Recording artist D4vd appears to have been staying at the Hollywood Hills mansion searched by Los Angeles Police in connection with the missing 15-year-old girl whose “severely decomposed” body was found in the trunk of the musician’s Tesla towed from two blocks away, Rolling Stone reports.
A law enforcement officer tells Rolling Stone that investigators “recovered items” from the four-bedroom home on Doheny Place Wednesday after a judge signed off on a search warrant. The home’s owner, Mladen Trifunovic, says he had no idea D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, was a tenant until his real estate manager informed him Thursday.
“This all came as a complete shock to me. I only found out about the police activity this morning,” Trifunovic tells Rolling Stone. “Until then, I had no idea anything had happened at the house or what was going on with D4vd and the missing girl. I never knew D4vd, and I wasn’t aware that he had ever lived in the house.”
Trifunovic says his lease was with Burke’s manager, Josh Marshall. The lease began in February 2024, he says. The contemporary house in the affluent Birds Streets neighborhood off Sunset Boulevard (which rents for $13,999 per month, according to rental site apartments.com) is only about 500 feet from the parking place on nearby Bluebird Ave where D4vd’s Tesla was abandoned for at least three weeks before it was towed to an impound lot on Sept. 5.
After the car was towed, investigators discovered the remains of Celeste Rivas, 15, because staff at the lot suspected something was wrong, officials said. They reported that the 2023 Tesla Model Y was “emanating a foul odor and attracting flies,” according to a search warrant affidavit previously obtained by Rolling Stone.
Burke, 20, has not commented publicly on the teen’s death. He was on tour when the remains were recovered last week and performed at a show in Minneapolis a day later, on Sept. 9, tossing Labubu toys to his fans.
On his Instagram account with 2.1 million followers, Burke shared multiple images apparently taken inside the Hollywood Hills home back in February. One shot showed him seated at a grand piano next to a white column and a bank of windows — all seemingly distinctive features of the house pictured on its online rental profile. Other photos showed him posing with a large sculpture of the No. 4 styled to look like it was splattered with blood. Another photo posted on an Instagram carousel appears to show Burke inside the home in July.
Neighborhood sources previously told Rolling Stone that the dented Tesla with Texas license plates had been parking in various places around the neighborhood as far back as May. TMZ was first to report that the home was rented to D4vd’s manager.
It took investigators more than a week to identify Rivas as the victim. Her body was so “severely decomposed” that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office could not distinguish her eye color or race and listed her weight as 71 pounds, the office said. “She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” the medical examiner’s office said in an online report. The cause of the teen’s death is still listed as “deferred.”
Celeste’s mother reportedly told TMZ that her daughter had been dating someone named “David” before her death. Photos shared online by people who’ve followed Burke’s career appear to show him with a girl who looks remarkably like Celeste. Burke’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Rolling Stone. In another twist, Celeste had a tattoo on her right index finger that read, “Shhh…”, the medical examiner said. Burke reportedly has a similar tattoo, per TMZ.
The Rivas family declined to speak with reporters assembled outside their home on Sept. 17. A friend who visited the house described Celeste as sweet and “studious,” saying the teen previously attended Lakeland Village School with her own child. “It’s so sad,” the friend, Rubi Alonso, tells Rolling Stone. “She was very beautiful.”
When the body was first discovered, a law enforcement source confirmed the Tesla was registered to Burke at an address in Hempstead, Texas. Burke was notified of the investigation, and a spokesperson said at the time that he was “cooperating” with authorities.
Though Burke seemed unfazed leading up to the victim’s identification, the fashion companies Crocs and Hollister pulled back on a campaign that featured the musician modeling a collaboration between the popular brands. “We are aware of this developing story. With respect to the current situation, we have removed campaign content featuring D4vd while the investigation continues,” the brands said in a joint statement sent to Footwear News.
Burke, born in New York, has enjoyed an impressive rise in the last few years. He broke through in 2022 with his singles “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me,” after they garnered significant traction on TikTok. He released his debut EP, Petals to Thorns, in May 2023. His debut studio album, Withered, was released in April 2025.
