Is D4vd Being Framed? Suspicious 911 Call Released in Death Investigation

So, 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 and 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 Rivas 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 towyard.

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. tried 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 Hemstead, Texas family home. So, we're talking. September 18th. This is after Celeste.

was IDed. 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 dayto-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. providence or the integrity of the files.

are in question. That is my big day. today. But I also do voice recognition. I do clarifications on audio and video. So, it's changing daytoday. 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 is Amber. >> Hello. >> Hello. >> Yeah. Waller County Sheriff's Office.

>> Um, hello. I need help. >> Okay. What's going on? Where you at? >> Oh, my address is. >> Okay. What's going on? >> Um, I heard like some like gunshots. >> Okay. How close to your residence were. they? >> Um, they were like right outside 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? >> I just heard like a loud scream and. there was um gunshots. >> Scream. Okay. After shots. Okay. But you. haven't saw or heard anything else after. that? >> Uh I heard a scream. >> 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 lay person. 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 vibbrd. Um, it's the inflection and then you're. saying, well, you know, it 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 providence or. the integrity in, you know, the source. recording of where we got this from. And. that brings up uh 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?". >> So that brings us to, all right, I've. gotten a red flag because 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 in. forensics, it's been stepped on and. touched by a million different hands and. it's been downloaded and uploaded and. it's been 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, hexodimal 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. >> Obviously this is a story that we wanted. to bring to you. And the reason we can.

do that is because not only of the. amazing support that we get from. everyone out there, from you guys, but. also from our incredible sponsor, Upside. This is a free app that gets you. cash back on daily essentials like gas, groceries, food. So, I pump my gas, I. can use upside. I go out to lunch, I can. use upside. I get something from a. convenience store, I can use upside. And. why not get cash back when I do all. these things, right? This is actual real. cash back. It's money that appears in. your Upside app that you transfer right. into your bank account. So, once you. have the free Upside app, you claim an. offer for whatever you're buying on. Upside. You pay as usual using a debit.

or credit card. You follow the steps on. the app, you get paid. To find out how. much you can earn, click the link in the. description to download Upside or scan. the QR code on screen. But make sure to. use our promo code sidebar because. you'll get an extra 25 cents back on. every gallon on your first tank of gas. Let me just back up one second. Putting. aside from the fact of, you 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. high 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? >> You could 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. We can go. from male, we could go from, you know, Luther Vandross all the way up to Mariah. Carey in a in the 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. >> not 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. Is there any way. you can 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 woods 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 specttogram. 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. 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. 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 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 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 provenence 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. >> That That's a great point. That's a. great point. Now, let me just put it out. there. If all law enforcement has at. this point is just that 911 phone call. that is potentially distorted, they. don't have any suspect. They can't. identify anybody who would have made. this call.

Likelihood using that to be able to find. someone slim. >> Very slim. >> Very slim. Okay. Um, by the way, does. law enforcement, do they have specific. tools, you know, to other than what. you've described to identify the voice. or be able to pinpoint this technology? Well, it's not so much identifying the. voice at this point and you know every. regency or or police district is. different, but do they have uh software. available for them to use, you know, to.

study audio acoustics and so on and so. forth? Most do. Are we at the point of. identifying based on what little we. have? I don't think so. >> By the way, the pause, did you know the. very pause at the very beginning when. dispatchers saying hello? Is anyone. there? There's like a pause before the. voice starts talking. I I was just. curious if you took anything away from. that. Is that someone maybe activating. this technology or trying to see if it I. thought that pause was significant. >> It is significant because in most cases, you know, and I don't want to say this.

is what definitely happened because we. don't know, but in most cases, I call it. the fumble. People who do these sorts of. things, they take that one or two. seconds and they're like, I want to make. sure this really works. So, you have. that pregnant pause of, okay, let's hit. the start button or the pitch button or. or whatever. And just from doing this. for so long, um there's a lot of those. >> All right. I thought that this was. fascinating. Uh we will see what comes. of this. But Jennifer Owen, really. appreciate you taking the time and thank. you and what incredible work that you're. doing. And I imagine with the advent of.

AI, you might be very busy in the years. to come. So, thank you so much. >> No, thank you for having me. I. appreciate it. >> Now, let me just add a little bit more. here. Okay. Give you a little bit more. context. We have the body cam of when. officers arrived to David's parents. home. >> I'll go out wide and keep you covered. You want to tap the door? Wait for me. Wait for me cuz I'm going to keep you. covered. Go ahead. I got you covered. Come right here.

There's too many windows here. Knock on. the door. 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 And then they talked. to the caller. Whoever they were talking. to said that there's a person dead. >> No, sir. No, sir.

>> So, officers, they have their guns. drawn. They're already thinking someone. was dead. There is just seemingly a lot. of confusion by David's parents. They. don't appear to have any idea what is. happening here. They close the door and. then this happens. >> 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. Now she's calling 911. [Music].

>> That's clear. We haven't received a. call. I believe she's going to be in the. process. >> Go ahead. Give him a call if you want to. verify it. >> Okay. >> All right. She's calling you now. >> There's more that went on. >> Can you repeat, sir? Broken traffic. >> Huh? That's not normal activity. If some. if you were at the wrong address, they'd. be concerned about somebody else. Like, like really? Like, you know what I mean? Like maybe they trying to help. Tinder 42, sir. Sorry to bother you, but.

somebody called and said there was. something. You mean there was a person. that or they called on themselves. You. know what I mean? It was like, "Hey, there's somebody dead.". >> Someone's dead. >> That's what we have. I mean, I'm going. to take caution. You know what I mean? Wasn't trying to scare y'all. Just. >> 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's a different country. >> Yeah. When it's something like this, when they say somebody's dead, their. life matters more than, you know, >> I didn't damage your gate. I just opened. it. >> And that's when they seemingly start to. think, wait a second, is this a prank? Are David's parents victims of a. swatting incident where someone makes a. false report to police to trick them. into sending law enforcement officers to. a person's property? Well, look what. happens next. >> That ain't on their phone. >> And that's not a this is not a that's. not a Texas uh. >> Yeah, that's an out of state number. >> Someone's messing with us. Some of.

>> but but whoever but it would pinged 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. that's how they know the address. >> and this address and this address came. up to this number. >> Yes, ma'am. That's where he was meeting. >> So is there somebody on my property? >> It could be. We'll check the property. for you. Yes, please.

So, we'll ride around. Oh, if you give. me a layout, how is it? How's the. property? >> Like, does it go further back? >> No, no, it doesn't go any further back. It's right here. >> The fence gate here around the fence. Okay. Well, him and I will ride around. and check and then uh we'll leave, you. know. >> Yeah. Okay. So, that was a false alarm. You see, I don't like this kind of. thing, but if I really do have an. emergency, then. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Sorry. All. right. >> We do have an emergency. You know, we're. going to be here.

>> We're going to get here. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> Thank you, Jennifer. >> All right. You have a good night. >> Someone is messing with us. Yeah, it's. very scary. It's very 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 all of this was going on, but. 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 again an instance of. swatting. So is this connected to. anything regarding Celeste? I will tell.

you one thing I wonder is if there is a. theory that David was framed, right? A. body found in his car. Does this line up. with this? Well, you know what? I asked. retired FBI agent Colin Schmidt about. this. The timing and the circumstances. of this weird. No. of all times for this. to happen as the body's discovered in. his car after she's been identified for. there to be a potential swatting. incident where somebody calls 911 with a. fake allegation, a fake crime for their.

property out of all people out of all. times. It's weird. Well, I it's weird, but it doesn't. necessarily surprise me because he this. case has taken on national significance. in terms of people paying attention to. it. And there are bad actors that. understand how to bring harm to somebody. by way of swatting. So, somebody called. the 911 system down there. They found. the address online and uh were basically. uh made up a story for the cops to go.

there and then they went in and. fortunately the police were very. professional and they were able to. immediately understand that it was a. swatting incident and it wasn't a. legitimate call. >> What did you make of the body cam? >> Uh the body cam I think the parents were. scared to death. Uh you know law. enforcement coming to their front door. with guns drawn. they had a reasonable. uh uh reaction that I that I would even. have even though I've been in law. enforcement for 28 years. So that's. really what the insidious nature of. swatting is. You really put people at.

danger because those parents if they had. come to the door with a gun or resisted. in some way, law enforcement would have. had a duty to defend themselves and it. would have been a disaster. >> Here's my thought on how this possibly. is connected and I'm curious your your. opinion on it. So, I think it is bizarre. that Celeste's body was in a car. registered to David out on a public. street in LA and the reports indicate. that that car was there for weeks, that. it got a ticket, that it was towed, that. it was impounded. Her body was.

decomposed. So, if we assume her body. was in that car for quite some time, we. don't know exactly when it was. deposited, but assuming it was in that. car for as long as that car was parked. there, it does make me think, and we've. seen theories online about this, is it. more likely that someone deliberately, they were purposeful to put that body in. there to make sure it was found, to make. sure it was connected to David, as. opposed to the idea that the body was.

out there and it was found before the. perpetrator had time to dispose of it. Now, if I accept that, if there if there. was this idea to frame David, if he is. being targeted, is it possible this. alleged swatting call was done with the. same intent, the same person? Is there a. connection in that way, or am I really. reaching here? >> That's it's possible, but not probable. It just appears that somebody was. harassing his family by way of this.

call. Uh going back to the car, you're. spot on. Uh their their car comes back. so directly to him. Law enforcement has. to take a step back and and always ask. that that compelling question or the. alternative uh you know alternative. question is was he framed? What's going. on here? Is somebody really that stupid. to take a car registered to them and. then kill somebody and put them in there. and then leave the car there for. multiple weeks? So that's where it leads. credence to the framing theory. But the.

bottom line is the law enforcement is. going to gather all the facts and now. because of the swatting depending on. where the call came from the FBI will. likely start to get involved and. eventually law enforcement is definitely. going to get get the answers to all. these questions. >> Okay. Okay, so as we navigate all of. that, let me just make one final point. about Celeste Rivas Hernandez in all of. this. She has been laid to rest. Reporting indicates she has been buried. at Queen of Heaven Cemetery and Mortuary. in Roland Heights, California. There was. a funeral service on October 6th,

attended by family. No indication that. David was there in any way, but this. kind of brings it back to the victim in. all of this and again trying to. understand what happened to her. 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 should get your. podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time. [Music].