Celeste Rivas Hernandez: The ‘girl with a normal life’ found in D4vd’s trunk

Just down the road from Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s house is the high school she would have attended, where a slew of college flags show the schools chosen by students after they left sleepy Lake Elsinore in SouthernCalifornia.

Rivas Hernandez did not live long enough to study there. She was killed before her 15th birthday.An autopsy reportreleased Wednesday said she still had braces when she died.

Her brief life unfolded in this unassuming community with a population of more than 70,000 and a sprawling lake at the center of town that is home to a lively water sports scene.

Almost eight months have passed since her decomposed and dismembered body was discovered in the trunk ofa Tesla registered to the singer D4vd.

The 21-year-old musician, whose legal name is David Burke, wascharged with first-degree murderand other offenses in connection with the death and his relationship with Rivas Hernandez. He pleaded not guilty this week.

Little is known about teen's relationship with singer

Little is known about how the young girl entered Burke's orbit or what their relationship looked like. She grew up roughly 80 miles (129 kilometers) from theHollywood Hillsrental home where Burke lived and near where his car was abandoned with her body inside.

Their lives unfolded in contrasting environments. The street where Rivas Hernandez grew up has chain-link fences and small front yards. The street where Burke lived had security gates at nearly every driveway and privacy hedges interspersed between palm trees.

Rivas Hernandez's home has a white picket fence around the front yard and plants and flowers lining a walkway.

Two rosary beads hang on the front door, and a painted rock nearby says “You Matter.”

More than half of the town's residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the latest census data. The streets are dotted with fast food chains and local businesses.

Several neighbors on the family's street and other Lake Elsinore residents said they did not personally know the family or Rivas Hernandez and that the family tended to keep to themselves. Even the neighbor who set up a sprawling memorial in her honor, Kayleigh Cortez, said she did not know her.

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Seventh grader was reported missing in 2024

Rivas Hernandez was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024. Authorities said she had run away, and several residents remembered seeing flyers with her photo around town when she was missing.

“I didn’t know her personally, but she was a girl with a normal life. She had friends at school,” Elizabeth Davalos, a Lake Elsinore resident, said in Spanish.

Her parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, issued a statement Tuesday through their attorney that marked the first time they publicly commented on the case or their daughter. They described her as “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”

“Every Friday night was movie night, and we spent wonderful times together,” the statement said.

“We love her very much, and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

Some neighbors declined to be interviewed, citing fatigue from the media attention that has followed the case.

Town is a tight-knit community

Katie Favreau, a local business owner and longtime Lake Elsinore resident, said the town is a tight-knit, supportive community. Her appliance repair shop is a few doors down from where Hernandez grew up, but Faverau did not know her or her family.

“It’s just a really good, old-fashioned place to live. It’s like small towns in theMidwest. It’s just stuck in the middle of SouthernCaliforniainstead,” Favreau said. “If somebody is in need in this town, the whole town will rally.”

Favreau said the community has been supportive of Rivas Hernandez's family, and the majority of residents respect their privacy and grief. Conversations about the young girl's life and death are now “sporadic,” she said.

The memorial honoring Hernandez's memory showed signs of recent visitors this week, with fresh flowers mixed in with ones that had wilted long ago. There was an Easter bunny mixed in with a plush Hello Kitty toy that appeared to have been there for months.

Artificial tea candles spell out Celeste at the base of a sign that says “Justice for Celeste Rivas” and has handwritten notes from friends and mourners. Many included Bible verses or wishes that she is now at peace.

“God looked around his garden. He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest," one note read. "God's garden is beautiful, he always takes the best.”

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April 25, 2026

Celeste Rivas Hernandez: The ‘girl with a normal life’ found in D4vd’s trunk

Just down the road from Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s house is the high school she would have attended, where a slew of college flags show ...

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QBs Carson Beck, Drew Allar were surprise NFL Draft selections for most. Here's what their paths look like for getting playing time

Miami quarterback Carson Beck and Penn State quarterback Drew Allar both landed in ideal spots in theNFL Draftthat could offer opportunities to them sooner rather than later.

Beck, who some refused to believe could be the third quarterback drafted, became exactly that whenhe was selected by the Arizona Cardinalswith the first pick in the third round (65th overall) on Friday night. He’ll enter a Cardinals franchise that expects to have Jacoby Brissett as a bridge starter in 2026, but will be motivated to get a look at Beck if he earns it. With the 2027 expected to be loaded with first-round quarterbacks, I think Arizona will try to get a look at Beck at some point as a rookie starter if he proves worthy, if only to know whether the franchise will need to go back to the draft well in next year’s deeper class. For Beck, that potentially means stepping into an offense with No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love at running back, first team All-Pro tight end Trey McBride, and Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. at the wideout spot.

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Among the first three quarterbacks drafted — including the Las Vegas Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza andLos Angeles Rams’ Ty Simpson (who is stuck behind reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford)— you could argue that Beck is the winner in terms of surrounding pieces and potential immediate opportunity. It will be worth keeping an eye on next season.

As for Allar, it’s my understanding that his drafting by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round (76th overall) has no impact whatsoever on the team’s hope that Aaron Rodgers returns for 2026. Right now, it’s my belief that Rodgers is coming back and that new head coach Mike McCarthy will let Allar and Will Howard battle it out with Mason Rudolph to determine who fills out the rungs under Rodgers on the depth chart. Assuming a Rodgers return, it’s likely the fourth quarterback in that mix is eventually cut or traded — and that player willnotbe Allar.

I think the hope is that Rodgers comes back in 2026 and that Allar finally puts his considerable raw talent together under the tutelage of McCarthy, with an eye on him succeeding Rodgers whenever that time comes. And if Rodgers doesn’t return, I think Allar will be given the opportunity to show whether he deserves to be in a QB competition with Rudolph and Howard.

However it ultimately unfolds, the point for Allar is that there will be some kind of opportunity in Pittsburgh. It might be this season, in 2027 or beyond. But it will eventually be there, and that’s all you can ask for as a third-round draft pick.

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April 25, 2026

QBs Carson Beck, Drew Allar were surprise NFL Draft selections for most. Here's what their paths look like for getting playing time

Miami quarterback Carson Beck and Penn State quarterback Drew Allar both landed in ideal spots in theNFL Draftthat could offer opportun...

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Spain star Lamine Yamal's World Cup status unclear after injury with Barcelona

The consensus World Cup favorite could be in danger of missing its top attacking option after Spanish forward Lamine Yamal sustained an injury while playing for Barcelona on Wednesday in a La Liga match.

According to ESPN, club officials believe Yamal sustained a torn hamstring, though a full prognosis won't be known until he undergoes scans on Thursday.

The 18-year-old superstar drew a foul that led to a penalty kick, which Yamal stepped up and scored in the 40th minute against visiting Celta Vigo. However, once the ball hit the net, Yamal didn't celebrate. Instead he went down injured. He clutched at his left hamstring ahead of exiting.

"We have to wait," Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said postgame. "We have to see what it is. There is something. He felt it. After the goal, he would not leave the pitch without reason.

"So it's something. Something happened. Hopefully it's not so bad, but we have to wait until tomorrow."

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Midfielder Pedri, Yamal's teammate with both Barca and the Spanish national team, said according to ESPN, "Hopefully Lamine will only miss a few weeks. I wish him the best of luck. He needs to remain calm because he's young and will surely recover well."

The goal was Yamal's 16th in 28 La Liga matches this season (his 24th in 45 games in all competitions), and it led Barcelona to a 1-0 win. The result leaves Barcelona with a nine-point lead on second-place Real Madrid in the league standings, so Barca are comfortably on course to claim the league title regardless of Yamal's health.

The bigger question is whether the injury could impact Spain's chances at the World Cup this summer in North America.

Spain is scheduled for Group H matches on June 15 against Cape Verde and on June 21 against Saudi Arabia, both in Atlanta, then against Uruguay on June 26 in Zapopan, Mexico.

Spain won UEFA Euro 2024 in part due to contributions from a then-16-year-old Yamal. A sublime playmaker and finisher, Yamal has six goals in 25 career appearances for the Spanish national team.

--Field Level Media

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April 24, 2026

Spain star Lamine Yamal's World Cup status unclear after injury with Barcelona

The consensus World Cup favorite could be in danger of missing its top attacking option after Spanish forward Lamine Yamal sustained an...

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‘I lost my wife and daughter in the Air India crash. Now I’m being told to leave Britain’

Mohammad Shethwala and his wife Sadikabanu Tapeliwala were a young couple with a dream, selling everything they had and borrowing money off neighbours to fund a move from India to Britain, where she had been admitted for a Masters at Ulster University’s London campus.

She graduated in 2023, the same year they had their first child Fatima, and both husband and wife found enough work to slowly build a life together, even sending small amounts back home to support the family and friends who had believed in them.

On 12 June last year, in a matter of seconds, their bright future disappeared in a fiery crash next to an airport in western India. Tapeliwala and two-year-old Fatima were on board Air India Flight 171, which came down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people including all but one of those on board.

Shethwala, who was back in London at the time, was devastated. Now, 10 months on, he is faced with another loss: the prospect of being forced to leave the UK, the country where he says every memory of his young family was made.

“I have already lost them,” the 28-year-old tellsThe Independentin an interview. “I want to hold on to the dream at least and fulfil it, to honour the memories I have.”

When Tapeliwala was granted her student visa in 2022, Shethwala joined her in Britain as a dependant. Their route to theUK, he says, was financed not by wealth but by sacrifice.

“We did not have money at the time to afford education in the UK,” he says. “People in our neighbourhood lent some money. Both our mothers also sold their jewellery, their life savings, to send us abroad.”

His father ran a small shop in India, earning no more than Rs 10,000 ( £78) to Rs 15,000 (£118) a month. Tapeliwala’s father sold goods door-to-door by bicycle.

Once in Britain, the couple worked relentlessly. His wife’s student visa limited her hours, Shethwala says, so he took multiple jobs, including delivery work. They spent their first year paying back the debt to those neighbours and friends. “After that, we were able to support both families,” he says.

At first, they had not planned to settle permanently. But Britain began to look less like a stopgap and more like a home.

“When we spent some time here, we decided it would be wise to settle here,” he said. “Our family background in India was not strong. But since moving here, we were able to support both her family and mine. We would not have managed it in India.”

By spring 2025, the family’s plans appeared to be falling into place. According to Shethwala, his wife had secured work connected to her studies and was preparing to switch into the Skilled Worker visa route after probation. The move would have given the family a more secure footing.

Then came a family wedding in India. Because both adults were working, they had hoped to travel together, he says, but could not get leave at the same time. He stayed behind. His wife and daughter went ahead.

On the morning Tapeliwala and Fatima were due to return to Britain, he says he called them to check in.

“She was at the airport,” he says. “My family were urging that I leave my daughter behind with them [in India]. My wife asked me if I should. But I was hesitant. My daughter was already away from me for a month.”

Fatima, he recalled, was crying at the airport. His wife said she had to go, to complete their check-in, and that she would call again once she was seated on the plane.

“That call never came,” he says.

Later that day, as he prepared to collect them from the airport, messages began arriving about a crash. He phoned the friend who had booked the tickets. Then came confirmation from multiple sources: it was the same flight.

“I was speechless,” he said. “I could not grapple with what was happening.”

Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 travelling from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashedshortly after take-off and struck a medical college building on the ground. Alongside 241 passengers and crew, 19 people were killed on the ground.

Shethwala booked the first available flight to India, and until he reached there relatives tried to shield him from the worst news, insisting his wife and daughter were safe and in hospital.

When he arrived in Ahmedabad and went to the civil hospital, staff asked for a blood sample.

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“I assumed, if they are taking my blood sample, it is to identify the body,” he says.

Doctors informed himthere had been only one survivor.

A friend who had travelled with him then admitted the truth. “We did not tell you,” Shethwala recalled being told, “because we wanted you to reach India safely.”

His daughter’s remains were handed over to the family on 17 June. His wife’s followed later, on 21 June.

“It was given in a coffin,” he says. “I did not open the coffin before cremation.”

For days, he said, he could not accept what had happened.

“It was like a nightmare and that at any moment, I will wake up and find them both right in front of me.”

Then, as he describes it, another blow followed the first.

“The moment I managed to stabilise, the visa issue came like a dagger,” he said.

Because his immigration status depended on his wife’s visa route, her death left his own future uncertain. According to Shethwala, had she lived, the family expected to move onto a Skilled Worker visa. He says he still has her job offer letter.

“If my wife were alive, we would have had the skilled worker visa,” he said. “Things would have been different.”

He later applied for Further Leave to Remain on compassionate grounds, arguing that his circumstances were exceptional. A psychiatric report detailing his mental health was submitted with the application, he says.

But on 9 April, around nine months after the crash, he received notice that his application had been refused. He says he was then granted temporary immigration bail while expected to leave the country.

“I was not given an opportunity to even appeal,” he says.

The Home Office has not publicly commented on the individual case, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment fromThe Independent.

In reported correspondence, officials are said to have maintained that Shethwala’s circumstances did not meet the threshold for exceptional leave to remain in Britain and that support, including mental healthcare and family connections, would be available in India.

As Shethwala describes spending sleepless nights in a flat once filled with nursery rhymes, he is speaking to lawyers about whether he has any recourse to appeal.

“We believe this is a genuine humanitarian case and request fair and kind consideration,” says Ayush S Rajpal, case manager at Chionuma Law.

“Our client has lived in the UK for four years and built his life there with his wife,” he tellsThe Independent.“He is working and settled, and it would be very difficult for him to find similar work in India. After losing his wife, he is facing financial and emotional difficulties and is under psychiatric care. In these circumstances, we kindly request that he be allowed to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds.”

Shethwala says returning to India would not bring peace.

“My relatives kept saying, ‘What will you do in London? Just return,’” he says. “But to leave the country for me is to also leave those memories bound to this place.”

He says he is not trying to exploit a loophole or rewrite the rules. He says he simply wants time: time to work, time to recover, time to remain in the place where the future he and his wife imagined briefly felt possible.

byAdministrator

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April 24, 2026

‘I lost my wife and daughter in the Air India crash. Now I’m being told to leave Britain’

Mohammad Shethwala and his wife Sadikabanu Tapeliwala were a young couple with a dream, selling everything they had and borrowing money...

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Trump says he'll renovate 'filthy' reflecting pool on National Mall

PresidentDonald Trumptouted plans Thursday to coat the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in an "American flag blue" hue, one of the president'slatest construction effortsto refashion government buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C.

Trump said he was inspired to oversee renovations after a friend visited from Germany and noted its decay.

"He said, 'it's filthy, dirty. The water is disgusting looking. It's not representative of the country,'" Trump recalled during a White House event Thursday on drug prices.

Trump posted a video speaking about the renovation of the over 2,000-foot-long poolon Truth Social,shortly before his White House event with reporters.

"Right now, it's got no water in it because it was in terrible shape. It was filthy, dirty, and it leaked like a sieve for many years," Trump said in the video. "So I actually went over, went with Secret Service and a group of people, and I took, took a look at it."

The president said there were initial plans to remove the granite in the pool and replace the stone, but that process would have cost $300 million and taken more than three years to complete.

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Instead, Trump said he contacted his own private contractors to clean the stone and then coat it in a new color, which he described as "American flag blue."

"We scrubbed the surface of the existing granite that's been there since 1922. We then grouted all of the granite, fixed it up," Trump said in the video. "It took about two weeks, and now we have a nice, clean surface on which we're putting an industrial grade swimming pool topping."

Trump said the project is expected to cost between $1.5 and 2 million dollars and will be completed "long before July 4" for the country's 250th celebration.

"In another couple of weeks, we're going to have the most beautiful reflective pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial that you've ever seen," Trump said at the White House.

Trump has pledged to overhaul the pool in the past. The president said ina post on Truth Sociallast month that he and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum were "working on fixing the absolutely filthy Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument."

The pool, the site of historical events such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, had itslast major renovation in 2012in a $34 million project that lasted almost two years.

Trump's efforts to revamp the reflecting pool come alongside a number of other construction projects spearheaded by the president across Washington, D.C., including his plansto build a $400 million ballroom and military bunkerin the East Wing of the White House and a major renovation of Kennedy Center.

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April 24, 2026

Trump says he'll renovate 'filthy' reflecting pool on National Mall

PresidentDonald Trumptouted plans Thursday to coat the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in an "American flag blue" hue, one o...

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Remains found of 3 Memphis children may have been there for years, police say

Authorities say they are investigating the discovery of unidentified remains of three children, believed to be between 3 and 7 years of age, in Memphis, that could have been there for years.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said a skull was found near a wooded area by someone walking their dog on March 8, who reported it to police. Because of limited lighting conditions, police said a more extensive search was scheduled for the next day. That led to further searches over the days and weeks. On March 10, a K-9 cadaver dog led authorities to a drainage pipe later searched by camera; however, no remains were found during that search,according to officials.

On April 1, investigators found another skull, this one in the drainage system, Davis said.

The following day, search teams in the area found another 14 bones, Davis said.

About 170 personnel from various agencies, from the FBI to search and rescue personnel, were scouring the area on Wednesday, seeking more evidence that could help identify the deceased, Davis said. Police said they hoped to close the portion of the investigation at that specific search area crime scene on Wednesday evening.

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The cause of death is still undetermined and investigators are working to identify the individuals.

Authorities believe there is no active threat to the public. Davis said the children were not people reported as missing in the Memphis area.

"Someone knows of missing children that we have discovered in this area," Davis said. "This is heartbreaking, it's disturbing and at this time we have numerous resources to help us to identify these young people and bring closure to this investigation."

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2 Southwest planes come within 500 feet of each other in close call

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April 24, 2026

Remains found of 3 Memphis children may have been there for years, police say

Authorities say they are investigating the discovery of unidentified remains of three children, believed to be between 3 and 7 years of...

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Mexico to probe role of US officials killed in Chihuahua car crash, Sheinbaum says

MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday she was not aware U.S. embassy officials were working with the northern ‌state of Chihuahua to combat drug cartels following a car crash that killed ‌officials from both countries.

Two U.S. officials and two Mexican state officials died in a car crash on ​Sunday after an operation to destroy clandestine drug laboratories in the municipality of Morelos. Sheinbaum said her government would review whether the operation violated national security law.

State Attorney General Cesar Jauregui later on Monday told local media there had been a misunderstanding and that ‌the U.S. officials who died did ⁠not take part in the lab raid.

"In Chihuahua there was no participation of any agent of any foreign entity in the operation," ⁠Jauregui told media outlet Grupo Formula.

Jauregui said only Mexican personnel, around 80 in total, took part in the operation. The U.S. officials, who have not been identified, were picked up ​by the ​group after the operation at a separate ​location, where they had given a ‌class on flying drones. They were being driven to the state capital when the accident occurred, Jauregui said.

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Sheinbaum said during her daily morning press conference that she would ask U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson to meet with Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco to discuss the incident.

The role of U.S. personnel in anti-cartel missions is highly sensitive in ‌Mexico. Sheinbaum has repeatedly said that while intelligence ​sharing and security cooperation are essential to fighting organized ​crime, Mexico will not accept ​U.S. boots on the ground.

In contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump has ‌called for greater use of U.S. military ​force to combat Mexican ​cartels.

The embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Mexican officials killed in the accident were the director of the state's investigation agency and ​an officer, state authorities ‌said on Sunday. Ambassador Johnson, in a post on X mourning the incident, ​did not identify the dead U.S. embassy staff.

(Reporting by Mexico City newsroom; ​Editing by Sarah Morland and David Gaffen)

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April 23, 2026

Mexico to probe role of US officials killed in Chihuahua car crash, Sheinbaum says

MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday she was not aware U.S. embassy officials were work...

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