the aspects that the public hasn't seen yet. You made a post earlier today, got a lot of attention, and that thread pushes back hard against a lot of what you say is community-driven misinformation in this case. Because in it, you say that Reddit threads that were useful early on have now become, quote, overrun by people misreading your work and claiming that you said,

that Celeste was never at that house, you make a distinction there that I want you to state clearly on the record, right? Because first, can you explain what you did say about whether Celeste lived at that house versus whether she was ever at the house at any point? Yeah, so what I said is we don't have any proof, like, meaning I've been pretty open that we found a lot of media, a couple thousand images, right? And in those, with Celeste, in them, they're not at the house. So we don't have anything tiring her to the house.

Do I think she's at the house? 100%. I'm certain she's been in the house. I just don't have any evidence to say here, here's the proof. A lot of people are... So what makes you say that? I guess what makes you say

that you know she was at that house at some point? Well, I said I'm pretty... I said I'm certain she was at that house at some time just because of the relationship they had, but I don't have any proof that she's ever at the house.

I don't have any pictures. Now, people are pointing to a different house on Doheny that was like a streaming house that her and David were they did a stream from there and there were several photos taken and myself and

LPD and everybody's known about that house since the very beginning and I think they're thinking that he kept that as like a safe house for her and you know that that I know is not the case but there's no we don't have anything to indicate she was living there

we do have indication that there was other females that were living in the house maybe not full time but regularly I mean they had nightstands with their stuff in it and whatnot, but it didn't belong to Celeste. I'm glad you made that distinction. And also because you also called out a lot of people on Reddit for jumping to conclusions and that the public noise can affect an investigation like this.

How has it? I mean, how is this in your mind the spread of what you see as misinformation impacted your work, your ability to understand what happened, collect evidence, maybe the LAPD's handling of the investigation? Listen, I think at the beginning, if they were a huge, I think there's a lot of stuff LAPD would have never known about, especially in the Discord server, if it wasn't for Reddit. I think what my frustration is is that, listen, every case I go to, I have this core group of people that just will take the exact opposite narrative of me.

They're coming at me, and that just kind of muddies the water because they're very loud and they'll just say things that are just absolutely 100% false. They'll state them as fact, and that becomes distracting because there are a certain amount of people that the first thing they read, they believe. I mean, there's this whole thing going on now about this Knott's very firm, and nobody seems to understand the point is not, whether they were at Knott's or Six Flags, even though they were at six flags. It's that the certificate ended up at David's House. So how did it end up at David's House if there wasn't a relationship that Ezralda knew, you know, the NEM or was hanging out with them? So it becomes a little

distracting there. But at the beginning, I've got to say, it was really helpful because they have that entire server. And there's a ton of information. in that discourse server, you know. Yeah, no, 100%. And by the way, talking about the house. So over the weekend, you tweeted about spending the afternoon at that house in Tahini, describe the anxiety, the fear that must live inside the people who may be responsible for what happened to Celeste.

I mean, can you expand upon that a little bit more? You know, I just, I was sitting there thinking, I'm like, how, I think, I personally think there's four or five people that know what happened, or at least that she was in that. that Tesla. And I just say, how do you, I don't know how they live with them. So it's got to be eating them up from inside. It, I don't know. It just seems like if it was me, I'd want to just get it out there and, and, you know, explain my role in it and beg for forgiveness because it's going to be too, like, too late. It's like if we're waiting for investigators to prove it first, it's too late. And I don't understand how they, it's got to be eating them up.

I don't know how they sleep. I don't know how this is a 14-year-old girl. that ended up in a Tesla trunk for a long period of time. And, you know, some of these people around on tour and just going about their regular life. And I think that's just something that's going to end up haunting them. And I just urge them. Come forward, come clean. Like, this is not about beating charges.

This is about doing the right thing for a 14-year-old girl. And to be clear, when you say, these are people that might have knowledge about what happened, but not necessarily physically were responsible for where Sylus was found. That's what you mean? I personally, myself right now, if you had asked me, I think this is probably like an overdose, an accidental thing, that they did not have a hand in.

Maybe they had drugs around that it shouldn't have been. But I don't think anybody, at this point out of anything that anybody killed Celeste, right? So that makes it even worse for me. But the fact is she ended up in this, instead of calling first responders, they put her in this Tesla. And I just, you know, I wanted those people to think about, like, this is going to weigh on your mind for the rest of your life. Come forward.

Say what happened. This 14-year-old girl, she deserves that, you know, and I just hope somebody will. And one more thing I wanted to get a little bit more clarity on. You clarified recently regarding the items that were found in the house. You say there's been a misquote that is circulating online, suggesting that you referred to the items that were found in this Hollywood Hills home as heavy tools or farming. machinery can you clarify what you meant yeah so that i will say that publication did retract that statement it was a taped it was a recorded um you know interview so they have

they've changed it but of course it was already out there but so what i said was and what i've always said was these were items that you would not find at a house they would have no serve no purpose at a house in the hollywood hills there it's items you would find more like in a farm or farm environment and that's exactly what i said uh they're just It would have no use at a house in the Hollywood else. If you don't want to identify what those items are, can at the very least you say, would it be items that someone could use to dismember a body?

To dismember and completely get dispose of. Okay, okay, I got you. I mean, that's where the sadistic part came from. This was not about like, maybe dismembering her or anything. This is about evaporating her. Look, Steve, I appreciate you coming on. I appreciate you clearing the record, setting straight, what is available, what isn't available, what may we, what we may expect, what we might not expect. I really appreciate you coming on here,

giving us our audience, the world, an opportunity to get a kind of an inside glimpse about what may be happening here. I think everybody's looking for answers, but really, most importantly, the loved ones of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, or family or friends, they need answers more than anybody else. Thank you so much for coming on the show, Steve. Really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. 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.

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