How Did a Teen’s Body End Up in D4vd’s Tesla? — Everything We Know

We're diving a bit more into the. apparent activity, the movements, the. tracking of recording artist David as a. body of a young girl was found in a car. that was registered to him. Plus, we. also have just seen brand new footage of. this victim, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, from September of 2024. This completely. shakes up the timeline. You couple that. with the newly released death. certificate, it's time to get into some. updates in this mystery. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber.

When it comes to the continuing. investigation into the teenage girl who. was found in a trunk of a car registered. to 20-year-old singer David, while. yesterday's Sidebar was about her. movements, her activity, now we're going. to talk about him. I mean, where is he. right now? We don't even know. And this. is going to be a very much. David-centered discussion. But before we. even talk about him, there are two big. updates we got to address that came out. after our recording from yesterday. New.

footage, new document. And it regards. the victim. It regards Celeste Rivas. Hernandez, whose decomposed, dismembered. body was found by authorities in that. 2023 Tesla that was impounded in a. Hollywood tow yard out in Los Angeles. Well, first of all, her death. certificate has been released. We'll. talk about that. Not really a bombshell, okay? It lists things we already knew, like how she was found on September 8th, 2025 in a vehicle. The cause of death. has been deferred. The manner of death. is pending. When we talk about manner of.

death, that could be, you know, homicide, accidental. But this again is. not surprising because there is still an. ongoing investigation. And it's. consistent with the reporting that we've. seen so far. And while the death. certificate confirms that an autopsy was. performed, reporting suggests that the. medical examiner is waiting on the. results of toxicology examinations. Now, this is interesting. The death. certificate indicates that Celeste. apparently was not pregnant at the time. of her death, nor had she been pregnant.

in the last year. And this comes as. there has been a lot of speculation. about her relationship, her connection. with David. So, we're going to talk. about him, we're going to talk about his. movements. Before we do that, one more. thing about Celeste, and this is big. So, in our previous episode of Sidebar, we talked about how Celeste had. reportedly run away in the past, and. there were surveillance footage from. March of 2024 that was released. It was. taken from a local liquor shop in Lake. Elsinore. She apparently lived nearby. That's about 75, 76 miles away from.

where her body was found in that Tesla. Now, that footage seemingly captured her. walking and then jogging down a street. She turned the corner, and she. disappears from view. We thought this. may be the last known footage of her. before she vanished and ultimately was. found in that Tesla this year. Turns out. there is new footage. There is. additional footage that we have to talk. about. This came out after we did our. recording yesterday. So, TMZ obtained. footage of what appears to be Celeste in. September 2024. So, that is different.

from the timeline that we had all. understood, right? The one that we. thought she went missing in April of. 2024. In this footage that was captured. on Nest camera on September 8th, 2024, and apparently provided by neighbors, it. seemingly shows Celeste upset, arguing. with people, reportedly over a prank. that was pulled on her parents' home, potentially ding-dong-ditch. TMZ. reporting that racial slurs may even. have been used during this altercation.

And also, according to TMZ, a neighbor's. boyfriend went over to Celeste's family. home afterwards to say sorry, but. Celeste's dad reportedly didn't seem to. be too upset by the whole thing. Okay, the reason this is important, again, the. reason this is key, is because it shows. Celeste, or apparently shows Celeste, alive at Lake Elsinore in September of. 2024 after she had disappeared, after. she was missing, and apparently was on. missing persons posters since April of. 2024. Also, TMZ points out that.

September 8th, when this happened, is. the day after her 14th birthday. And by. the way, in a chilling twist, that is 1. year before she was found in that car. She was found in that car 1 day after. she would have turned 15 years old. So, not sure if police have obtained this. video, not sure if police are using it. in their investigation, not sure if they. have questioned the people in this. video, but look, if this video shows.

what it appears to show, that could be. quite significant as we're tracking. whatever she was up to, whatever her. movements were, a timeline leading up to. her death. But now you go back to David, real name David Anthony Burke, okay? This 20-year-old performer. What were. his movements? What was his activity? Now, to be clear, authorities haven't. identified him as a suspect, they. haven't identified him as a person of. interest, nor has he been implicated in. any crime or implicated in any.

wrongdoing whatsoever. By the way, they. haven't identified any suspect or person. of interest. But look, her body was found in the. trunk of a car that was registered to. him out of Hempstead, Texas. So, let's. just start at his social media activity, for example, okay? A key period of time. As we reported yesterday, the car was. apparently on that block in Hollywood. Hills for quite some time before it was. towed and impounded. The car was. ticketed apparently 11 days before. Celeste's body was found inside. So, on.

August 27th, a parking enforcement. officer marked the car. September 3rd, the officer issued a citation for. violating a 72-hour parking ordinance. September 5th, it was towed. September. 8th is when the body's found, and. neighbors reportedly told NBC Los. Angeles that that car had maybe been. there for about a month. Okay. So, now. you look at some of David's social media. clips leading up to the discovery of. Celeste's body in this car. These are. all on Instagram, by the way. So, September 1st, there's a video of him.

giving a hug to singer Kali Uchis on. stage. September 2nd, there's promotion. of a collaboration with Fortnite. Underneath an animated picture of David, it says, "Tomorrow, David Fortnite. locked and loaded official Fortnite. anthem music video drops on all. platforms at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I. started making music for my Fortnite. montages 3 years ago. Man, this is. crazy. Thank you." September 5th, he. posts a selfie in the mirror. The. caption, "I start media training.

tomorrow. Guys, wish me luck." With a. kind of a worried face emoji. September. 7th, there is a post promoting his album. release. It says, "Wither Deluxe. Morescence out September 19th." Now, he. was also on tour when a lot of this was. going on, and I want to talk about that, too. So, apparently he kicked off the. tour on August 5th in Del Mar, California with stops in Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit. This is according to USA Today. Actually, as reported by TMZ and the.

Gazetteer, he also performed at the. Warfield out in San Francisco in July, too. This is before the tour fully. kicked off. But his tour was canceled. His tour was canceled before he was set. to perform on Friday, September 19th in. San Francisco, and out in Los Angeles on. September 20th. And while an exact. reason hadn't been disclosed, it did. seem to coincide with this investigation. into Celeste's death ramping up. He was. also supposed to go, by the way, international. The tour had dates, at. least nine European tour dates, shows.

that were listed on Ticketmaster. There. was one for October 1st in Norway. There. was a scheduled Grammy Museum appearance. in Los Angeles that was pulled, too, from the venue's website. His label, Interscope, told TMZ that all promotion. for David, including his deluxe album. release, that was being paused. And I. will say, this wasn't immediate, by the. way. So, when Los Angeles authorities. found a body in this Tesla that was. registered to him, before the body was. positively identified as that of.

Celeste, he went on stage in. Minneapolis. At this concert, he even. handed out Laboos to the crowd. But TMZ. reported that once Celeste was ID'd, his. tour was canceled. And that included an. upcoming show in Seattle. Playing on. their phone. And this not a This is not a This is not. a Texas uh Yeah, it's an out-of-state. number. Someone's messing with us. Were David's. parents victims of a swatting incident. as police investigate the discovery of a. dead body in a car registered to the.

singer's name? Is he being targeted? Is. he being framed? We have the body cam. that we're going to get into. Plus, this. young dead girl, Celeste Rivas. Hernandez, her apparent ex-boyfriend is. speaking out. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Such a strange update in the David. story. We've been covering every aspect. of this investigation of the body of. teenager Celeste Rivas Hernandez who was. found dead in a car that was registered. to singer David out in Hollywood. This.

happened in the beginning of last month. There have been no arrests. There have. been no identified persons of interest, no suspects, no confirmed relationship. or connection between David and Celeste, who, by the way, when her body was. found, it was 1 day after she had turned. 15 years old. But now we have something. new. Now, we have this new video, and it is. so weird. Not even sure if it's. connected or ties into this case per se,

maybe. But we're going to discuss it. So, TMZ obtained police body cam. footage. And this is from days after. Celeste's body was found in that 2023. Tesla. And police show up to David's. Hempstead, Texas family home. So, we're. talking September 18th, after Celeste. was ID'd. And the Texas officers, they. respond to this home, guns drawn, and. they respond to a report of gunfire. I'll go out wide and keep you covered.

You want to tap the door? Just wait for me. Wait for me. Okay, I'm going to keep you covered. Sweet. We got you covered from out here. Too many windows here. Here, knock on the door. Dude, we got a phone call from here. saying that somebody was dead. What? Is there somebody else that lives on. this property that has your address? What's your address? No. That's it? That's it. That's what I. actually got. We got We got an address.

There was a gunshot and a woman scream. What? I'm serious. That's why we came up here. like this because it then then they. talked to the caller, whoever they were. talking to you said that there's a. person dead. No, sir. No, sir. So, officers have guns drawn. They're. ready thinking someone might be dead. And there is just seemingly a lot of. confusion by David's parents. They don't. appear to have any idea what's going on. And they closed the door. So, let's see. what happens next. They have a six.

northbound and Ma'am, we got to figure. out what's going on so we can leave, okay? Hey guys, we made contact. They said. nothing happened here. She shut the door. and now she's calling 911. [Music]. Dispatch, sir, we haven't received a. call. I believe she's going to be in the. process. Go ahead and give them a call if you. want to verify it. Okay. All right, she's calling you now. [Music]. There's more than one on the line. >> Can you repeat that? Broken traffic.

Huh? That's not normal activity. If. somebody If you were at the wrong. address, they'd be concerned about. somebody else. They'd be like, "Really?". Like, you know what I mean? Like, they'd be they'd be trying to. help. [Music]. Engine 10 and 42, sir? Sorry to bother you, but somebody called. and said they were something in here. There was a person that where they They. called on themselves, you know what I. mean? It was like, "Hey, there's. somebody dead.". Someone's dead. That's why we have them here. We're. going to take caution, you know what I. mean? We're not trying to scare you. I'm just.

And if it was This house is way off the. roadway. So, you just opened the gate and came. in? Yes, ma'am. I'll put it back. I have. a gate just like it. Uh I think it probably doesn't make. sense. Yeah, when it's something like. this, when they say somebody's dead, their life matters more than this, you. know what I mean? >> I hear. I didn't damage your gate. I. just opened it. And that is when there. is a realization. Did someone just prank. them? Are they the victims now of. swatting? And on their phone. And this not it. This is not a This is.

not a Texas uh Yeah, it's an. out-of-state number. Someone's messing with us. Someone's messing But whoever But it. would ping here though because wherever. they call from, it pings and sends it to. dispatch. What the what? So, like whenever you. call 911, wherever you are, it sends a. it sends like a ping to let's That's how. they know where the address is. And this address came And this address. came up to this number? Uh yes, ma'am, that's where he was. pinging. Engine 10 and 42. So, is there. somebody on my property?

Could be. We'll check the property for. you. Yes, please. So, we'll ride around uh Can you give me. a layout? How is it How is the property? Like, does it go further back like that? >> No, no, it doesn't go any further back. there. It's just right here. Okay, the fence is to the gate and then. the fence around is the perimeter fence. Well, him and I will ride around and. check and then uh we'll leave. Yeah, okay. So, that was a false alarm. See, I. don't like this kind of thing so if I. ever do have an emergency, then Yeah. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Sorry.

All right. See you. If you have an emergency, you know we're. going to be here. We're going to be. here. Yeah, yeah, okay. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. You all have a good night. "Someone is. messing with us." Yeah, it's pretty. scary. And you can see David's mom. wondering whether someone is still on. the property. Now, it's not clear if. David was in the home when this was. going on. According to TMZ, the police. report indicated that officers spent. another 20 minutes on the property. possibly to see if anyone was there. It. appears this could have been an instance. of swatting. We don't see any kind of.

confirmed continuing investigation into. this or whether or not there's been any. arrests. Is this connected to anything. regarding Celeste? And I will tell you. one thing I wonder. There is a theory. that David was framed, right? A body was. found in his car in a public place. Does. this connect to that? Is he being. targeted in some way? Singer David has. hired a prominent defense attorney as. rumors and speculation around the death. of a 14-year-old girl, Celeste Rivas. Hernandez, continue to grow. The teen.

was found dead in a car registered to. the viral artist who was in the middle. of a tour when her remains were found. Now, as Celeste's family prepares to say. goodbye, we're digging into the latest. details as well as theories about what. might have happened to her. And we're. going to break it all down with criminal. defense attorney and former prosecutor. at Angino. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. One of the songs that rocketed David. Anthony Burke, known by his moniker. David, to stardom was Romantic Homicide.

It is back on the Billboard Hot 100. chart, okay? The hit, which originally. went viral on TikTok back in 2022, it. has reentered the charts at number 38, according to Billboard. So, why the. sudden interest? Well, for anybody who's. been following us here on Sidebar, you. know there is a lot going on right now. It seems that fans, new and old, are. connecting that chilling song title with. an investigation into the death of a. teenager who was apparently associated. or connected with David before she went.

missing in 2024. Now, we're talking. about the fact that her body was found. in a car registered in his name. We are. covering every angle of the. investigation by LAPD into Celeste Rivas. Hernandez's death. The cause of death, which is so far listed as deferred on. her death certificate, we don't know the. manner of death either. Police say her. decomposed body was found in the trunk. of a Tesla at Hollywood Tow Yard in Los. Angeles back in September. This was 1. day after she would have turned 15. LAPD.

sources told People magazine that. Celeste's remains had likely been inside. that car for weeks as it sat apparently. abandoned on a neighborhood street. before it was towed. Tow yard workers. had called the police when at least one. person had realized there was this. horrible smell coming from the car. That. is when first responders found Celeste's. body. It was apparently wrapped in a. plastic bag. But here's the thing, despite that Tesla being registered to. David, despite him apparently renting a. property near where that car was parked,

and even despite his alleged connection. to the victim, he has not been named as. a suspect, he has not been named as a. person of interest, he has not been. implicated officially in any wrongdoing. or any crime. In fact, no one has been. named as a suspect so far. In fact, an. LAPD commanding officer said it is. possible that Celeste wasn't even. murdered. That perhaps her death, when. we think about it, was it attributed to. something else, an accident, overdose? In other words, there is a possibility.

that the only crime could be someone. tried to hide her body. So, as we await. more testing like toxicology reports, we. know that the medical examiner performed. an autopsy on Celeste's remains, determined that she was not pregnant nor. had she been pregnant in the last year. That's important because there's been. speculation that there could have been. some sort of sexual relationship between. David and this young girl. He's 20 years. old right now. And as more and more. rumors spread about David's alleged. potential involvement, he has canceled. his music tour, which was supposed to. include more stops in the US, also.

abroad. He appears to have gone off the. grid. We don't know where he is. His. social media pages kind of void of new. videos and photographs. But there is. this. This is new. LA Magazine now reports that David has. hired a prominent celebrity defense. attorney, Blair Berk. Now, she has. represented very high-profile clients, Harvey Weinstein, CeeLo Green, Bruno. Mars, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan. She. also, by the way, most recently. represented Monica Semitelli, the Los. Angeles mom who was sentenced to life in.

prison for the 2017 murder of her. celebrity hairstylist husband, Fabio. Semitelli. So, to talk about this, to. talk about the implications of these new. details, particularly hiring a defense. attorney, let's bring in our own. criminal defense attorney and former. prosecutor Matt Mangino. To be clear, Matt doesn't represent us in a criminal. arena, but we love having him on. He's a. great guest. Matt, it's really good to. see you. So, a lot of online sleuths in. the true crime community, they are. obsessed with this case. They are. digging into David's past internet.

activity, his posts that are either with. Celeste, believed to be with her, believed to be about her. There's been a. lot of reaction to his hiring of Blair. Berk. Before we even get into what the. reaction is online, your thoughts on him. apparently, reportedly hi retaining. Blair Berk. Well, that's a good decision. Um you. know, anytime your name starts swirling. around in a in a criminal investigation, even though the police have made it. clear that he's not a suspect at this.

point, it's always a good idea to hire. an attorney. Before you talk to anybody, before you know, the police come out and. talk to you or ask to talk to you, have. an attorney in place, have someone who. can try to control the narrative at. least because of course he is a. celebrity and his wealth and his. resources come from his celebrity. status. And so, you want to protect that. as well. And so, a criminal defense. attorney, someone particularly who's. represented other people who were celeb.

who are celebrities, you know, can be. very helpful in this very important. time. Why do it now? Why do it now? This. is after, by the way, that Celeste was. ID'd. This was after apparently the. property he was renting was searched by. law enforcement. They reportedly. confiscated some materials. This is. after uh he canceled his tour. This is. uh you know, after the death certificate. was published. Why now? Well, I think you know let's be honest. I mean this is kind of a a strange.

situation. There's no question there's a. connection between him and this teenage. girl. Very young. Her body is found in. his car. He has a place or his manager. has a place nearby where he may have. been staying. You know we can't ignore. the lyrics of some of his music which. are early close to what the facts of. this case are. Now prosecutors are not. going to file homicide charges until. they know the manner the cause and.

manner of death. And you know as your. viewers Jesse know that this could be an. accidental death. It could have been a. suicide. It's unlikely that it's natural. causes. But the question is is it. homicide and what was the cause of. death? Once those two things are. answered I think this investigation you. know really picks up some steam. If. David weren't in any way connected to. the death of Celeste River Hernandez, wouldn't someone have come out with a. statement? As we think about the car,

the property he was apparently renting, the new footage, the statement from. police. We are now getting new. perspective on this case from a former. detective commander. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law & Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. As we continue to cover the. investigation into the death of. 14-year-old Celeste River Hernandez. whose body was found in the trunk of a. car registered to singer 20-year-old. David last month. I want to now get new. perspective. And I want to get new. perspective who we're going to bring on. in a minute, a retired detective.

commander. And I think it's important. because there are so many moving parts. to this especially since so much has. been happening as of late. We learned a. new timeline of events. We learned about. what was happening with that property. that apparently was being rented by. David whose real name is David Anthony. Burke which was reportedly by the way. near where the car the Tesla with. Celeste body inside was found. This. property apparently nearby. We learned. there was a possibility she wasn't. murdered. But here's the thing. There.

have been no arrests since her body was. found in the trunk on September 8th. Authorities have not identified a. suspect nor a person of interest. And to. be clear David has not officially been. implicated in any wrongdoing or any. crime. And law enforcement have not even. come out with a definitive connection. between the singer and Celeste. But I. want to bring on right now Will Swilar. who's retired detective commander. Will, thank you so much for taking the time. You and I haven't had a chance to talk.

about this case yet as it's really in. the news. It's continuing to develop. We're trying to understand what's. happening behind the scenes. Since you and I haven't spoken, let me. get your perspective. Why no arrest? Why. not name any suspect? Why not name any. person of interest at this point? It's. been weeks now and it's almost what are. we at? Almost a month. Almost a full. month since the body was found. Well, one thing that might be clear on. is a crime has been committed. Now and the crime is minimum.

we call it in Illinois desecration of a. corpse or improper handling of a dead. body. The girl was put in the trunk of a. car. dismembered. Somebody did that. That's a. crime. Now. the events leading up to her death and. her actual cause of death still has to. be determined. And without that you're not going to get. a murder charge. Unless somebody says. it's a murder and that's the medical. examiner, you're not going to get a. murder charge. To couple that, we've. talked about this extensively here on. Sidebar but I haven't talked to you. about it. LAPD Captain Commanding. Officer Scott M. Williams told People.

magazine quote the Los Angeles County. Medical Examiner has not determined a. cause or manner of her death. So we. don't know for sure if anyone has any. criminal culpability for her death. beyond the concealment of her dead body. Now with that in mind, something I don't. think we've talked about yet is that Fox. 11 LA Fox 11 LA. They spoke with a. private investigator Steve Fisher who. apparently got his hands on images of. that car the Tesla that Celeste was. found in. And remember this car was.

apparently sitting there for weeks. before it was towed to that tow yard and. then workers there smelled this foul. odor and alerted authorities. But it was. in the Hollywood Hills. Now it could. suggest she was in that trunk for that. extended period of time too. We don't. know how long she was in the trunk per. se but her body was decomposed. Anyway, so Fisher says quote the car almost. looks like it's been off-road in the. desert or something. The wheel wells are. all beat up. There's a huge dent in the. back. This could have been an overdose. and they panicked and hid her body.

because they didn't want to expose the. relationship between her and the minor. And by the way she was found one day. after she would have turned 15. With. that in mind, you had mentioned that a. crime has been committed. We're just not. exactly sure how many crimes. That's absolutely true and and that's. correct. Everything we talk about now as. far as cause of death is speculation. until we have some science to back it. up. When you talk about a crime, we talk. about concealment, the dismemberment, the desecration of the corpse. We also. talk about a situation where if they can.

prove that there's some sort of. relationship between a 14-year-old and a. 20-year-old, that's a problem for him. The age of consent in Illinois is 17. You can't give consent at 14 to be with. an adult. There's another crime. That's. like the backside of that is another. crime. If the LAPD can come up with. definitive proof that he was in fact. involved in a relationship, he has. another problem. Let's analyze this a. bit. What makes more sense to you? Someone panicked, put the body in the. car, didn't have enough time to know. what to do with it. Car was there for a. long period of time though so I don't.

know if that makes sense. Or we're. purposely putting it in this car. We. know it's registered to David. The car. is near where the property he was. renting was. There's a argument we're. targeting David. I mean what makes more. sense to you? Well, it's an awful. elaborate scheme to target David by a. rival or something along those lines to. do a murder and then steal his car and. then put the body in the car. Now he. never reported this car stolen so we. don't know if there's an auto theft in. that. That seems pretty elaborate to me. The girl dying of her natural causes is. possible. A murder is definitely.

possible. And you say the car is found. not far from where the house he was. renting. The car has been evidence that. it's been in the desert off the road. If. I'm investigating this, I am trying to. find a route from his home to where this. body is found and see if there is any. like you know part of the out of the. desert or off-road area where maybe she. dies or she's killed. They take her to. that spot. They do what they do to her. body. Put it in the car and then get rid. of it and then ditch the car. So there's. a lot of things that still have to be. determined. And to be clear law.

enforcement hasn't come out and said you. know what the condition of the car was. But here's the point. When we say. there's been no identified officially no. identified suspect or person of. interest. Do you think police really do. have somebody? And I guess the bigger. question is and this is a bigger theme I. have today. Are they just not making it public? If. it didn't involve David at all in any. way, would they say it? Would they say. hey listen we want to clear him at least. we'll put out a statement and say at. this point in time David is not. connected to this whatsoever. I haven't.

seen a statement like that. Now I'm not. suggesting that he is. Again he hasn't. been officially implicated in. wrongdoing. But would it be typical of. police to say if he had absolutely no. involvement in this whatsoever and. there's this whole cloud and a lot of. public attention, I have to imagine they. have more information than we do at this. point. Would they come out and. immediately you know. clear him of anything? It's case by case basis. I mean if. there's if you absolutely know it's not. him, you know that. But I can tell you. that these detectives are operating on. theories too. There's probably two or.

three different theories that they're. operating under. And I think they're not. giving that information that he's been. cleared because they just don't know. yet. They're still trying to figure out. exactly what went down. What caused this. girl's death? And we talk about persons. of interest. It's kind of a weird. statement to use or weird way to depict. somebody as a person of interest in a. disappearance. Because the girl's been. gone missing for a year and a half. roughly I believe is the number. How can. you be a person of interest in a. disappearance unless you're doing an. abduction? And I don't think there's any. evidence that she was abducted. Seems. like she left under her own free will. So I think there's an outline of.

information coming out because they just. don't know yet. They're operating under. theories but you can't just you know. talk about all your theories. What's. going on? Um I heard like some like. gunshots. Okay. How close to your. residence were they? They were like. right outside my house. And I think. someone's dead. We've talked about how. David's parents seem to be the victims. of a swatting incident as police. investigate the death of a young girl. found in the singer's car. But right now. we have the audio of the person calling. in that apparent fake report to David's. parents' home. And as we think about is.

David being targeted? Is someone framing. or harassing him? Was this person hiding. their voice on the call? Let's find out. when we bring on a forensic audio. expert. Welcome to Sidebar presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay. So we're exploring another strange. weird aspect of this whole investigation. into the death of 14-year-old Celeste. River Hernandez. As we know her body was. found in the trunk of a car out in LA. that was registered to viral singer.

20-year-old David. Her decomposed body. was found in this car that was towed to. a Hollywood tow yard. And as we have. covered extensively, right now there are. no arrests. There are no named or. identified suspects or persons of. interest. And as law enforcement try to. understand what happened to this girl, what were her movements? What exactly. was her connection to David? Was she. killed or simply placed in the Tesla. after her death? How long was she in the. car? Who put her there? All of that. One. interesting question that has come out. is has David been targeted? Is he being.

set up? Is he being framed? And there is. this recent alleged swatting incident at. his parents' house in Texas. You wonder. is that connected to the Celeste. investigation in some way? Well, right. now, we have important audio, a 911. phone call to play for you. So, as we. previously reported on an episode of. Sidebar, TMZ obtained police body cam. footage, and this is from days after. Celeste's body was found in that Tesla,

and they show up to David's Hempstead, Texas family home. So, we're talking. September 18th. This is after Celeste. was ID'd. Now, the Texas officers, they. respond to this home because there's a. report of gunfire. When officers arrive. at David's parents' home, the parents. appear to be shocked, confused, scared, no idea who would do this. You know, calling police to their property for a. fake crime, that's a serious matter. That's a serious allegation. Well, we. have a new update in this. So, TMZ has.

released the audio of that 911 phone. call that started all of this, and it. kind of sounds like the voice is. distorted, maybe someone using a voice. changer. We're going to play the audio. for you. We're going to try to see if. someone is masking their identity, makes. you wonder who could have done this. Is. it connected to Celeste? And by the way, no arrests in connection with this call, either. So, we thought we'd do something. different, all right? We thought, why. not bring on a forensic audio and video. analyst to take a listen to this call, okay? So, let's welcome on to Sidebar.

Jennifer Owen, president of Owen. Forensic Services. Thank you so much for. taking the time. Um real quick, tell. everybody what you do, so everybody. knows your expertise in this field. Okay. Well, my day-to-day differs uh. because I do forensic audio and video. But, basically, um I have my hands in. anything that is recorded, and in this. day and age, that's almost everything. And I deal with either the authenticity. of those audio or video recordings, or. as we could tell the AI of today, what's.

real and what's not, and where the. provenance or the integrity of the files. are in question. That is my big. day-to-day, but I also do voice. recognition, I do clarifications on. audio and video. So, it's changing. day-to-day, but I spend a lot of time. telling people what's real and what's. not. Do you know what I call this? I. call this the perfect guest for what. we're about to do. So, Jennifer, thank. you. Let me real quick, I'm going to. play the full call, and then we're going. to break it down. Waller County.

Sheriff's Office, this is Amber. Hello. >> Hello. Yeah, Waller County Sheriff's Office. Um hello, I need help. Okay, what's. going on? Where are you at? Um I just heard. Okay, what's going on? Um I heard like. some gunshots. Okay. How close to your residence were they? Um they were like right outside of my. house, and I think someone's dead.

Okay, what's your name? Say it again? What's your name? Okay, what's a good phone number for. you, sir? Okay, and why do you believe that. somebody's dead? Um I just heard like a loud scream, and. there was um. gunshots. Oh, scream. Okay. After the shots. Okay, but you haven't saw or heard. anything else after that? Uh I heard a scream. Uh was it a male or.

a female scream, do you think? It was like a female. Female? Okay, we're going to go ahead and get. deputies headed out that way, and just. confirming you're at. Yes. Okay, I'm going to get them sent. that way, okay? Okay, thank you. >> You're welcome. Bye-bye. All right, Jennifer, let's start here. Is someone. concealing their voice in this 911 call? Absolutely. Okay, and how do you know what are they. doing to mask their voice? Well, first and foremost, just listen. listening to it as either a layperson or.

if you were a forensic audio analyst, it's the robotic inflection. That's the. first tip right then and there where. you're like, wait a second, what am I. hearing? It's the irregular vibrato, um it's the inflection, and then you're. saying, well, you know, could be the way. it was recorded because there's also a. lot of recording problems when it goes. into something like this. So, just from. listening, you're like, wait a second, that's a red flag. We need to dig a. little bit deeper into this. And that's. when you come to me and say, hey, Jen,

you know, can you check this out? What. are we dealing with here? Is this signs. of manipulation or any kind of harmonic. distortion, or is this just a recording. issue, and I'm thinking outside the box. So, I take a listen to it, and it's a. mismatch between what we usually hear. when we're speaking with someone, even. on a bad line or a bad recording. So, let's go a little bit further. So, then. I'm going to ask you about the. provenance or the integrity and, you. know, the source recording of where we. got this from. And that brings up an issue in your.

business because you're constantly. investigating, the truth seekers, the. truth tellers always come to me and say, hey, can I put this on the air and be. absolutely sure about what I'm saying. here? >> Mhm. So, that brings us to, all right, I've gotten a red flag cuz I listened to. it. So, let me let me ask the person who. gave this to me about the integrity of. the recording. Now, here's the problem. By the time it gets to us or the. investigators or the truth seekers, as I. call everybody, or the or anyone. forensics, it's been stepped on and.

touched by a million different hands, and it's been downloaded and uploaded. and it's been in over here and encoded. and transcoded and rewrapped and every. which way but up. So, you would look at. the metadata, you would look at the. media information, you would look what I. call underneath the hood, hexadecimal. data, things of that nature to say, hey, where did this come from and can we. trust the source? And most of the time. you can't. So, when you're taking stuff. from the internet, um usually the metadata gets erased. Right. So, we have nothing to work with. So, then we got to dig then we got to.

dig a little deeper. Let me just back up. 1 second. Putting aside from the fact. of, we know, the source of it, where it. came from, the fact it was published on, you know, the internet, now everybody. hears it. Just to be clear about something, when. you're listening to that recording, are. you suggesting A, it is a real-life. person using a piece of technology to. mask their true voice, or is this AI. generated? Well, it could be either, but just from. my experience and, you know, 30 years of. doing this, it sounded like a voice.

changer to me. And the reason why it. sounded like a voice changer is because. it all had to do with pitch. And for. those of you at home, real simple, pitch. is how high or how low your voice can. go. And that's real easy to change. Real. easy to change. You can do that with, you know, a free app, a 99 cents app, you can do that with forensic software, you know, if you're if you make music, you can do that. You can do that on your. wave pad. You can do that on anything. So, pitch is basically just the degree. of higher or low of the voice, and. that's the easiest way.

to start. But, I have a sample here that I want to. show you how easy it is, and how by. looking at it, we can say, wait a. second, this is our first clue. This is. the first red flag. I'm going to put. this in forensic software, and I'm just. going to take a look at the voice. formats and say, hey, how was this done? So, is this you saying this may be how. the voice was changed using this piece. of technology, this program? Is that. what you're showing us? It's very possible. Okay, so let show it. to us.

[Music]. Okay, so, Jennifer, there is a. possibility that someone is using a. technology to mask their voice, right? Correct. Yeah. And how how I do see that, when I put it. into the software, okay? Now, when. you're looking at it visually, and the. first thing I did was I took a small. phrase, okay, from the actual recording. that you sent me. And then following up. on that, four times I changed the pitch.

right in a row. Then I took the pitch. down 10. Then I took it down another 10. And then I raised it all the way up to. what a female level would sound like. So, you're talking about four different. sections that you can see visually. because I wanted to show you this is how. easy it is. Right. >> do this in an app, you can, you know, you can do this anywhere. So, all you're. basically doing is changing the pitch. from high to low, and we can go from. male. we could go from, you know, Luther. Vandross all the way up to Mariah Carey.

in a in a touch of a button. In other. words, even though on the 911 phone. call, the dispatcher is referring to. this person as a male, as a sir, right? This could be a woman? It could absolutely. Now, in this they. changed their voice changer all the way. and brought the pitch down, so it sounds. like a man, but this could this could be. anybody. Is there any way to pinpoint. the technology that they use? You said. there's a free apps. There Is there any. way you could say, I know exactly what. this technology is, I know where you can. buy it, I know who would have, you know,

maybe look at the purchase history, anything like that, or am I thinking too. deep into the weeds here? No, you're not. thinking too deep into the woods. Um. like I said, it comes back to the source. material. And since this has been. everywhere, uh looking underneath the. hood is not going to give us that. But, looking at the spectrogram and some tips. and tricks that we know as forensic. audio analysts, like, wait a second, regularly spaced harmonics, untouched. harmonics, usually have a straighter. line. When you're going to see this. visually, this is going to be blurry. What we call it stepped on. This is.

blurry, this is fuzzy, but yet, depending on where they put the pitch, the lower formats and frequencies of the. fundamental frequency stay low. They. stay within the the range. So, that's. how I know that basically someone took. an app or software that's available. anywhere, or it's on their iPad if they. wanted to. >> Mhm. And I'm just going to I'm just. going to turn the pitch up, or I'm going. to turn it down. It It really is that easy. Now, here's. the million-dollar question. From what. you've seen, is there any way to. pinpoint the identity of this person?

And And I And I apologize for this. question. I don't even know if there is. a database out there of voices, if there. is a way to take a someone's voice. that's not altered, you put it. somewhere, and you say I could be able. to identify who that person is. I'm. sorry if that's a juvenile question, but. A, is there a way to pinpoint the true. voice of this person and be able to. identify who this person is? Well, this is this is the the forensic. question. And you know what? Unfortunately, you're going to get the. answer, it depends. And again, it.

depends on the provenance and the. integrity of the recording. What I can. do and what I showed in this example is. I showed you how I can start from the. recording that you gave me, how I've. changed it, and how I can bring it back. to exactly what it was before. So, it. depends answer is if I had that original. recording and we had, you know, an. alleged or a person of interest or a. couple persons of interest, and if I. lowered or raised the pitch to the same. frequency and we had some matching. frequency, it would make a very.

interesting pool of suspects.