Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Celeste Rivas' Ex-Teacher Says Victim Met D4vd on Social Media, Video Shows

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Celeste Rivas' Ex-Teacher Says Victim Met D4vd on Social Media, Video Shows · Murder Files Unsealed

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Depth Dive. Today. We're really immersing ourselves
0:03
in a story that's just incredibly tragic. It sits right
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at the intersection of well celebrity, the dangers online and
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just horrific crime. Our goal here is to take all
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the information out there, the articles, the reports about the
0:17
homicide of fifteen year old Celestrivius Hernandez and basically give
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you a clear, impartial map of what happened, the evidence,
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the timeline, and the really big questions that brings up
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for society.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it's so important, I think to see this
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as more than just another true crime headline. It's really
0:34
a critical look at modern fame and frankly vulnerability. What's
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really striking, as you said, is how fast it all happened.
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How it went from this very grim discovery and an
0:45
impound lot something pretty quiet initially to suddenly being this
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massive national scandal, right, all fueled by social media and
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directly linked to this huge R and B star. So yeah,
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our job today is to unpack all that complexity, the timeline,
1:00
startling kind of eerie coincidences, and maybe the systemic issues
1:03
this case just shines a light on.
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Speaker 1: Okay, let's definitely unpack that. And maybe the best place
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to start is where it really burst into the public eye.
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That viral moment wasn't a press release or anything. It
1:13
was last week right in a classroom in southern California.
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Speaker 2: That's exactly right. A student filmed it, posted it to
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TikTok x, you know the usual places, and it just
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took off. Yeah. It showed a teacher and we now
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know he used to teach at Lateland Village Middle School,
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which was Celeste School, telling this really harrowing story to
1:35
his current.
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Speaker 1: Class holding up her picture.
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Speaker 2: Was yeah, holding up a photo celestrieveas Fernandez, and he
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basically said, look, this is one of my former students.
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She got lured away.
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Speaker 1: And his story was pretty direct. He said, Celeste met
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this dude on social media, right, and the students, I mean,
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they knew immediately who he meant instantly.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, David Anthony Burke D forty l D, the twenty
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year old R and B singer huge hit with romantic homicide. Right, Yeah,
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everyone kneho that And the speed of that video millions
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of views literally overnight. That's crucial because it basically dragged
2:08
this previously confidential LAPD homicide investigation right into the public spotlight.
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Suddenly this rising star is linked to the really brutal
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death of a teenage girl who'd run away.
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Speaker 1: So this deep dive, it's kind of a shortcut for you,
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the listener, to grasp the whole sequence, because it spans
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what over a year full of mis signals, these allegations
2:28
of grooming. It's a lot.
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Speaker 2: It really is a very complicated picture.
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Speaker 1: Then behind all the you know, the digital noise and
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the celebrity focus, there's the grim reality of the crime itself.
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Let's just establish the core facts about that discovery in Hollywood.
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This happened weeks before the video.
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Speaker 2: Right, yeah, way before the public new. It was September eighth,
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twenty twenty five. Workers at a tow yard in Hollywood.
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It's near Mansfield Avenue and Remain Street. They reported this
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just overpowering, awful smell coming from a car exactly and
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abandoned Tesla modelesque had Texas.
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Speaker 1: Plates, okay, and it had been off the.
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Speaker 2: Street, yeah, towed from a public street, sat in the
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impound lot for two days. Then the smell just became
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well impossible to ignore, right, So law enforcement comes out.
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They opened the front trunk the front onto Tesla and
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that's when they found it. Human remains, severely decomposed, dismembered,
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god yeah, packaged carefully stuffed into bags weighing seventy one
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pounds according to the report. Unimaginable truly, and the state
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of the remains obviously immediately triggered a major LAPD homicide investigation,
3:31
required really careful forensic work.
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Speaker 1: So, tying this back to the bigger picture, it's this
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really disturbing mix, isn't it, Top tier modern fame crashing
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into the absolute darkest side of online interaction.
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Speaker 2: Precisely, it's a really stark reminder, a necessary one made
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of the dangers hiding in those digital shadows, and it
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raises these urgent questions about you know, feign vulnerability and
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maybe the unchecked power social media gives some people.
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Speaker 1: So a horrific discovery and the condition of the remains.
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Identification must have been incredibly difficult.
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Speaker 2: Extremely it wasn't immediate, but about ten days later, on
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September eighteenth, the La County Medical Examiner's Office gave confirmation.
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Speaker 1: And how did they do it given the decomposition?
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Speaker 2: It was painstaking. Apparently standard methods just weren't possible. They
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had to rely on dental radiographs. Comparing dental records. Wow, yeah,
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shows you how challenging the scene was. But they did it.
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They confirmed the victim was Celeste Revus Hernandez. She had
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just turned fifteen.
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Speaker 1: Just turn fifteen. Let's maybe spend a moment on who
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Celeste was, give her some dimension beyond the headlines. She
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was from Lake Elsinore, California.
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Speaker 2: That's right, It's a suburb down in Riverside County, maybe
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eighty miles southeast of LA. She was born September seven,
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two thousand and nine.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so Lake Elsinore kind of sprawling commuter town vibe,
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close enough to LA to dream about it maybe, but
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still separate exactly.
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Speaker 2: That geography might be important, close enough to feel the
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pull of the city the entertainment world, but maybe isolated
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enough to make escaping seem attractive.
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Speaker 1: And what do we know about her physically personally?
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Speaker 2: Sources describe her as about five foot two, dark wavy hair.
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When found, she was wearing a tube top. But the
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key identifying feature, the one that became really significant later,
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the tattoo. Yeah, a very distinctive tattoosh simple etched onto
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her right index.
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Speaker 1: Singer okay on finger.
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Speaker 2: That's pretty unique, very and that detail was absolutely crucial,
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not just for confirming her identity initially, but later for
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linking all the digital evidence that started surfacing becomes central
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to the connection with D four VD.
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Speaker 1: Our mother spoke out right, what does she say about Celeste.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, she described her as vibrant, really loved music, and
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crucially she painted this picture of a you know, pretty
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typical gen Z teenager, glue to her phone, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat,
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constantly connected.
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Speaker 1: So for a young girl in a maybe quiet town
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wanting excitement, maybe validation, the online world was her escape patch.
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Speaker 2: It seems that way, that digital landscape was her portal.
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It's something bigger, more exciting than Lake Elson.
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Speaker 1: Or and this desire, maybe this feeling of being unseen
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in her real life. It seems like it led to
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a pattern of behavior even before her death.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, the timeline of her disappearances is really heartbreakingly long.
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It goes back more than a year before they found
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her remains in Hollywood.
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Speaker 1: When was the first time the family.
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Speaker 2: First reported her missing April twenty fourth, twenty twenty four.
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It was the first documented time she ran away, she
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was only thirteen.
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Speaker 1: Then thirteen? And did they find her?
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Speaker 2: They did, law enforcement tracked her down. Interestingly, they found
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her in Hollywood that time too.
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Speaker 1: Wow, so she was already heading towards la even then.
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Speaker 2: Seems like it. They returned her home safely.
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Speaker 1: That first time, but it didn't last.
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Speaker 2: No, very short lived by May twenty twenty four, So
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just a month later she was gone again, and this
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time she didn't come back.
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Speaker 1: May twenty twenty four. That's the final disappearance, that's the.
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Speaker 2: One, and sources point to this pattern of instability. Her
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school records from Lakeland Village Middle School, they showed frequent absences.
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It paints a picture, doesn't it, a kid disengaging from school,
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from maybe her regular life, and.
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Speaker 1: Likely spending more and more time online.
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Speaker 2: Exactly where maybe she felt more seen, more connected.
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Speaker 1: That timing May twenty twenty four is really critical, isn't it,
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because that seems to be when this alleged online connection
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started to become something more physical.
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Speaker 2: It aligns, yes, and we know from her mother, so
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Lesta told her before she vanished that last time she
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had a boyfriend. Indeed, yeah, that name. Suddenly it looms
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incredibly large in this whole thing.
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Speaker 1: It gives investigators that first sort of anecdotal link connecting
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the dots between her running away, the online world, and
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maybe where she ended up.
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Speaker 2: Precisely, it points the investigation in a very specific direction,
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connecting that timeline the digital evidence will get into and
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ultimately the location where they found.
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Speaker 1: Her and the cause of death. Is that confirmed?
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Speaker 2: Officially, it's still listed as deferred. They're waiting on toxicology
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reports for their investigation. But let's be clear, given the dismemberment,
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the state of the remains, the LAPD isn't waiting. They
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are treating this as a full blown homicide investigation, maximum resources.
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This is a capital crime probe, right, no.
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Speaker 1: Question about the severity. Okay, so we have the tragic
8:11
reality of Celeste's story. Now we need to pivot to
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the other central figure here, David Anthony Burke D four VD.
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To really understand the weight of these allegations, we have
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to grasp just how big he was.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, his rise was meteoric is the only word. Really
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astonishingly fast, which says a lot about how music careers
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happen now, right, driven by online discovery?
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Speaker 1: Where did you come from?
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Speaker 2: Is born in Brooklyn, grew up in Houston, started out
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self taught, basically making these raw low fi tracks in
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his sister's closet, uploading them in twenty twenty one. He
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didn't come up through the old label system. At first.
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It was all organic algorithm's youth appeal, and.
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Speaker 1: Then came Romantic Homicide July twenty twenty.
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Speaker 2: Two, monumental. That song wasn't just a hit, It kind
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of defined a whole mood, a sound, and it was
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that TikTok snippet I don't.
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Speaker 1: Need no one to hold me back, I just need
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a little space.
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Speaker 2: That one. It was everywhere perfectly captured that sort of
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gen z angst and independence. Maybe the full song just
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blew up one hundred and seventy nine million YouTube views.
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He became a global name fast.
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Speaker 1: And the industry noticed, oh yeah.
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Speaker 2: By twenty twenty three, he signed to Interscope Records, major
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label deal that kind of validated the online hype. Then
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more hits like here with Me. He was pulling what
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over ten million monthly listeners on Spotify.
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Speaker 1: His whole aesthetic was part of it too, right, the
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moody vibe.
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Speaker 2: Definitely dark visuals, lyrics that were really introspective about love,
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but the darker side of it, pain, regret. People felt
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he was vulnerable, relatable. They compared him to Early Weekend,
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that kind of mysterious vibe.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so you have this image of vulnerability introspection, and
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then this case breaks and suddenly that artistic persona is
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looked at very differently.
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Speaker 2: Exactly brutally collided with reality. Is how the sources frame it.
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And post discovery, everyone, the public investigators starts re examining
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those dark themes through a much more sinister lens. This
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is where the evidence gets, you know, chillingly specific.
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Speaker 1: What's the most disturbing piece?
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Speaker 2: It has to be the unreleased demo track reportedly leaked
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dating from December twenty twenty three, and the title Yeah,
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It's just shockingly direct Celeste demo.
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Speaker 1: And fim wait a demo titled with her name from
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December twenty twenty three, that's almost a year before her
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remains were found.
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Speaker 2: Exactly the existence of a song with her name, especially
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one that predates the discovery, I mean that alone is
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incredibly difficult to explain away. And the lyrics, according to
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the sources reporting on the leak, the lyrics are yeah, hunting.
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They go way beyond some general artistic metaphor things like, oh, Celest,
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the girl with my name tattooed on her chest? Whoa,
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I hear her voice each time I take a breath.
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I'm obsessed.
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Speaker 1: Okay, wait, tattooed on her chest? Didn't you say her
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tattoo was on her finger?
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Speaker 2: Right? That's a slight discrepancy in the reported lyric versus
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the known fact about this tattoo on her finger, But
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still the fact that there are personalized lyrics about a
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girl Celeste mentioning a tattoo. Yeah, and the word obsessed
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is incredibly.
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Speaker 1: Specifically too specific for coincidence, it feels like, and speaking
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of tattoos, that brings us back to her identifying mark.
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Speaker 2: The tattoo on her right index finger. Yes, and the
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sources confirmed D four VD has the exact same tattoo,
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same design, same finger, identical. So this isn't just, you know,
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a shared taste in symbols. It implies something much deeper,
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a shared secret, maybe a bond that they deliberately marked
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on themselves.
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Speaker 1: That matching physical detail. Combined with the demo lyrics, the title,
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the timeline, it really pushes this beyond coincidence, doesn't it
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into potential evidence.
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Speaker 2: De bevetten chery territory, I'd say, yeah.
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Speaker 1: And the impact on his career must have been.
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Speaker 2: Immediate, instantaneous, and devastating. When the news broke, he was
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right in the middle of his withered World tour halted,
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immediately halted innerscope, his label pulled the plug on all promotions.
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Everything just stopped.
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Speaker 1: Any fall out with collaborators.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, quietly, but yes, sources noted kalie Ucci's, for example,
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pulled their joint track from streaming pretty quickly. No fanfare
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is just gone, and defour veed himself public silence. He
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hasn't said anything, limited comments on his social media, canceled
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the show in Seattle's schedule for September nineteenth. The whole brand,
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that image, built on vulnerability. It just seemed to collapse
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under the weight of these allegations.
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Speaker 1: Okay, the crime scene is horrific, the artistic connections are
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deeply unsettling, But the core of this story, especially for
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listeners worried about online dangers, really lies in the digital evidence,
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doesn't it.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely that's the nexus.
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Speaker 1: And that brings us back to where we started. Almost
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that viral classroom video, the one that really kicked off
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the public fire story right.
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Speaker 2: Film, September eighteenth. It's a strange, almost accidental piece of
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critical evidence. The teacher deciding to share that story using
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photos from his phone, he essentially gave the police and
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the whole world this immediate anecdotal roadmap of the alleged
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grooming timeline.
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Speaker 1: What exactly did he lay out?
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Speaker 2: He was clearly upd set, emotional. He told his class
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how Celeste met D four yonline, how she ran away
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to Hollywood with him, that was his claim, how the
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cops found her and brought her back, but then she
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disappeared again in May twenty twenty four for good.
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Speaker 1: And he presented it as a warning, yeah.
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Speaker 2: Explicitly a cautionary tale about the danger's lurking on social
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media platforms.
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Speaker 1: Did he show proof or just tell the story?
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Speaker 2: No, he showed things. That's what made it so potent.
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He showed a photo celest in front of a classroom poster,
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you know, confirming she was his student. But crucially, he
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showed another photo, one that apparently placed D four D
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the Star physically in a parking lot in Lake Elsinore
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with Celeste and another classmate.
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Speaker 1: Wait, D four Verdi in Lake Elsinore, not La, but
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her hometown exactly.
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Speaker 2: That's the key detail. This wasn't just some random fan
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interaction in Hollywood. This was the celebrity allegedly showing up
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in her actual small town environment.
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Speaker 1: And how close was this parking lot to her home?
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Speaker 2: Sources like TMZ dug into that. Reportedly it was zero
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point three miles from her family's house, less than half
13:59
a mile. Yeah, so that detail, if accurate, confirms a
14:02
shift right from purely digital interaction to confirmed deliberate physical proximity.
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The alleged grooming wasn't just happening in DMS, It had
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crossed into her personal physical space.
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Speaker 1: What happened to the teacher after the video blew up.
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Speaker 2: Well, TMZ tragged him down, of course, and according to them,
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he doubled down, stood by his story, defended his decision
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to warn his students, which only fanned the flames obviously.
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Speaker 1: And there were other rumors swirling too.
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Speaker 2: Yeah among the students, vague talk about blackmail whispers involving
14:33
the singer. But we have to stress that stuff seems
14:36
to be completely unsubstantiated at this point, just part of
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the online rumor mill that erupted.
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Speaker 1: Okay, so that's a teacher's account. What about Celeste's own
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digital footprint? Did investigators find concrete evidence of this relationship online?
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Speaker 2: They did evidence that predates her final disappearance. There's a
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resurface live stream video apparently from January twenty twenty four.
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Speaker 1: January twenty twenty four, so months before she vanished in May.
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Speaker 2: Right, and this video reportedly shows celested in dfour VD
15:06
together online, bantering, giggling. It suggests the level of comfort
15:11
of familiarity that was clearly established well before she left
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for good.
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Speaker 1: And then the online sleuth's got involved, right digging through
15:18
defour vd's social media.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, the online community basically became digital forensic investigators overnight.
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The level of detail they uncovered is pretty incredible. For example,
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people pointed out that on September seventh, twenty twenty five,
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which was Celeste's birthday and just one day before her
15:33
remains were found, dfour VD posted some content online that
15:36
fans are now intensely analyzing, including apparently a cryptic TikTok
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video that he reposted and then quickly deleted.
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Speaker 1: Like he was acknowledging the date somehow that's the interpretation.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, private acknowledgment, even while his public image was silent,
15:53
suggest awareness. Maybe it's all being strutinized.
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Speaker 1: What else did they find? These online detectives.
15:59
Speaker 2: Really specific thing trying to show intimacy fans on platforms
16:02
like x They pointed out photos where Celeste appeared to
16:05
be wearing D four vd's distinctive beanie hat.
16:07
Speaker 1: Okay.
16:08
Speaker 2: Another post detailed how D four VD apparently tagged an
16:11
account that used the less birthday zero nine seven in
16:14
its handle and asked a question should.
16:17
Speaker 1: We should we vague but suggestive in this context?
16:20
Speaker 2: Exactly all these fragments, when you put them together, they
16:23
start to build this narrative of a relationship that was
16:25
maybe intentional, definitely secretive, and developed over a significant period.
16:30
Speaker 1: And the platforms themselves Instagram, Snapchat, the one she was
16:33
reportedly glued to. How do they play into this?
16:36
Speaker 2: They're crucial facilitators, potentially private dms, direct messages. They create
16:41
the sense of exclusivity, right, secrecy. It's almost a perfect
16:45
environment for grooming. That's what was happening. The celebrity can
16:48
isolate the target, make them feel special, chosen away from parents,
16:52
away from public eyes giving them that dopamine hit doctor
16:55
Demore talks about.
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Speaker 1: And there's more found right YouTube deep dives.
16:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, people compiled even more party photos, apparently showing Slst
17:03
wearing D four VDS bandana clips that even looking back
17:07
months later, seemed to raise red flags about potential underage
17:11
drinking at events he was allegedly hosting or attending.
17:14
Speaker 1: So the digital trail isn't just a few messages. It
17:17
sounds substantial.
17:18
Speaker 2: It's multifaceted, suggests months of boundary crossing behavior potentially facilitated
17:23
entirely by the way these social media platforms are designed.
17:25
It's not just breadcrumbs. It's a significant digital record.
17:28
Speaker 1: Okay, let's shift now to the official side of things,
17:31
the investigation itself. Where does that stand right now?
17:34
Speaker 2: Well, as of today, September twenty it's twenty twenty five.
17:37
The LAPD is keeping things very close to the chest,
17:41
which is pretty standard in a high profile homicide case
17:44
like this. Right, we know or it's reported that D
17:47
four VD is cooperating fully with the authorities, but you know,
17:51
cooperation doesn't automatically mean innocence. And the crucial point is
17:56
no arrests have been made yet.
17:58
Speaker 1: But his cooperation didn't stop them from two making further action.
18:00
Did it the search warrant?
18:02
Speaker 2: No, it didn't. That was a significant step. They executed
18:05
a search warrant at his rental home in the Hollywood Hills.
18:08
Speaker 1: What were they looking for there?
18:09
Speaker 2: The focus seemed to be on forensic evidence, specifically trying
18:13
to find any potential blood evidence or other materials connected
18:17
to the decomposition, the dismemberment, things that might have been
18:20
transferred from the initial crime scene wherever that was.
18:22
Speaker 1: And did they find anything.
18:23
Speaker 2: We know they collected what they officially termed items of interest,
18:27
but the LAPD hasn't specified what those items are. Still,
18:32
the fact they got the warrant and conducts of the
18:34
search shows they had enough probable cause to convince a
18:37
judge despite his cooperation. It confirms he's very much a
18:40
focus of the probe.
18:41
Speaker 1: And the car, the Tesla, keeps coming up. His team
18:45
is saying he sold.
18:46
Speaker 2: It, right, that's the claim from his legal team that
18:49
the Tesla was sold months ago, well before the incident,
18:53
trying to create distance obviously between him and the vehicle
18:55
where celeste remains were discovered.
18:57
Speaker 1: But is that holding up.
18:58
Speaker 2: Well, that's a major point of contention, it seems, because
19:01
while his team says it was sold, investigators have reportedly
19:05
traced the vehicle identification number the VIN directly back to
19:09
him through registration records.
19:10
Speaker 1: So a direct contradiction, a.
19:12
Speaker 2: Direct contradiction that the LAPD has to untangle. They'll be
19:16
digging through financial records, DMV documents, everything to pinpoint the
19:20
exact ownership timeline. Was the car actually in his possession
19:23
during that critical period from May twenty twenty four onwards
19:27
when Celeste vanished for good? That's a key question.
19:30
Speaker 1: And there are still so many other unanswered questions floating around.
19:33
Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely big ones, ye, Like did celest actually join
19:36
D four VD on his tour after she disappeared that
19:39
last time in May twenty twenty four? His tour schedule
19:42
apparently aligns with the period she was missing. That's got
19:45
to be a major line of inquiry for investigators following
19:48
the tour potentially. Yeah, and then there are those persistent
19:51
blackmail whispers that the students mentioned to the teacher. Are
19:55
those just unfounded rumors or is there something more there?
19:58
Some kind of external pressure complication that played into this
20:02
whole tragic situation. We just don't know yet this.
20:04
Speaker 1: Case today, it really does go beyond just the investigation details,
20:08
doesn't it. It forces us to look at the bigger picture,
20:11
the societal context.
20:12
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Celess's story, as horrific and unique as it feels,
20:16
is also sadly kind of a textbook example of the
20:19
dangers of online enticement. Social media it's built for connection,
20:23
but it's also become this primary hunting ground for predators
20:27
looking to exploit vulnerable people.
20:29
Speaker 1: Are there numbers on that how big is this problem?
20:31
Speaker 2: The statistics are just staggering and horrifying. The National Center
20:35
for Missing and Exploited Children NCMEC they reported over twenty
20:39
nine million suspected cases of online enticement in twenty twenty.
20:43
Speaker 1: Four alone, twenty nine million.
20:45
Speaker 2: Twenty nine million in one year, and they explicitly point
20:49
to social media platforms as the main place where these
20:51
predatory interactions start. Wow, and this ties right back into
20:55
what psychologists say about teenagers. Doctor Lisa Daymore, a child
20:59
psychologist often quoted on these issues, points out that the
21:02
adolescent brain is just wired differently, more inclined towards risk taking,
21:06
constantly seeking external validation, and that natural vulnerability gets amplified
21:11
massively when a celebrity gets involved, someone who represents aspiration, fame,
21:16
someone who can give those dopamine hits with a single
21:19
DM or interaction. Teens like Celeste, they're looking for connection,
21:22
for identity, and when an idol seems to offer that
21:25
directly exclusively, those crucial boundaries can just dissolve.
21:29
Speaker 1: It feels like we've seen similar dynamics before, sadly different
21:33
contexts maybe, but the core issue.
21:35
Speaker 2: It definitely echoes other cases. You think about the long
21:38
drawn out r Kelly scandal, the abuse of young fans,
21:42
or even cases of teacher grooming that happen largely through
21:44
digital communication, like the Bryan Altis case. The technology evolves,
21:49
but that fundamental power imbalance an adult with status exploiting
21:53
a miner's trust and vulnerability, often facilitated by digital walls,
21:57
it remains tragically consistent.
21:59
Speaker 1: Which explains why the reaction to this case has been
22:01
so intense. People are demanding.
22:03
Speaker 2: Change, huge public outcry and industry reaction too. You see
22:08
petitions popping up on sites like change dot org calling
22:12
for a full FBI investigation specifically into celebrity minor interactions online.
22:17
The argument is that the current safeguards just aren't enough
22:19
when fame itself becomes part of the manipulation tactic.
22:22
Speaker 1: Are people suggesting concrete changes within the industry on the platforms, Yeah.
22:27
Speaker 2: Critics are pushing for more than just labels pausing promotions
22:30
when something blows up. They're talking about real systemic reforms,
22:33
things like mandatory reliable age verification on all social media
22:37
and messaging apps, making it harder to lie about your age,
22:40
harder for predators to find underage users. That seems cruciul
22:44
and also calls for mandatory reporting requirements for artists, for
22:48
their managers, for their teams. If they become aware of
22:51
inappropriate or concerning interactions with minors, they should be legally
22:54
obligated to report.
22:55
Speaker 1: It, taking away the ability to just look the other way.
22:58
Speaker 2: Exactly accountabilit and Celeste her story, her short life, her
23:04
horrific death, it becomes this symbol. Now has a symbol
23:07
of why this accountability is so urgently needed. Her mother's
23:11
words just heartbreaking. She just wanted to feel seen. Yeah,
23:15
that simple human desire allegedly exploited, and now her story
23:20
is pushing us, hopefully to demand more from those who
23:22
have so much influence to make sure that platform, that
23:25
power isn't used to prey on kids just looking for connection.
23:28
Speaker 1: So as we wrap up this really difficult deep dive,
23:31
let's just quickly recap the key points, the main takeaways
23:34
from all these sources we've looked at.
23:35
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, we started with that grim discovery, the abandoned
23:38
tesla in Hollywood, the remains inside, and the difficult process
23:42
of identifying Celestiy of us Fernandez.
23:45
Speaker 1: Right, and the undeniable link really came through that combination
23:48
of physical and digital evidence.
23:50
Speaker 2: Exactly the unique tattoo on her finger matching the one
23:54
D four VD has. That's huge. Then you align her
23:58
disappearance timeline, especially the final one in May twenty twenty four,
24:02
with the evidence of his increasing social media.
24:04
Speaker 1: Interaction with her and culminating in that incredibly disturbing unreleased
24:08
demo track Celeste Demo unfinn.
24:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, putting her name, talking about tattoos obsession right there
24:15
in his art, allegedly from before she was even found.
24:18
That's a chilling centerpiece to the whole puzzle.
24:21
Speaker 1: It's so important to remember celestreevas Hernandez. She was more
24:24
than just a hashtag or a headline. She was a daughter,
24:27
a girl who loved music, who had dreams, and just
24:30
a kid who's maybe curiosity or desire for connection led
24:33
her into unimaginable danger.
24:35
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that teacher's video, Yeah, however controversial the way
24:39
it came out, it did serve as this raw, visceral warning,
24:42
didn't it about how fragile those digital boundaries can be,
24:45
especially between the allure of fame and the reality of exploitation.
24:49
Speaker 1: So maybe the final thought we leave our listeners with
24:53
it has to connect back to that idea of celebrity
24:55
power and the artist's persona.
24:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. When you look at the intense
25:00
focus now on D four vd's lyrics, on that matching tattoo,
25:04
on the whole dark, moody image he cultivated, what does
25:08
this case really tell us about those dangerously blurred.
25:11
Speaker 1: Lines, blurred lines between what between you.
25:13
Speaker 2: Know, the artistic persona someone creates, the often intense, sometimes
25:17
exploitative nature of celebrity fan culture, and potentially real world
25:21
predatory behavior, Especially now in this age where connection is instant,
25:26
digital and often unsupervised.
25:28
Speaker 1: It really forces you to question what's real and what's
25:30
performance and where the responsibility lies.
25:32
Speaker 2: Exactly her story, the tragic urging really for all of
25:36
us to listen more carefully, maybe be more skeptical, and
25:39
definitely demand better safeguards online, better accountability, before the next
25:43
seemingly innocent DM from an idol turns deadly