Celeste Rivas, the 15-year-old girl whose severely decomposed corpse was found in a Tesla registered to singer-songwriter D4vd, is seen on newly surfaced surveillance video running away from home last year.
Rivas is seen in footage from a local liquor store in Lake Elsinore, Calif., that was recorded around 7 a.m. on March 19, 2024. The clip, first published Friday by TMZ, shows a girl in a black hoodie and white pants, who was identified as Celeste by her family.
The young girl is seen walking quickly down the street and jogging around a corner before disappearing from view.
Elie Naddaf, the owner of Dellago Spirits, told TMZ that Rivas’ sister came to his liquor store later that day and asked to review the security tapes from that morning, confirming it was her sibling.
Naddaf told the outlet that he gave the family the footage “in hopes it would help them find her.”
He added that Rivas often stopped by his store for soda, chips and gum, and that he never heard about any trouble at home.
The girl ran away from home repeatedly — including at least three times last year — because of a “troubled home,” law enforcement officials told TMZ.
The last time her family had contact with her was in July.
In January 2024, cops found Rivas in Hollywood and returned her to her family.
Her disappearance from home on March 19 marked at least the second time she ran away.
Her case took a grim turn this month when her decomposed body was discovered Sept. 8 in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to 20-year-old singer-songwriter David Anthony Burke, known professionally as D4vd.
Police executed a search warrant at a Hollywood Hills mansion where Burke had been staying, seizing electronics and computers.
Investigators said the musician has cooperated fully, canceled tour dates and vacated the $20,000-a-month rental days after the search.
Burke has not been named a suspect or person of interest in the case. Law enforcement officials continue to investigate how Rivas died and how her body ended up in the vehicle.
Rivas’ body was found in a severely decomposed state, which suggests she had been in the Tesla for a considerable length of time, according to law enforcement officials.
Her cause of death remains undetermined.
Friends and online acquaintances speculated Rivas had struck up a relationship with Burke on social media earlier in 2024.
Screenshots circulating on Discord servers appeared to show ties between the teen and the artist, though police have not made any allegations about their connection.
Her body has been released to relatives, who held a memorial in Lake Elsinore.
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