D4vd’s former landlord takes investigation into death of Celeste Rivas into his own hands with LAPD silent

The owner of a Hollywood Hills mansion raided by police probing the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez has hired a private investigator to get to the bottom of the mysterious case after weeks without answers from the LAPD.

Rivas’s decomposed remains were discovered on September 8 in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla owned by viral TikTok singer D4vd. She had been officially missing for more than a year, after running away from home in April 2024 at age 13.

On September 17, LAPD homicide detectives raided the $4.1 million home where D4vd had been staying. Officials confirmed the search was linked to Rivas’s death and said ‘several items of evidence’ were collected for analysis, but gave no further details.

Since the raid, updates from the LAPD have been scarce. No arrests have been made, no suspects publicly named, and a cause of death for Rivas has not yet been determined.

Mladen Trifunovic, who owns the mansion where D4vd had been living, is desperate for answers. He told the Daily Mail he’s had only limited contact with police and is concerned about what role, if any, his home may have played in Rivas’s death.

Determined to find the truth, Trifunovic has hired a private investigator to review surveillance footage and interview potential witnesses to determine whether Rivas ever stayed at the home – and, if so, when she was last seen there.

‘I have a private investigator gathering information because my family and I want to understand what may or may not have happened in or around a home that is very special to us,’ said Trifunovic.

‘We are not interfering with the LAPD’s investigation; we are simply seeking answers I fear may not be communicated to us unless we use a licensed investigator.’

D4vd – real name David Anthony Burke – has not been charged or accused of any crime. The LAPD has not said whether he is cooperating.

The 20-year-old had been living at the property since February 2024, which was rented by his manager, Josh Marshall.

The Daily Mail was first to report that Marshall abruptly broke the $20,000-a-month lease within days of the raid, citing the ‘ongoing situation’ concerning Burke.

Burke’s current whereabouts are unclear. He has retained a top Hollywood attorney, who has yet to issue a statement.

Trifunovic said he only learned Burke was living there when police stormed the rental.

To his knowledge, nobody was home during the raid. Burke was touring in the US, and Marshall has since claimed in a social-media statement that he never lived at the property.

Neighbours told Trifunovic the home had been ‘extremely quiet’, and weekly maintenance workers – gardeners, pool cleaners and pest control – said they noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

He said the police activity left no lasting damage and he hasn’t been told what tests the LAPD conducted. Sources have claimed officers were looking for ‘blood evidence’. That has not been confirmed, but officers were seen removing multiple items, including a laptop.

‘I have not been told by law enforcement that Celeste died in the house. There are no obvious signs that something happened inside,’ Trifunovic said, adding that LAPD has not shared any plans to return for additional tests.

‘I believe they have everything they think may help their investigation… Although my family and I did not know Celeste, or even know D4vd was staying in the house, we are terribly sad about her passing.

‘And because our home is a focus point in the case, I am working with a private investigator to better understand the circumstances of what happened.’

Trifunovic said he will only consider releasing the findings of his private investigation once the LAPD’s probe is concluded.

‘At this time he is not even close to completing his investigation,’ he said. 

How Rivas died – and how long she had been dead when officers found her – is not known.

At this time, the LAPD says it’s unsure if there is ‘any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body’.

Rivas’s cause of death has been deferred pending further tests. Officials suspect she had been dead for ‘weeks’ when her body was found on September 8, citing severe decomposition.

Investigators are also probing the nature of Rivas’s ties to Burke and are reportedly reviewing images that appear to show them together.

Sources close to Rivas previously told the Daily Mail that Burke was in an illicit relationship with the teen, having first met online when she was 11 or 12. They claimed she ran away to LA to be with him.

Additional details have since surfaced about the months leading up to Rivas’s April 2024 disappearance.

Dispatch records obtained by the Daily Mail show police were called to Rivas’s family home in Lake Elsinore, California, 11 times before she vanished – and 22 more times after.

Sources said Rivas had a troubled home life and had run away multiple times.

Police and social-media records show she first fled on Valentine’s Day 2024, leaving a note for her family before she was reported missing later that morning. Deputies returned to the home several times over the next two days as relatives posted flyers and missing-person alerts online.

She eventually returned, though it’s unclear when. Friends told the LA Times she was upset by the public attention her disappearance had generated.

But by March 19, she was gone again. Police visited the house three times that day, and surveillance footage published by TMZ appeared to show her walking past a liquor store near her street toward a dark vehicle just out of frame.

Rivas was reported missing once more on April 5, and police made several follow-ups through late April, including a report of ‘suspicious circumstances.’ Neighbours later told the Times they saw her back at home later that year.

A TikTok clip posted by a cousin in June appeared to show Rivas at a neighbourhood cookout, though it’s unclear when it was filmed.

Over the next nine months, police logged more than a dozen additional calls to the home for disturbances, vandalism and purported assaults.

Rivas was found dead on September 8 and publicly identified the following week.

Days later, Burke transferred the deeds to two properties he owns near Houston, Texas, into his mother’s name, property records show.

The LAPD and Burke’s attorney have both been contacted for comment.