EXCLUSIVE: D4vd was with Dead Teen Days After She Was Reported Missing, PI Says

We have a new development in the David. Celeste Rivas Hernandez story [music]. and it centers on a Build-A-Bear. certificate, a roller coaster, and an. apparent trip to Six Flags. Private. investigator Steve Fischer, who we've. had on the show before, who is actually. investigating this case, [music] says. that this could be a key moment in. understanding what may have happened to. Celeste. This detail could completely. [music] reframe the timeline and show. that Celeste maybe wasn't just missing, but maybe was with somebody. We're going. to dig into this and more right now.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Also, I got to say, if anybody's been. following us here on Sidebar for the. last, I don't know, two months or so, we. have been on top of this David story. from the very beginning. We are trying. to hit you with any kind of update here. so we know exactly what happened here to. Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And I will just. say the reason that we can do this is. not only because of the amazing support.

that we get from all of you out there. and thank you so much for that, but also. it's the support that we get from our. incredible sponsor Morgan and Morgan. This is America's largest injury law. firm. This is a firm with over a,000. attorneys. Do you know why they're so. big? Because they win all the time. They. have recovered over $25 billion for more. than 500,000 clients in the past few. months. You have a client in Florida. that received $12 million after the. insurance company offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, a client was. awarded $26 million. That is 40 times.

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Okay, so it's been some time, but we're. diving back into just such a shocking. and confusing case, one that we've. covered a lot this year. The. disappearance and death of 14-year-old. Celeste Rivas Hernandez out in Los. Angeles. This all started, as you may. know, when a Tesla in Hollywood was. towed and officers then discovered human. remains in the trunk. The body was later. identified as Celeste, Celeste Rivas. Hernandez, who had been reported missing. months earlier from Lake Elsenor. Now,

the Tesla was registered to 20-year-old. singer David, real name David Anthony. Burke, the Houston born artist behind. the hit Romantic Homicide. To be clear, no one has officially been named a. suspect. There have been no arrest. David, again, to be clear, has not. officially been implicated in any. wrongdoing or any crime. But obviously, there are questions. There are questions. about David's connection to Celeste. There are questions about what this. relationship could have been. When did. he see her last? Did he see her? And.

these questions have never gone away. Social media lit up with claims of a. possible relationship between the two, right? matching apparent matching. tattoos, maybe private messages, a. rumored unreleased song with her name in. the title. TMZ had reported at one point. in time that those around David believed. that Celeste was 19 years old. And now. we have this new development, this Six. Flags trip, which we want to talk about, but real quick, that Hollywood Hills. home, which was near where the Tesla was.

found, that quickly became a centerpiece. of this investigation. LAPD executed a. search warrant. They collected. electronics, maybe even searched drains, maybe photographed different rooms, but. not everything was taken. And that is. where private investigator Steve Fiser. had entered the picture. Now, Fiser was. hired by the property's owner, the. landlord, who said he was frustrated by. what he called a lack of information. from law enforcement about what role. that property, his property, may have. played in all this. And again, to be.

clear, this was a property that was. leased apparently to David's manager, and David had been staying there. And. again, this property was near the Tesla. So, what does he do? He brings in Steve. Fiser to conduct his own review of what. was left behind. And now, Steve, who. we've had on this program before, says. he found something strange, something. that could maybe reshape the timeline of. this case. During his investigation, Steve Fischer says that he uncovered a. Build-a-Bear certificate that was made.

out to a girl named Esmeralda dated. April 21st, 2024. So that is just 16. days after Celeste was reported missing. And that date stood out because on that. same day, April 21st, David had. apparently posted a Tik Tok video riding. a roller coaster that appeared to have. been filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain. There is a Build-A-Bear located inside. Six Flags. So, you put those facts. together, right? A Build-A-Bear. certificate for a child, a Tik Tok.

filmed at Six Flags, a then 13-year-old. girl, cuz she was 13 at the time, who. had been reported missing. Six Flags, they required guests under 15 to be. accompanied by a chaperone, aged 21 or. older. So, the questions now become, who. was that chaperone? Who was Celeste with. that day? If that person was David, what. does that mean? Does it mean that the. story of what happened to Celeste is. maybe even more disturbing than anyone. realized? We don't know. But we're going.

to be speaking to Steve Fischer in a. minute to get some clarity on all this. And also, a lot of misinformation he. says is out there and things that have. been attributed to him that he says he. didn't really say. So, I want to get. some clarity there. [snorts] And we'll. get into what the Six Flags development. means and the timeline and any kind of. other updates he may have. But to. understand why this new Six Flags. discovery matters so much, I just want. to go back to where the case first broke. wide open. Okay. September 8th, 2025, a. Tesla that had been sitting at a towyard.

in Hollywood was inspected after workers. noticed a foul smell inside the front. trunk. Officers found human remains that. were apparently wrapped in plastic. That. car was registered to David. The remains. were identified as Celeste. Her body was. apparently decomposed. And while the. official cause of death is still. deferred, police said they haven't ruled. out foul play. However, based on. comments from law enforcement, it's. possible there may not even be a crime. other than concealing the body. But. since then, the investigation has. focused a lot on that Hollywood Hills.

home where David had been living. And. that is where private investigator Steve. Fischer has spent months retracing every. step. What was taken, what wasn't, what. those overlooked details might reveal, who may have been driving that Tesla. If. you've been following our coverage, you'll remember that Steve has shared a. lot during his investigation. He. uncovered some deeply unsettling. details. He explained that there could. have been greater plans as far as. getting rid of Celeste, describing the. evidence is scary, sadistic stuff. Steve. says he's been able to track the Tesla's.

movements, understand who had access to. the property, recover photos, videos. that help place people at the home at. certain times. He's also been in contact. with neighbors, reviewed digital media, gathered information that was handed. directly to LAPD. All right, so now I. want to bring on a special guest. I want. to welcome back on to Sidebar Steve. Fiser. Now, Steve is the private. investigator who was hired by the owner. of that property, the landlord, where. David had been staying at. To be clear, it wasn't David on the lease, it was his. manager, but we know that David had been.

staying there, and that property was. close to the Tesla. So, Steve, so good. to see you again. Thanks so much for. joining us. A lot's happened since the. uh last time we talked. I mean, let's. talk about this. You have uncovered. something regarding this apparent Six. Flags trip. I mentioned it a little bit. before that you found this Build-A-Bear. certificate in the name of Esmeralda. that was dated, I believe, April 21st. So, this is just about what 16 days. after Celeste was reported missing, that. David had apparently posted a Tik Tok at.

a roller coaster on the same day. What. is this? If I got anything wrong, please. let me know. But what does this detail. suggest to you? >> No. So that's right. So you know, he. posted that Tik Tok and it can, you. know, match that up to where it's a. roller coaster called Scream at at Six. Flags and uh Six Flags has a. Build-a-Bear. um you know uh shop there and them at. different theme parks having knots and. whatnot. And I know some people are. confused about that, but um he was at.

Six Flags that day and and at the house, which is I think the important part that. some people are are losing sight of is. that we found the certificate at David's. house and in the name Emeralda and it's. dated the same day uh the 21st that um. he was at Six Flags. and um you know and. then just a few days later you know um. Celeste is photographed at Esmeralda's. high school graduation and this is all. during the time that Celeste is reported.

as a missing person. >> So so does that give you a time of when. she may have been alive? >> Well yeah so you know this is going back. you know a year but this so this is. right after she went missing. So, we've. all been under the impression um that. she's been gone, you know, over a year, but there's these times that we're now. finding out, well, you know, was she. missing or was this more was she a. missing person? So,

the family or whoever would get in. trouble for her not being in school or. there would be a CPS report. investigation opened right away. It. appears that they knew where she was at. and you know, she showed up at. graduation. She's uh shown up now at um. the Six Flags uh along with her cousin. and then she shows up in September. arguing with her neighbors at her own. home. So yeah, >> you know, and and the family has the. responsibility to report that to law. enforcement. If you have an open missing.

person's case on a minor, you got to you. have any contact with them, you got to. report that. >> And was this information that has just. recently uh been discovered by you? Is. this something that you believe the. family or law enforcement knew. beforehand? >> I don't know if uh. yeah, so we discovered it um maybe two. or three weeks ago, I guess, and not. long after the um search warrant took. place, but I don't know if they really. had reason, you know, I don't know what.

the scope of that search warrant even. was. So, I don't know if it's something. that they would have been looking for, been after. You know, they know that we. know about it. I don't know if it's of. any value to their investigation. I don't know if they're even um. investigating. or if they even care if if people knew. that Celeste really wasn't a missing. person. I just think it's important for. the overall story, you know, to be told. that um you know uh there were people. that that that knew and and you know, possibly people that could have.

intervened in this situation. And to be. clear, has this detail, you know, given you a better. understanding of what the possible. relationship is or was between David and. Celeste? Does it give you a time frame. of maybe when they had last spoke or or. last had contact if that's at all what's. going on? >> Well, last um spoke or contact, it. doesn't really help with that. So, so. far the last that I have proof of is. January 2nd. Now, that's what I have.

proof of. I don't know what LAPD has. I. don't know what some of her friends. might have text messages from her. Um, you know, but what I have is January. 2nd. But I think what it does show is. that there was listen, there was a. relationship. Um, they were they were. doing things, you know, social things. And she was out of school. She was on, you know, she she had dropped out. She. was, I think, seventh grade. This is, you know, as far as I'm concerned, this. is really serious stuff. And and I think.

it's um it's it's sad that it was. allowed to continue and and that's I. don't know why it was allowed to. continue, but but it was and I think. people knew where she was at. And uh it. also makes me think that as soon as the. news came out that a body had been found. in David's Tesla, I think that family. probably knew exactly who it was right. away. Now, last time we spoke, you had. mentioned that there were these items at. this Hollywood Hills property that. weren't seized uh in the search warrant.

Uh since then, have you uncovered. anything new that helps clarify the. timeline? Maybe what happened at the. house? I mean, last time you were on. with us, you talked about that you. believe something sinister uh was being. planned, the idea of maybe discarding. her body. Is there anything else you can. tell us about that? you know, I can't. give details about what those items were. so yet because I just don't want to step. on, you know, LAPD's investigation. Uh, as far as finding anything new, you. know, I spent the whole day at the house. again yesterday. Um, I don't know if.

there's going to be too much more there. to gather. Um, you know, there are these. small pieces, you know, like the builder. and stuff in in in photos from the. graduation that we can put this timeline. together, but that does that really just. kind of proves this relationship. Um, and it was a known relationship. As far. as what happened and when, uh, it. appears to me that January, February is. when there's something happens with the. Tesla. Uh, it stops being used uh,

regularly. And so, I think that's going. to end up being the date. But I, you. know, I could be wrong. I don't have any. proof of her what happened to her or her. being placed in that Tesla or being. taken out of that Tesla. I was going to. ask you, I mean, because in our last. discussion, you talked about tracking. the Tesla, who may have moved it. Um, you believe that you you have an. indication about who may have moved it. Obviously, I haven't identified the. person, but have you been able to. pinpoint any more details about the car, any. >> new insights about it, how it fits into. the picture? No, not on that car. But we.

have learned that there was another one. of his um uh close entourage, a person. that was actually on um tour with him. that had actually there was another car. that was reported being left right by. the house for like two months. And it it. they had actually called to have that. one towed as well. And then the day. before it was going to be towed, when. they came out for the third time, um two. men came and picked up the car. And. we've since found out that that is. somebody that was uh was owned by.

somebody that was out on tour with David. and they just left it in front of the. you know across the street uh on the. same street just parked on the other. side of the road kind of blocking. someone's driveway for two months. >> To be clear, the two people that moved. that other car, was one of them the. person that moved the Tesla? >> No. So these are um I only know who one. of I've only IDed one of them. These are. not people that are uh regular in they. were the owner of the cars. I think a. family member and a friend or something. like that. Not people that were around.

um and not David's like u people or. anything like that. >> Now you've also been tracking the. medical examiner timeline uh the LAPD's. timelines actively very closely. Um have. there been any developments there that. you can give a better sense of when we. might maybe even see an official. determination about the cause of death, the manner of death, anything like that? I think it could be in the next um week. to 10 days. And that's because, you. know, what I've been doing is tracking. uh you know, her uh you know, she was. discovered on the 8th on September 8th.

So, I've been tracking the uh deaths for. the months and weeks before that date. and the ones that were in deferred. status. Those are usually the ones that. are pending toxicology. And then I'm. seeing that they're showing up as. they're not deferred anymore and they're. showing, you know, acute fentanyl. intoxication or whatever. So they have. that shows. >> in other cases. In other cases, yes. Yes. >> So they they've Yeah. In other cases. So. it it shows that the toxicology has come. back on those and they're making. determinations and I've seen those as.

recent as September 3rd right now. So we. could be um you know just days away from. now. That doesn't mean the autopsy. report is done in total, but it does. show it does mean that on the website we. could see a determination of the cause. and manner of death, which will which. will then should free up LAPD to do what. they're going to do. >> Do you have any idea of what that could. be based on what you're seeing? I mean, again, going back to our previous. conversation, you had mentioned that. there seemed to be plans in that house. of potentially [clears throat]. discarding uh Celeste's body. Is there.

anything that you could tell us? Anything you can glean obviously without. compromising the investigation about. what happened to her? >> You know, I can tell you that we, you. know, we did find um opiate prescription. medication bottles in the house with now. they could he, you know, whoever's those. were, they could be taking them 100%. legitimately. So, just because you have. pain medication, but there was uh a few. bottles of it in the house and and.

my gut tells me I have no inside. information on this at all, but my gut. tells me the way things are lining up. right now. I have a feeling this is. probably going to be something like an. accidental overdose. And um they just. made a horrible decision uh after the. fact because they didn't want the. relationship um to be um you know u to. get out there because it would hurt. would definitely hurt his you know. career if not um him be criminally. charged and I you know I think they just.

made a really really bad decision. I. don't think I think that the medical. examiner would have been able to tell. pretty quickly if like you know it was. strangulation or anything like that. because you know you would you would. still see the bone you know the hybrid. going bone broken or you see blood. vessels broken in the eyes stuff like. that or if it was gunshot you know. that's pretty obvious so since they. couldn't determine that I think it's. coming down the toxicology so um. >> well because the last one of the last. times we talked or something been part. of the conversation is that law.

enforcement As far as we can see, they. haven't come out and said that there is. a crime that was committed other than. disposing of the body. Unless. something's changed, unless seen. different, that that's all that they say. right now. I mean, they they say it's. possible that it could be something. else, but it's also possible that like. you said she died under circumstances. where no one um may may not necessarily. be held criminally liable, might not be. a murder, but someone may be charged for. disposing of the body. >> Yeah. I mean, I they said there's like. words where there not might not be.

criminal capability beyond concealment. of a body, >> right? >> And you know, that that could be the. truth. Um, I think that I think LAPD. right now has [clears throat] a. preliminary indication from the medical. examiner's office. I'm I'm sure that the. toxicology results are back. Uh, I think. that determination is still being made. of of what the cause and manner is, but. I think LAPD. um has knows and We haven't really seen.

uh any, you know, nobody's been seen. coming in and out of LAPD headquarters. or anything being, you know, maybe being. questioned or, you know, we haven't seen. any statements of maybe attorneys. getting ahead of what might be coming. So, I don't know. I think it it's going. to be minimal. I I I want to talk about some of the. posts that you've shared publicly about. the case and get your thoughts on it. because you've been very candid on. social media, highlight some of the. aspects that the public uh hasn't seen. yet. You you made a post earlier today.

got a lot of attention and that thread. pushes back hard against a lot of what. you say is communitydriven. misinformation in this case because in. it you say that Reddit threads that were. useful early on have now become quote. overrun by people misreading your work. and claiming that you said that Celeste. was never at that house. You make a. distinction there that I want you to. state clearly on the record. Right. Because first, can you explain what you. did say about whether Celeste lived at.

that house versus whether she was ever. at the house at any point? >> Yeah. So, what I said is we don't have. any proof. Like, meaning I've been. pretty open that we found a lot of. media, a couple thousand images, right? And and in those with Celeste in them, they're not at the house. So, we don't. have anything tying her to the house. Do. I think she's at the house? 100%. I'm. certain she's been at the house. I just. don't have any evidence to say here. here's the proof. Um, a lot of people. are. >> So, what makes you say that? I guess. what makes you say that that you know.

she was at that house at some point. >> Well, I said I'm I'm pretty I said I'm. certain she was at that house at some. time just because of the relationship. they had, but I don't have any proof. that she was ever at the house. I don't. have any pictures. Now people are. pointing to a different house on Dhini. that um was like a streaming house that. her and David were they did a stream. from there and there were several photos. taken and and myself and you know LAPD. and everybody's known about that house. since the very beginning. Um and I think. they're thinking that he kept that as. like a safe house for her and you know.

that that I know is not not the case but. there's no we don't have anything to. indicate she was living there. We do. have indication that there was other. females that were living in the house, maybe not full-time, but regularly. I. mean, they had nightstands with stuff in. it and whatnot, but it didn't belong to. um Celeste. >> I'm glad you made that distinction. And. also because you also called out a lot. of people on Reddit for jumping to. conclusions and that the public noise. can affect uh an investigation like. this. How has it? I mean, how is this in.

your mind the spread of what you see as. misinformation impacted your work, your. ability to understand what happened, collect evidence, maybe the LAPD's. handling of the the investigation? >> I listen, I think in the beginning they. were a huge help. I think there's a lot. of stuff the LAPD would have never known. about, especially in the Discord server, if it wasn't for Reddit. Um, I think. what my frustration is is that listen, every case I go to, I have this core. group of people that just will take the. exact opposite narrative of me. they're. coming at me and it that just kind of.

muddies the water because they they're. very loud and and and they they'll just, you know, say things that are just. absolutely 100% false. They'll state. them as fact and that becomes. distracting because there are certain. amount of people that they first thing. they read they believe. I mean, there's. this whole thing going on now about this. Knots Barry firm and nobody seems to. understand the point is not whether they. were at Knots or Six Flags, even though. they were at Six Flags. It's that the. certificate ended up at David's house. So, how did it end up at David's house. if there wasn't a relationship that.

Ezmeralda knew, you know, them or was. hanging out with them? So, it it becomes. a little distracting there, but at the. beginning, I got to say it was really. helpful because they had that entire. server and there's a ton of information. in that Discord server, you know. >> Yeah. No, 100%. And and by the way, talking about the house, so over the. weekend, you tweeted about spending the. afternoon at that house in Dini. describe the anxiety, the fear that must. live inside the people who may be. responsible for what happened to.

Celeste. I mean, can you expand upon. that a little bit more? >> You know, I just I was sitting there. thinking, I'm like, how. I think I personally think there's. [clears throat] four or five people that. know what happened. Um, or at least that. she was in that Tesla. And I just say, how do you I don't know how they live. with themselves. It's got to be eating. them up from inside. I don't know. just. seems like if it was me, I'd want to. just get it out there and and you know, explain my role in it and beg for. forgiveness because it's going to be too.

like too late. It's like if we're. waiting for investigators to to prove it. first and it's too late and I don't. understand how they they it's got to be. eating them up. They I don't know how. they sleep. I don't know how this is a. 14year-old girl uh that ended up in a. Tesla uh trunk for a long period of. time. And you know, these people, some. of these people are out on tour and just. going about their regular life, and I. think that's just something that's going. to end up haunting them. And I just urge. them, come forward, come clean. Like,

this is not about beating charges. This. is about doing the right thing for a. 14-year-old girl. >> And to be clear, when you say these are. people that might have knowledge about. what happened, but not necessarily. physically were responsible for where. Celeste was found. That's what you mean? I I personally myself right now if you. had asked me I think this is probably. like an overdose some an accidental. thing that they did not have a hand in. maybe they had drugs around that they. shouldn't have been but I don't think. anybody at this point I don't have. anything that anybody killed Celeste.

right I don't so that makes it even. worse for me I but the fact is she ended. up in this instead of calling first. responders they put her in this Tesla. and I I just you know I wanted those. people to think about like this going to. weigh on your mind for the rest of your. life. It come forward, say what. happened. This 14-year-old girl, she. deserves that, you know, and um I just. hope somebody will. >> And and one more thing I was I wanted to. get a little bit more clarity on. Um you.

clarified recently regarding the items. that were found in the house. You say. there's been a misquote that is. circulating online suggesting that you. referred to the items that were found in. this Hollywood Hills home as heavy tools. or farm machinery. Can you clarify what. you meant? >> Yeah. So that I will say that. publication did retract that statement. It was a taped it was a recorded um you. know interview. So they have they have. changed it but of course it was already. out there. So what I said was and what.

I've always said was these were items. that you would not find at a house. It. would have no serve no purpose at a. house in the Hollywood Hills. There it's. items you would find more like in a farm. or farm environment. And that's exactly. what what I said. Uh they're just not it. would have no use at at at a house in. the Hollywood Hills. I if you don't want to identify what. those items are, can at the very least. you say would it be items that someone. could use to dismember a body. >> to.

uh dismember and. completely. get dispose of. >> Okay. Okay. I got you. Okay. Um. >> yeah, I mean that's what that's where. the sadistic part came from. This is. this was not about like maybe. dismembering her or anything. This is. about evaporating her. >> Look, Steve, I I appreciate you coming. on. I appreciate you clearing the. record, setting straight what is. available, what isn't available, what. may we what we may expect, what we might. not expect. Um, I really appreciate you.

coming on here, giving us our our. audience, the world, an opportunity to. get a kind of a an inside glimpse about. what may be happening here. I think. everybody is looking for answers, but. really, most importantly, the loved ones. of Celeste Riva Hernandez, her family, her friends, they need answers more than. anybody else. Thank you so much for. coming on the the show, Steve. Really. appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me on. I appreciate. it. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcast. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak.

to you next time. [music].