On September 8, 2025, police discovered a decomposed, rotting corpse in the back of a Tesla rented by David Anthony Burke, also known as the musician D4vd.
Burke was born on March 28, 2005, in Queens, New York City, but he grew up in Houston, Texas, after his family moved there when he was 13 years old. He was raised in a Christian household, where he was exposed to gospel and church choir developing an interest in music. He was making Fortnite montages and posting them online. At the time, he used other artists’ music as background sound, but after encountering copyright issues, his mom motivated him to start creating his own tracks.
He started simple, by creating music on his phone with apps, and had even recorded inside of his little sister’s closet because it was the quiet. He began posting his songs to SoundCloud, and soon enough, his music started gaining recognition. One of his songs, “Romantic Homicide,” quickly went viral after its release in July, 2022, and his popularity grew rapidly. After that, he kept going with his career and has released successful EPs and albums, such as “Petals to Thorns”, “The Lost Petals”, and his most recent being “WITHERED,” released in April.
Some fans discovered his music by watching the Invincible series, which featured a track called “Feel it”. Burke began his World Tour for WITHERED in his hometown, Houston, Texas, and the main tour began July 30, 2025. So far, he has been to San Francisco, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and more.
On September 8, 2025, while in LA, police got a call from an local impound lot and began investigating when they were informed of a foul odor coming from a Tesla, registered to Burke. Police searched the vehicle and, inside, found decaying human remains. Police got hold of Burke, and he quickly responded cooperatively. People heard the news and ran to social media with conspiracy theories, rejecting Burke’s guilt, claiming he was framed, and saying it was a setup because he was on tour and couldn’t have done this.
On September 17, police identified the remains as Celeste Rivas, a 15-year-old girl from Lake Elsinore, California, who had been reported missing in April 2024. Before the identity was revealed, the victim’s mother had a feeling that the body might be her daughter after reading the description released by the authorities. Celeste’s mother told TMZ that her daughter had been dating someone named David before going missing.
Soon after Celeste was identified, more disturbing details began to circulate online. A clip from an old Twitch Live started spreading around, where Celeste makes a “joke” claiming that Burke rapes little kids. In the video, you can see Celeste looking nervous after she said this and muting the live right after. When she unmutes the live, you can hear Burke saying he’s going to end the live and saying goodbye to the chat. While most people are sure that it’s just a joke, many are not putting it past him due to everything that has been coming out.
People online have even started questioning Celeste’s mom, claiming that she may have known more about the situation than she admits. Many are arguing that the age gap is so extreme, it’s unlikely that her parents weren’t aware of the relationship. Screenshots and old posts are being shared as “proof” that the family may have been paid to keep quiet about it.
One of the most concerning details that got out was that Burke and Celeste had matching tattoos on their index fingers, both saying “Shhh.” Although the tattoo isn’t uncommon, more pictures are being leaked online. These include photos of Burke himself, only 0.3 miles away from Celeste’s home, shortly before she was reported missing. There are also screenshots of Burke on FaceTime with Celeste and another person whose identity is unknown. Additionally, there are photos of Celeste and Burke together in person, with her face mostly hidden in the images. Photos are also circulating of unreleased song lyrics Burke wrote about a girl named ¨Celeste.¨ The lyrics read: “Oh, Celeste, the girl with my name tattooed on her chest, smell her on my clothes like cigarettes, I hear her voice each time I take a breath, I’m obsessed, Oh, Celeste.”
The theories have gone way too far. Some fans are even claiming there was another Celeste. Even if that were true, there is far too much evidence linking Burke to the case, so there is no defending him.
This situation has severely damaged Burke’s career, and it may not be something he can recover from. Soon enough, the truth will come out, but for now, the internet’s theories have taken over as we wait for D4vd’s side of the story.
