American singer David Burke, professionally known as D4vd, has been trending on social media recently when people started making connections between him and the deceased Celeste Rivas. D4vd has not been charged, nor is he a suspect.
Rivas was a 13 year-old girl from California who was reported missing the morning of March 19, 2024. This wasn’t an unusual event in her family; however, as Celeste had run away before in July 2023. She wasn’t found again until Jan. 2024, where she was located by police in Hollywood, California.
In September, 17 months after Rivas was reported missing the second time, an abandoned Tesla was reported by neighbors and towed. Passerbys and a worker at the tow yard had noticed a distinct, foul odor from the car. When police arrived at the tow yard and opened the trunk, they found the body of Rivas. The Tesla she was found in was confirmed by police to be registered to D4vd.
Social media was quick to respond, with creators talking about the news all over apps like Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok, X and more, creating their own theories and finding information that they think could be evidence. Many people were also expressing their condolences to her and her family online.
Sophomore Ana Rivera was one of the people who heard the news via social media.
“I first found out while I was scrolling through TikTok. I was an avid fan of D4vd, so I was really shocked because I thought he couldn’t have done it. That’s just so random, and he was on tour so it wouldn’t make sense.”
Many of D4vd’s fans couldn’t believe the initial allegations made against him, but the coverage on social media has changed many people’s minds. Social media has played a big role in this situation and is one of the main sources of information.
Rivera also said, “As the evidence came to light, and I learned through TikTok and Twitter, I started to see that side of the argument. There is definitely a lot of misinformation and speculation on social media though that can mislead.”
People on social media have found clips of what they think are Rivas on several of D4vd’s TikTok lives, even finding matching “Shhh…” tattoos on their index fingers. There was also an unreleased song D4vd wrote called “Celeste.”
However, people are also quick to make judgments that aren’t the most accurate. For example, one person stated that they saw Celeste in a photo at a D4vd concert in August 2024 and this became a very popular discovery. But when looking at it closely, you could see that it was not her. Also there is an assumption that the two of them were in an illegal relationship, even though there is no statement or official evidence to prove it.
Junior Caraline Kruger agreed with Rivera’s words, and expanded on her thoughts about the effects of social media.
“I feel like social media really helped to spread the word about what happened and tell her story, but I have been seeing a lot of incorrect information being spread around and people making speculations without knowing all the facts about the situation,” said Kruger.
Again, D4vd has not officially been named a suspect or person of interest in the case so far, as there is no clear timeline for when she died yet, and there are other angles to explore since there is no confirmed cause of death yet either.
