Celeste Rivas case update: Teenager met D4vd online, had gone missing once before

The decomposing body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas was found in a car belonging to singer D4vd in Los Angeles.

Published on: Sep 19, 2025, 07:08:05 IST

By Shuvrajit Das Biswas

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A school teacher claims to have new insight into Celeste Rivas' purported link to singer D4vd, TMZ reported. Rivas was reportedly in this person's class.

Cops reportedly searched a Hollywood Hills home where D4vd was staying. (X/@SEATTLESUBMISS)

The publication noted that on Thursday, the teacher took out his phone in class and told students he'd taught Celeste years back. He also showed a photo of him with Celeste, in front of a poster, saying she'd been ‘missing since I taught her’. A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media.

What the teacher is claiming

As per the teacher, Celeste first disappeared after she met D4vd online. She went missing once in early 2024, and the teacher believes this was after the two met on social media, TMZ reported.

The publication also reported that the teacher claimed that Celeste ran away to Hollywood with D4vd, but cops tracked her down and returned her to her mother. The teacher also said that Celeste then disappeared in May 2024, which is the last he'd heard of her till the events of this week.

Also Read | Celeste Rivas case update: New damning evidence linking D4vd emerges; photos out

The teacher said he taught Celeste at Lakeland Village Middle School in Lake Elsinore, CA, where she was frequently absent. However, he claimed not to know anything about her home life. He further said he's now teaching in a different school in Southern California, and claimed to be sharing this information solely so students can get a ‘cautionary tale’ about the dangers of social media.

Celeste Riva case

Riva's body was found in the trunk of the car in Los Angeles, after workers at a towing yard complained of a foul smell. The car had been towed from a Hollywood Hills street. Cops scoured the area trying to find footage which might reveal who was driving the car.

They have also searched one of the residences where D4vd, or David Anthony Burke, was staying. A LAPD source told ABC7 that the car where Riva's body was found was one of several registered to the 20-year-old. The source also added that many different people used any of the vehicles at any given point of time.

However, cops are yet to determine cause of death, and are currently not probing the matter as a homicide.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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