Break the Case: Celeste Rivas’ Tragic Fate and the Hunt for Proof
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 30 September 2025
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A shocking true crime mystery is unfolding in California: the tragic death of 13-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was discovered on September 8, 2024 in the frunk—the small front trunk—of a Tesla. In this gripping episode of “Break the Case” with former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, the panel digs deep into the evidence, the unanswered questions, and the frustratingly slow pace of justice.
Coffindaffer is joined by Dan from the Drunk Turkey Show, a former Texas law-enforcement officer, and veteran attorney Philip Dubey, who has worked on both sides of the courtroom in Los Angeles. Together, they examine why, despite disturbing circumstantial evidence linking a man named D4vd to Celeste, no charges have yet been filed.
The conversation begins with the heartbreaking backstory of Celeste—a bright but troubled teen who reportedly ran away several times earlier in the year. Questions swirl around her relationship with D4vd, a much older man whose song lyrics, artwork, and even an AI-styled image depicting a body dragged to a trunk have raised eyebrows. The panel dissects how these artistic expressions could serve as circumstantial evidence and what investigators still need to prove in court.
Coffindaffer even conducted her own home reenactment to demonstrate just how small the Tesla frunk is and how difficult it would be for one person to maneuver a body inside—suggesting the possibility of additional parties being involved. Attorney Dubey offers an insider’s view on the legal hurdles prosecutors face, including California’s corpus delicti rule, and why forensic evidence—such as signs of pregnancy or DNA—may be the key to unlocking charges that could hold up at trial.
This episode blends true-crime reporting with on-scene demonstrations and expert legal insight, painting a chilling yet informative picture of a case that has gripped the public. Viewers will come away with a deeper understanding of why some investigations take time, the power of circumstantial evidence, and the many hurdles between suspicion and conviction in high-profile homicide cases.
#CelesteRivas #TeslaFrunk #JenniferCoffindaffer #TrueCrimeNews #MissingTeenCase #RomanticHomicide #CaliforniaCrime #BreakTheCase #JusticeForCeleste #TrueCrimeCommunity #D4vd
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Break the Case with Jennifer Coffendaffer inside the evidence behind the headlines from someone who's been there. Here now, Jennifer Coffendaffer. |
| 0:14.7 | Drew Crimmers, welcome to Break the Case. I'm your host. I'm Jen Coffendaffer. Thank you so much for being here today. And I also wanted to |
| 0:22.1 | really, I always kind of open the show that way, but I really wanted to give a sincere thanks for all |
| 0:27.0 | of you who support the channel. Just really quick. Thank you. I really appreciate each of you. We're |
| 0:32.4 | growing. We're growing slow, but glad to be growing. And we have two amazing guests today. We're going to be talking about |
| 0:39.3 | the David case. David Burke is his real name. He spells his name really weird, D4VD. I thought |
| 0:47.1 | it was interesting that his brother also spells his name odd. And we're going to talk about his brother |
| 0:52.4 | a little bit today because I think he may have a |
| 0:56.4 | role in this in in some minor way I'm not accusing him I am just saying even if it's just |
| 1:03.1 | providing evidence or that interview that might be slowing the process down but really quickly |
| 1:07.5 | the victim in this situation was Celeste Rivas Hernandez. |
| 1:12.7 | A beautiful girl, she disappeared when she was only 13 years old back in January, actually, of 2024, ran away, was brought back by police back for her house in March. |
| 1:24.7 | There's a sighting of her, basically basically the last sighting in March before she's |
| 1:28.8 | reported missing by her family. The whole family dynamic, none of us exactly know. I know the |
| 1:35.1 | aunts come out and said some things, not getting into rumors here. We're going to focus in on what |
| 1:41.0 | the evidence is against him. We have, again, two great guests on September 8th was when |
| 1:49.4 | Celeste ended up finally being found, if you will, but tragically, in the front, that's the front |
| 1:55.3 | trunk of a Tesla. Teslas are unique. They have trunks that are in the front, but I'm going to show you how |
| 2:02.3 | teeny tiny they are. They're little. They're not what you might think of as a normal trunk. |
| 2:08.0 | So she was found on the 8th of September. And we're going to break it down. I've got two great guests. |
| 2:16.1 | I want to welcome to the show, Dan of the drunk turkey show. |
| 2:19.8 | I always tell him, you know, I love that name because it sticks with you, drunk turkey. |
... |
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