Key Piece of D4vd Evidence Could Soon Be Destroyed: PI

We're bringing back on private. investigator Steve Fischer because he. just posted online that a key piece of. evidence in the David [music] Celeste. Rivas Hernandez death investigation may. potentially be destroyed. The Tesla, David's apparent car where Celeste's. body was found. How is [music] this. possible? And what does that mean for. the case? Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse [music]. Weber. I got to say something. I cover a lot of. these stories every day and they're not. easy. I can sometimes feel a little.

burnt out. I don't know if you feel the. same way, but if you're asking how do. you get away from that? How do you give. yourself a little extra care when you. are feeling that way? Self-care really. should start at home. And that is why I. want to talk about our sponsor Cozier. Earth. Okay, so whether it's their. luxury loungewear, their towels, their. bedding, all of their products are. great. They add indulgent high quality. comfort to your life. And that feels. good. Their bamboo pajama set, which I. have, it is made with a soft stretch. knit that sleeps cool. It's still cozy. for winter nights. It's amazing. Their. classic cuddle blanket is like the.

softest I've ever owned. Maybe a good. gift for Valentine's Day. It's coming. up. Plus, Cozy Earth has a 10-year. warranty, so their comfort is going to. last you a decade. Share a little extra. love this February. Wrap yourself or. someone you love in comfort. Head on. over to cozyearth.com. Use code long. crime for up to 20% off. In our. continuing coverage of the David case. and whether there's going to be an. arrest and charges in connection with. the death of 14-year-old Celeste. Hernandez, whose decomposed body was. found in a car allegedly registered to. David, David Anthony Burke. While we. have talked about a lot of different.

components in this case, in the. investigation, you know what we haven't. addressed recently? The car. The car. itself, the Tesla that was found. abandoned in the Hollywood Hills with. Celeste body inside. It was found after. it was towed away to a towyard. Now, the. reason I want to focus on it right now. is our friend Steve Fischer just posted. a lot about this. Okay? And yes, this is. a very important piece of evidence in. this investigation. So, before I bring. on Steve Fiser to talk about this, and. remember, Steve is the private. investigator who was hired by the owner.

of the property where David had. reportedly been staying, which was. apparently near where that Tesla was. found. Let me read you what Steve. recently posted on X. Okay. David's. Tesla, the vehicle in which Celeste. Rivas Hernandez was found, was held by. LAPD for only 48 hours to process. evidence. After that, it was returned to. the impound lot for David to retrieve, which he had not done until today. The. Tesla was scheduled to go to auction. tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m., and I had. planned to attend and inspect it.

However, in the final hours before. auction, David or someone with power of. attorney acting on his behalf picked it. up. When I checked last week, the. storage fees were approximately $10,500, as the vehicle had been released and. available for pickup since September. 10th before Celeste had been identified. I hope just the thought of that vehicle. haunts David and anyone else that knew. Celeste was in the trunk for the rest of. their lives. #David # Celeste Revas. Hernandez. Then in another post, it's. the same here, except if the value is.

over $4,000, then they have to hold it. for longer and there's a longer process. because it had Texas plates. There's. another post. The vehicle was held by. LAPD from September 8th to the 10th. under a 22655.5. evidence hold, then transferred to a. downtown LA impound on September 10th. That's why it now shows false for on. hold. I attached the auction listing, which appeared several weeks ago. When. Steve was asked if it was taken by LAPD. prior to the auction, Steve responded,

"No." And in another post, Steve said, "David's Tesla, which held the remains. of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was released. to an individual who presented notorized. paperwork authorizing the vehicle's. transfer. I verified this. That person. then transferred ownership into their. own name. I can't disclose the new. owner's identity without violating the. rules of my DMV access as an. investigator." This is also why I always. redact license plate numbers, even when. they're publicly known. As a licensed. investigator with direct DMV access, if.

I have run that plate number, I have to. redact it, even if it's public. knowledge. Since there is a group that. thinks I'm trying to hide the plate. number, even though they know it, it's. clear this was a calculated move to get. the car out of public view and out of. David's name. I wouldn't be surprised if. it's about to be crushed. #david #. Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And then also. Steve wrote, "Once it's released by. LAPD, it's no longer evidence. They have. documented everything. taking prints, DNA, photographs, etc. Once they release.

it, the chain of custody is broken. They. can't hold it forever. This is actually. standard protocol. Now, again, the. reason this all matters is no one has. been arrested. No one has been charged. in connection with Celeste's death, with. the concealment of her body in any way. David, by the way, has not officially. been named the suspect, and he too has. not been charged or officially. implicated, even though there are. reports right now that a grand jury is. hearing evidence. So, let's talk about. this. All right. So, now let me bring on. Steve Fischer back in the show. Steve, good to see you. Thank you as always for.

taking the time. I know you're uh very. busy. Um, how did you find this out. about the Tesla for just to put a little. bit of clarity on this? >> Yeah, so I've been tracking it pretty. much since day one since they picked it. up at the uh impound just to see um you. know because that was what the kind of a. nexus of our you know investigation was. the house and the car. You can track. that through the system and they kept it. for two days which I know a lot of. people are making a big deal out of that. thinking it should have been kept but. that that's pretty typical because it's.

not an instrument. It's it's crime scene. location is what it is. So it wasn't. really evidence as far as nobody thought. that the car killed her. So they process. it and I just kind of watched it and uh. you know ended up back in the impound. yard and curious to see what their move. would be whether to pick it up you know. when to pick it up what to do with it at. that point you know because it's it's a. kind of a tricky situation. Just to put. a point on that, I mean it is the it is. the like the scene of where her body was. found and you know processing it for two. days in your experience. Is that a. thorough uh amount of time to actually.

process it for what? For DNA, for. fingerprints, for any kind of evidence. that's left behind to give any. indication about when she was put in the. car, who might have been in that car, because again, people who don't know, they said 48 hours and then you release. it. That doesn't seem right. I mean, couldn't they have held it on held on to. it for longer? And was there not even a. possibility to hold on to it and you. know until there's actual charges? >> Well, if they thought that the Lexus. actually was or I'm sorry, the Tesla was. actually used um in the crime to.

actually kill her, then then they they. could hold it through through trial. But. this is more of a location, you know, where she ended up. So, what they do is. they'll take it and then they're allowed. to hold it as long as it takes to do the. forensic evidence of it. And listen, LAPD is a huge agency and they do have a. whole center, forensic center. And if. you think about it, it's in the scope of. things of crime scenes, it's not the. biggest location in the world. So I. think their texts, you have the ability. to go in and do the DNA, you know, all. the fingerprinting, 3D imaging of the. entire space of of the vehicle. And it.

didn't shock me. And those units, you. know, operate 24 hours. So, um, I think. I think they probably think well, if it. goes to trial, we'll see that they did a. very thorough examination of the. vehicle. I think. >> I read your posts and I know you can't. reveal the identity of the person who. ended up picking up this car, but let me. just ask you this. Were you surprised by. who it was? >> No, not necessarily. You know, I mean, you know, we figured uh I figured it. would be um somebody that is is known to.

him. And there was a group of five, six, seven people that were around a lot. And. I think, you know, just because of the. length of time that we knew she was in. there from the beginning. At the. beginning, we knew it had to be at least. a month or so because of the tow. reports. So, you just figure somebody. else had to know what was going on. And. then also just even not stopping the. tour, having a statement. It was all. very curious. So, I don't think that one. person would have the ability not only. to do that, but also just to not say. anything, you know, to somebody else. I. feel like other people, you know, had.

knowledge of that at least she was in. that car. And just to be clear at this. point, if you're saying the car was. processed and then it was picked up, what do you believe is happening right. now with that car? Do you think the idea. of whoever picked that car up, wherever. that car is right now, do you think do. you think it's because hey, you know, it's a great car. We wanted to be able. to use it again or do you believe that. it's actually being destroyed at this. point? And if so, for what purpose? >> Yeah. So, my personal opinion, and it's. just my personal opinion, is that they. probably are going to destroy that car.

So what happened was it was um you know. went through the process of where it. crossed the 90 days or whatever it was. before the vehicle was at a value over. $4,000 to go to auction. They went. through the whole process of. transferring the ownership and then the. last in the afternoon right before it. was going to auction the next morning. and I talked to the Impound yard. Somebody came in with notorized power of. attorney signed by David because he was. the only registered owner of the vehicle. to release that vehicle to this person. and they paid the impound fees which.

were around 10 grand at that time and. released the vehicle and then just hours. later that person obviously had bill of. sale on the car too because they went to. DMV and they transferred it and it now. actually has you know I know who the new. owner is but which I can't disclose. because DMV laws but um it now has. California plates but I think that's. just technicality to get it to where. that person can dispose of the vehicle. probably just my guess. I don't see why. they'd want it. And just to be clear, if. I wasn't clear before that the person. who purchased it, right, that bill of.

sale DMV, this is somebody I know you. can't identify, but this is somebody you. weren't surprised by who purchased it. And I'm apologize for words in your. mouth. >> I didn't know this person. I didn't know. that name was not familiar to me before. this. And um I'll say it's not somebody. they can tie right in to David, but they. obviously know somebody either David or. his legal team or they know somebody. because they had to get David's. notorized signature giving this person. power of attorney to get the vehicle out.

of impound. The title transfer, ownership transfer did not happen at the. impound yard. They just had to get it. out first and pay those impound fees. But they had notoriized paperwork from D. signed by David himself saying this. person was acting as his agent to do. that. So there's some relationship. somewhere. I know who they are, but I. don't know what their role in their, you. know, David's world is. >> I'm going to ask you a very specific. question. A lot of people wondering, nobody knows where David is since he was. left the tour. There is a question about. what David knows at this point, how much. he's involved in whatever is going on.

Is this notorized paperwork something. that he would have had to sign after the. car was found, after Celeste's body was. found, or is this a piece of paperwork. that he gave a lawyer or a manager years. ago and said, "Whatever decisions you. need to make, keep me out of it. You. just do something on my behalf." I know. that's a really tricky specific. question, but I think it does become. part important in terms of what his. knowledge is in terms of what's going on. right now. No, these inbound yards, they have uh. paperwork that if the register.

[clears throat] owner is not going to be. able to do it, it's specific to that. transaction. So, this was this was not a. broad power of attorney that was signed. a long time ago. This was something that. was specific to releasing that vehicle. that day to this that person who was. acting as an agent for David, signed by. David. And in terms of the importance of. this car, we we've talked before about. how it's being reported. There's a grand. jury that's been impanled to hear. evidence in connection uh with Celeste's. death. It hasn't been obviously. confirmed by authorities, but assuming.

that's happening, how big a role do you. think that Tesla plays in terms of it's. not just, you know, some we cover cases. before where there's a dead body that's. found in the woods and sure the woods. become important, but how much do you. think that this Tesla will will be a key. piece of the evidence, a key piece of. the puzzle as to who or who was involved. in what capacity? Yeah, I think this is going to be a. super important uh piece of evidence. because they're going to say, you know, she was in this vehicle for an extended.

period of time. You know, that can be. proven, you know, but I mean, we already. know that from the medical examiner. statements that appear she was in that. vehicle for an extended period of time. LAPD has said that. So, the fact that he. never filed a report that the car was. stolen or and when they can backdate. this to figure out when she was put in. there, they're going to know what the. basically chain of custody was on that. vehicle and who had access to it, who. was moving it around, you know, that's. going to narrow down, you know, the. people that probably knew at least that. even if they didn't know what happened, at least that she was likely in that.

vehicle. So, I think it's important in. that way, but it's not something that. jurors, I think, have to physically see. to get a sense of. I think that when. they process it, they'll, you know, they'll get a they'll have that what. they need. >> Steve, we always wait patiently uh for. your uh your your your next post on in. on social media to see what piece of the. investigation you can share. Why did you. want to share this information about the. Tesla with the public? Is it are you. hoping that somebody might have more. information can come forward? Um why do. you think it was important to share this.

publicly? Listen, it's a good question. And as a private investigator, there's. tools that I don't have available to me, like um prosecutors uh or law. enforcement have. So, sometimes I'm I'm. dog whistling to certain people when I. make these posts, right, to see. reactions and and whatnot. And to have. people contact me. I'll tell you, every. time I appear on shows or or come out. with certain post, I do get contacted by. people that are important, right? last. week I was in or last two weeks I was. contacted by somebody very important to. the case I finally was like listen I I I.

got some things I want to tell you and. so I do learn a little bit more and uh. you know it's not putting these out. there for the sake of putting it out. there or appearing for the sake of just. you know making an appearance it it's. telling some people like listen I I know. this part and and you know do you want. to come tell me the rest or you know do. you want me to keep fishing around and. and some people like listen have this. information and there also some People. are just scared to talk to law. enforcement. They really are. And they. finally come forward and say, "Listen, I. don't really want to get caught up in. this." But I think this is important to.

know and that's helping us put these. pieces together. But I will say we're at. a point where 5 months, we're coming up. on five months in a few days. And um I. don't know uh it scares me that the case. can't be made by now. You know, that. charges haven't dropped. >> I want to ask you about that. What's. going on with the grand jury in a. second? Um, no. And I hear you that. people are contacting you. Maybe they're. nervous, but also want to provide. information because a lot of people are. invested in this case. They want justice. in some capacity for what happened to. Celeste, and we still don't even know.

exactly what happened. As we've. mentioned so many times on the program. before, the medical examiner's records. have been sealed, so we don't even know. the cause and manner of death. One thing. you mentioned um last week was regarding. uh this person Asia who is, I believe, a. streamer of some kind. And as we talk. about the Tesla, we talk about the. movements of the Tesla, who picked the. car up, where it was placed. Just to be. clear, who is Asia and what do you. believe her role is with respect to the. car and the investigation? >> Asia is a model, a streamer. I think she. does some styling, too. And I think that. she's done some styling work for David.

She was out on tour with him. She was. around a lot. She was definitely one of. the people in his orbit. Uh she was. around quite a bit. I know there's a lot. of speculation about relationships and. stuff, and I don't have 100% clarity on. that aspect of it. I just know that she. was there a lot. And if anybody is going. to have answers as to how David reacted. when the news broke, hey, there was a. body found in your Tesla when you're out. on tour, you know, she was there. I. mean, I think those would be interesting. conversations to learn about just to see. what reactions like or what. conversations were like or did people.

know already know and this was bound to. happen. You know, I I just feel that. there's no way that there's not multiple. people that knew at least that she was. in that trunk. And I'll tell you what's. going to be very important is the. Discord server that David had because. there was a lot of chatter in that from. the time it came out that there was a. body found in Tesla registered to David. to the time that Celeste was identified. which was what eight or nine days later. or something like that. The time in. between that there was a lot of talk.

about there was a lot of people that. knew that that was going to be Celeste. >> And look it's interesting from a legal. point of view. um whatever. [clears throat] uh if there was a. hearsay issue in terms of well what did. what did he say when it was uh it came. out that the body was there there there. was more free reign to describe how a. witness reacted to that information and. whether or not he was surprised and. whether or not he was shocked and things. like that. Um this goes to a bigger. issue that you mentioned last week. We. talked about it a lot on Cybar. We. didn't have a chance to talk with you. about it here on Cybar. You did talk to.

me about it on my NewsNation [snorts]. show Jesse Weber live last week but you. were quite vocal on X. I think I said. you were vocal on Instagram before. No, but you're vocal on ex about the arrest. of Neil Langston. So, this is David's. purported friend, the streamer, who was. picked up in Montana last week at his. mom's house, apparently on a failure to. appear as a witness warrant out in LA. He has already been reportedly brought. back there. This has led to the belief. that he may be testifying in front of a. grand jury out in LA, right? Reportedly. has been hearing evidence for quite some. time. And this is what you said in part.

The arrest of Neil Langston for failure. to appear to give testimony, which are. the exact words used by the sheriff's. department when speaking with me, concerns me to a certain extent, assuming this arrest is related to the. Celeste Riva Hernandez case. Targets are. not typically called to testify in a. case. At the state level, target letters. are not always required, but issuing a. subpoena to a target without providing. notice is extremely risky. A defense. attorney would likely argue that any. testimony was coerced. Had Neo received. a target letter, he almost certainly. would have retained counsel and invoked.

his Fifth Amendment rights. That makes. me think that he is viewed as a witness. rather than someone currently at risk of. being charged. Did one person act alone. in concealing Celeste's body? If this. was a homicide, did a single individual. act alone without a conspirator? I find. that unlikely. This leads me to believe. that Neo may represent a lastditch. effort by prosecutors, a Hail Mary of. sorts, because they do not yet have what. they need to fully make the case. They. may be attempting to pressure him into. cooperating potentially by offering. immunity. Is Neo the last hope? So.

Steve, just to break that down for a. second, I hear exactly what you're. saying. In other words, there's a. possibility here that Neo may be. involved in what happened to Celeste and. bringing him in strictly as a witness as. opposed to somebody that the grand jury. can issue an indictment against. I could. hear your concern. Something I mentioned. on my show and I I'll mention with you. again is there is always the possibility. that assuming for a moment that Neo and. David are connected to this. He could be. testifying against David. He could be. testifying against David and another. individual or another individual. There.

could be people Neo might just have. knowledge of something and not actually. be a part of whatever happened to. Celeste. Right. That's still a. possibility. >> Absolutely. It is. And but um you know. there is more. I think uh I'm looking at this whole. situation a little bit broader than just. the homicide. I understand the homicide. is what is looking for but you know. Celeste was trafficked and listen. there's messages back and forth. They. they knew her age and so it's not just. that listen there's sex crimes against.

this girl and there's certain people. that knew was going on. There are people. that gave rides to her back and forth, you know, even to Lake Alsor. And so. it's not just the homicide. For me, I I. just think that this is one of these. things where we got to start standing up. for these young girls that are just. taken advantage of by these predators. And I hope it's not a situation where. it's like we can't make the homicide. We. just can't get there with it and let it. go because there is other crimes. whether it's concealment of the body, whether it's anybody that helped in.

facilitating her to stay with David. And. so it's not just the homicide, it's it's. just everything that happened to. Celeste. It's the whole breakdown of, you know, >> have you learned anything more about Neo. since the last time we spoke? >> I haven't stayed or or what's going on. with him? >> I I honestly don't know. I don't know if. he I was just an assumption. I assume. that if it was to bring him in front of. the grand jury, I imagine that probably. happened quick, but then with the. $60,000 bond, I mean, that could have.

been released by now. We don't know. I. have checked and there's no charges in. the system and I think he would have had. to, you know, been charged by now, but. it's weird that there's a bond up. So, I. don't know what the bond exactly is for. unless they pushed his appearance off. It's all super confusing the way it's. going on. And part of that's because, you know, obviously if it is grand jury. and it's happening kind of in the. darkness and we don't we're not privy to. it, but there's nothing in the the. public system as far as charges go. So. >> if you're right and this is a last ditch. effort to, you know, get somebody on the.

hook for homicide here, uh, and you put. aside the charges, like you said, with. respect to concealment of the body or. whether there are sex crimes involved, um, why why would the prosecution's case. be at that stage? Why would it be. arguably so weak? How is that possible? It feels like there would be a lot of. evidence. I mean, you know this case. better than anybody about the Tesla, the. surveillance footage, um witness. statements. Uh you tell me. How would it. be possible that the prosecution's case. for some of the highest charges could. potentially be that weak?

>> You know, I I honestly that's that's. what keeps me up at night. I I don't. know because. these are not master criminals. you. know, they left a girl in a Tesla in a. neighborhood and went on tour and and. she was in that car for a very long. time. I just don't know how, especially. in the neighborhood that they were. living in in a vehicle that's covered in. cameras. I understand it can be disabled. in sentry mode, but I mean in that. neighborhood uh how something wasn't. captured or somebody doesn't know more.

I don't know how they don't have that. evidence. Now, I have heard that. there's, you know, one or two people in. particular that I think have it's been. assumed have been cooperative and that. I've heard still are not cooperating. And now that's just, you know, rumor. mail that I've heard from reliable. sources, but I just can't believe they'd. be that loyal to David. Maybe it's. because they have some more involvement, but I don't know. It scares me. It's. been five months. If if they haven't. been able to to lean on these people to. get them the crack, they haven't been. able to find the act any actual. evidence, then I don't know. I hope the.

case isn't, you know, dead in the water. as far as, you know, the actual how she. died, you know, >> and this is unusual in your experience. that it's taking this long. >> I think it isn't in in a crime like this. where it's not like a super remote area. and they found a person in a shallow. grave or something like that. They found. her in a vehicle registered to somebody. that we find out that she was a runaway. and was staying with at certain points. of time. And I think it's going to be. very clear. Prosecutors know where she. was staying in those times in between.

where she was a David, but she was still. a runaway. I mean, I I know where that's. at. And I think those people can fill in. those gaps of, you know, when did she. disappear? When did she stop coming back. to this location? And, you know, as far. as how long she gone and and also. there's going to be questions, okay, why. didn't the alarm bells go off at that. point? Like, okay, we haven't seen or. heard from Celeste in a very long time. because Celeste was not truly a missing. person. They knew where where she was. at. And there was a missing person's. report and that was kind of covering I. think for her not going to school. But. there was a then a large gap of time.

where people should have been like okay. something's gone wrong. >> Steve before I let you go we got to go. back to the idea of you're representing. this client right this client who owns. [clears throat] that property. >> What is your client thinking at this. point? H what does your client want to. do with the information you have? [gasps]. So his uh biggest concern is uh I I can. tell you, you know, first of all, my. client is, you know, the owners of the. house, the husband and wife, and and.

they so they're extremely extremely. caring, empathetic people. They have a. child around the same age, and they're. like they can't fathom something like. this happening. and the fact that. something could have happened in their. house or with people that were living in. their house that they didn't even know. were living in their house. It's not. about the house for them or it's like if. there's anything we can do like in other. words because it happened in our. property if there's anything we can do. to keep this story alive. What they want. to do is they want to make sure that the. next big story doesn't come along and. Celeste has forgotten about and just.

it's like oh there's been no charges in. that case. They really want to keep it. out there and and up front and and uh. not just because it's a high-profile. case, but because to shine a light on. this is happening. [clears throat]. There's people that are predators are. taking advantage of these girls and. these things happen and there's people. around these predators that are kind of. co-signing that behavior and this has. all got to just stop. >> Steve Fischer, again, really appreciate. you coming on to give us the latest and. uh your perspective and providing a. little bit more clarity as to what may. be going on behind the scenes. Thank you.

so much. >> Thanks for having me, Jess. And that's. 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. podcast. You can also check us out on. NBC's [music]. Peacock. We got Sidebar episodes out. there, too. If you want to follow me, X. Instagram, I got my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday [music] through. Friday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Until next. time, everybody, stay safe.