The body of a missing 14-year-old found in the trunk of singer D4vd’s Tesla in September was not frozen, nor was she decapitated, according to police, as they looked to debunk some of the rumors about the tragic teen’s death.
Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s remains were discovered in the car on Sept. 8 — one day before her 15th birthday — after it was impounded in the Hollywood Hills.
Last week, it was reported that her remains were “partially frozen” and dismembered, leaving the LA County Medical Examiner struggling to determine her official cause of death, sources told TMZ.
Police have now denied those reports.
“Celeste’s body was not frozen. She was not decapitated. The whole frozen thing doesn’t even make sense. Her body was in the car for weeks,” LAPD Captain and commanding officer of Robbery-Homicide Division, Scot Williams, told PEOPLE.
“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,” Williams added.
Rivas Hernandez was first reported missing from her home in Lake Elsinore, California, on April 5, 2024, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
Singer D4vd, 20, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, was on tour at the time of the discovery of the remains.
Here’s the latest on the death of the teen girl found in rapper D4vd’s Tesla
- D4vd, eyed as suspect in death of teen found dismembered in his Tesla, may have had help: report
- Teen girl’s death could result in only minor charges after her body was found wrapped in plastic in D4vd’s trunk
- Rapper D4vd allegedly claimed he ‘trained’ dismembered teen — who joked about ‘raping kids’ in resurfaced video
- Who is D4vd, the NYC-born singer whose abandoned Tesla was found with 15-year-old girl’s body inside its trunk?
- Decomposing body found inside abandoned Tesla that belongs to popular singer
He was identified as a suspect in Rivas Hernandez’s death last week.
The artist was allegedly “not cooperating” with investigators and is yet to be interviewed by police, a law enforcement source previously told PEOPLE.
D4vd’s reps previously insisted the singer was cooperating with authorities, NBC Los Angeles reported in September.
An official cause of death has not been released, as law enforcement is awaiting results of a toxicology report from the medical examiner, the source said.
Authorities have also not determined when exactly Rivas Hernandez died.
