Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / Investigator Reveals Possible Cause of Death in D4vd, Celeste Rivas Case

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Investigator Reveals Possible Cause of Death in D4vd, Celeste Rivas Case · Murder Files Unsealed

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we're attempting to make
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sense of a really modern American tragedy. It feels ripped
0:07
straight from a Hollywood marscript.
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Speaker 2: Honestly, it really does. A story of you know, extreme
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celebrity success on one hand, right, and then this profound,
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almost calculated darkness hiding underneath.
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Speaker 1: Exactly, we're talking about the shocking homicide of fifteen year
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old Celeste Revus Hernandez, a case where the victim's body
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tragically was found inside the vehicle of one of the
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world's well fastest rising pop stars. Yeah, okay, let's unpack
0:32
this sequence of events because the timeline is, well, it's
0:35
everything here, isn't it?
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Speaker 2: It absolutely is. It all starts really with this grim
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discovery on September eighth, twenty twenty five, deep inside a
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Hollywood impound lot. Just a routine toe operation.
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Speaker 1: Supposutly reach it, Yeah, involving this sleek, expensive, kind of
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oddly abandoned black Tesla Model three.
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Speaker 2: But that routine status it just evaporated the moment workers
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got close.
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Speaker 1: Why what happened?
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Speaker 2: Well, the source material is an immediate overwhelming foul odor
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coming from the car. You know, unmistakable.
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Speaker 1: And oh, so they followed that scent.
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Speaker 2: They did. They accessed the front, you know, the forward
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trunk on those electric vehicles. Yeah, and inside they found
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the severely decomposed remains of a young girl, loosely wrapped
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in a black plastic bag.
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Speaker 1: Oh god, just gruesome, utterly heartbreaking, it really was.
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Speaker 2: And here's where the story pivots, you know, from just
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a tragic missing person's cage.
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Speaker 1: To a massive celebrity scandal exactly because that Model three
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was registered to David Anthony Burke. David Anthony Burke, who
1:37
the entire gen Z world knows as DEFOVID eight.
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Speaker 2: That's him, the twenty year old indie pop and R
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and B sensation, the guy whose whole career just exploded
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based on that one viral track.
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Speaker 1: And the title it just chills you to the bone now,
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doesn't it. Romantic homicide?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, the irony is just inescapable dfour VD the artist
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and homicide the act.
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Speaker 1: So the victim was identified pretty quickly then as Celeste
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Revas Hernandez, a middle schooler from Lake elsinor.
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Speaker 2: Relatively quickly, Yeah, considering the condition of the reins.
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Speaker 1: How did they manage that? Given the decomposition. You mentioned, well.
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Speaker 2: Two critical ways really. First, dental records, which is pretty
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standard for unidentified remains. Okay. But second, and this is
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maybe the most poignant and frankly damning detail, there was
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a distinctive figure tattoo found on Celeste's hand.
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Speaker 1: A tattoo.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and this tattoo was confirmed to match one that
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was already inked on dfour vd's own hand.
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Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, So that suggests what some kind of intimate
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shared bond between them.
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Speaker 2: Exactly, despite the huge age difference, despite their public profiles,
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it points to something close.
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Speaker 1: So our mission today really is to take all these
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fragmented sources, you know, the police reports, the forensic analysis,
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the manager's actions, and crucially these earth shattering findings from
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a private investigator, and try to reconstruct this timeline.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, put the pieces together.
3:00
Speaker 1: Right. This isn't just a deep dive into a crime.
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It's also an examination of how fame can create this protective.
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Speaker 2: Bubble almost Yeah, that insulates people from accountability even when
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something this horrific happens, even when a child's life is
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just consumed inside it.
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Speaker 1: And what's fascinating or maybe just deeply disturbing, is how
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this narrative really begins long before that discovery in the
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impound life.
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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, it starts deep in the roots of Celeste's
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life or circumstances they made her so profoundly vulnerable to
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this kind of entanglement, you.
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Speaker 1: Know, tell us about her. Celeste Revas Fernandez.
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Speaker 2: Okay, she was born in September seventh, twenty ten, so
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tragically young. She grew up in Lake Elsinore.
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Speaker 1: Lake Elsinor, that's about seventy miles east of La right,
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kind of sun baked excerb exactly.
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Speaker 2: The sources often describe it as a place that maybe
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promises that suburban dream, but doesn't always deliver the opportunity
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or structure kids really need. Sometimes it just delivers well, anonymity, boredom.
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Speaker 1: Even so, she was potentially already in an environment where
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she might be looking for excitement or validation somewhere else
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outside her immediate world.
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Speaker 2: Precisely, that seems to be the case. Her parents were
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working class immigrants from El Salvador. Her mother worked as
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a housekeeper. Her father was in construction. Yeah, just you know,
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trying to provide. But the sources suggest the emotional environment
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at home it was clearly struggling.
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Speaker 1: And how was Celeste described as a person.
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Speaker 2: Neighbors described her as, you know, a typical kid in
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some ways, bubbly, artistic, love drawing, and like so many
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kids her age, heavily engaged online TikTok. Mostly she was
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an every student at Lakeland Village Middle School, but her
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world was becoming increasingly digital.
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Speaker 1: And that digital search, that quest for identity online, it
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seems like it spiraled pretty quickly into a serious crisis
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at home. Looking at the public.
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Speaker 2: Records we have, the records are well, they're staggering. Frankly,
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they paint a picture of a complete failure really to
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protect her. So public records from the Riverside County Sheriff's office,
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they show that deputies visited her family's modest home eleven
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times between February twenty twenty four and April twenty.
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Speaker 1: Twenty five, eleven times in just over a year.
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Speaker 2: Eleven times. And these were just you know, typical teenage argument.
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These were repeated desperate calls for runaway reports, for welfare checks.
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Speaker 1: Wow, eleven calls that level of instability. It means the
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local system, the authorities, they knew this child was in
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severe danger or distress.
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Speaker 2: They absolutely should have, Yet she kept vanishing. Her own brother, Matthew,
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he actually gave this heartbreaking quote that kind of summed
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up the cycle. He said, she'd sneak out, stay gone
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for days, just disappear. Yeah, and he was insightful about
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it too. He added that she was fundamentally chasing something bigger,
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a world that seemed exciting online, chasing validation exactly. She
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was actively seeking it, and D four vd's world his
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sphere that represented the ultimate version of that validation for her,
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it seems.
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Speaker 1: And this is where the digital connection starts and where
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it becomes potentially criminal, right, Absolutely.
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Speaker 2: This is the crux of it. Sources confirmed they met virtually,
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probably in early twenty twenty four.
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Speaker 1: How which platforms.
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Speaker 2: Via Discord primarily and also TikTok DMS standard channels for
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kids and fans. Okay, but here's the critical part. So
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Les's was just thirteen years old in this contact began.
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Speaker 1: D four VD was nineteen thirteen and nineteen that age difference,
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I mean that immediately establishes potential statutory grounds for criminal charges,
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doesn't it, regardless of anything that happened later.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's a huge legal issue right from the start.
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Speaker 1: So how quickly did this online thing, this connection, transition
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into into the physical world into a relationship.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like it escalated rapidly. What probably started
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as just you know, fan girling, grew, according to sources,
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into basically a year long physical relationship, year.
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Speaker 1: Long relationship while she was thirteen, then fourteen.
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Speaker 2: That's what the sources suggest. Neighbors near that Hollywood Hills
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home D fourty was renting, they noticed Celeste there frequently.
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They saw her there. Yeah, confirmed, she appeared to be
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living there at least periodically, but critically, these neighbors consistently
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mistook her age.
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Speaker 1: How old do they think she was?
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Speaker 2: They thought she was eighteen or nineteen?
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Speaker 1: Ah? Okay, So that suggests D four VD or maybe
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his inner circle, they were successfully maintaining this illusion, right,
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an illusion of age appropriateness to the outside world.
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Speaker 2: It certainly looks that way. That deliberate concealment of her
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actual age. It's crucial. It hints at the level of
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maybe logistical planning involved in housing a minor.
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Speaker 1: Especially a miner who was repeatedly reported as a runaway.
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Speaker 2: Exactly and a high profile, expensive Hollywood Hills rental. It
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required careful management.
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Speaker 1: And the timing here is just it's undeniably dark, isn't
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it completely?
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Speaker 2: Celest's chronic disappearances from Lake Elsinore they perfectly coincided with
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D four vd's career, just taken off.
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Speaker 1: Like a rocket ship right when he was blowing up.
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Speaker 2: Precisely confirmed clear image we have of her alive. Oh,
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it's from January two, twenty twenty five.
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Speaker 1: And where was that?
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Speaker 2: She's pictured at some downtown La lock party, standing right beside.
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Speaker 1: D four VID together in public essentially, But.
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Speaker 2: Then by the summer of twenty twenty five, right as
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D four VID was in the final stages of preparing
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for his big lucrative Withered world tour, so Lessa just
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vanished completely. Yeah, her family's final missing person's report, it
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just kind of got lost in the system. It seems,
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swallowed by the bureaucracy, maybe overshadowed by D four VID's
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rapidly ascending fame.
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Speaker 1: And if we connect this back to the discovery, I mean,
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the emotional attest for her death is just profound. She
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was found the day after what would have been her
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fifteenth birthday.
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Speaker 2: Just adds this agonizing layer to the tragedy, doesn't it.
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Speaker 1: It really does.
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Speaker 2: There was a child psychologist, doctor Elena Vasquez, who commented
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on the case. She framed it perfectly. I think she
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said Celeste was seeking validation in a world that just
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prays on that vulnerability.
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Speaker 1: And the details from the death certificate they tell their
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own story, don't they, Even before we know the exact
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cause of death.
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Speaker 2: They absolutely do. They tell a story of neglect, maybe suffering.
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She was found emaciated, weighed only seventy one.
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Speaker 1: Pounds, seventy one pounds for a nearly fifteen year old girl.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, clad in just simple clothing, and the decomposition level
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suggested she'd been dead for weeks, possibly even months before
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that September discovery.
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Speaker 1: So the body found in that front, it wasn't just
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a victim. It was a child who had been severely
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failed by well by potentially many people in systems.
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Speaker 2: Severely failed.
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Speaker 1: Yes, that failure. It leads us directly into the well
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the starkly contrasting life of the person who owned the
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car where she was found. The narrative shifts sharply now,
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doesn't it, to d four Vide's stratospheric career and the
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network around him that seemed to shield him.
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Speaker 2: It does. David Anthony Burke, he was sort of the
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quintessential Houston raised artist turned Internet success story right.
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Speaker 1: Broke out in twenty twenty one, Lo Fi, R and B.
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Speaker 2: Sound, that's him, And by twenty twenty five his fame
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was just massive. He was headlining major festivals, there were
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rumors of collaborations with huge names like Sea, and his
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estimated net worth was around five million dollars. So this wasn't,
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you know, some struggling artist on the fringe.
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Speaker 1: Now, this was a fully operational, high value celebrity brand.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that brand, like any big brand, required meticulous.
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Speaker 1: Maintenance and fame like that, especially coming that fast, it
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often creates its own kind of gravitational pull, doesn't it. Paranoia,
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maybe isolation, It really does.
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Speaker 2: And the sources, they do, point to his apparent turmoil,
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even right at the peak of his success. His posts
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on x formerly Twitter from early twenty twenty five, they
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were filled with these cryptic, kind of anxious messages like
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what mentions of toxic cycles, the feeling of hiding in
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plain sight, hiding in plain site. Yeah, now you could
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interpret that as just you know, artistic angst moody pop
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star stuff. Sure, but looking back now, it seems like
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it could hint at the secret life he was leading,
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possibly with Celeste.
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Speaker 1: It takes on a whole new meaning.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and insiders described him as becoming increasingly reclusive around
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that time, preferring studio sessions over any public or social
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life that wasn't like, professionally required. So he pulls back
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right and that withdrawal it seems to have allowed his manager,
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Alex Rivera, to basically assume complete control over all the logistics,
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the day to day stuff.
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Speaker 1: Rivera's role feels really crucial here, especially with the housing
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situation that Hollywood Hills Mansion. Tell us more about that sublet.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Rivera was the gatekeeper, the fixer. Maybe he orchestrated
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the sublet of this twenty thousand dollars a month Hollywood
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Hills Mansion twenty rand a month. Yeah, But here's the
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key detail from the sources. This was done without the landlord's.
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Speaker 1: Approval, ah off the books essentially kind of.
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Speaker 2: It suggests, you know, a desire for discretion, a lack
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of formal oversight. It allowed D four VD to operate
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outside the normal rules of a standard lease, which, if
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you think about it, is.
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Speaker 1: The perfect setup. For hiding something or someone, like a
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secret relationship with.
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Speaker 2: A minor exactly. It avoids scrutiny.
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Speaker 1: Okay, now let's get to the physical evidence that finally
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brought all this crashing down. That black Tesla Model three,
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This car and its specific timeline, it feels like the
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absolute pivot point of the whole case.
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Speaker 2: It really is. It's the smoking gun, or maybe, given
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the circumstances, the odoriferous one.
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Speaker 1: Correct. But here's what's interesting. Sources confirmed he hadn't really
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used it as his primary vehicle since way back in
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January twenty twenty.
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Speaker 2: Five, January, some months before the summer.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, he apparently preferred to lease a different car, a
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red Tesla, for his daily use, which means this black
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Model three effectively became this piece of dormant surplus property
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just sitting around. Okay, but why does that matter? Why
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not just you know, use his regular least car if
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the worst happened and concealment was needed.
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Speaker 2: Well, think about it. A daily driven car leaves a trail.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, sure, toll roads, traffic cams.
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Speaker 2: Exactly, traffic tickets, serve valence footage, maybe gas station stops
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if it weren't electric, there's a pattern of movement, it's traceable,
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but a dormant vehicle, especially one registered out of state,
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it's logistically almost perfect for hiding a secret you hope
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never ever moves again.
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Speaker 1: It's anonymous in a way less likely to be noticed
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or tracked immediately. And the surveillance footage it confirms this
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dormant car suddenly became active again at a very specific,
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very high pressure moment.
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Speaker 2: Precisely, this is crucial. Surveillance footage confirms the black Model
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three was parked on July twenty ninth, twenty five.
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Speaker 1: July twenty ninth. And where was it parked?
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Speaker 2: Right near that expensive rental property the Hollywood Hills, Okay, yeah.
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Speaker 1: And the significance of that date, July twenty.
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Speaker 2: Ninth, that date is just days, yeah, mere days before
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D forty d's massive tour bus was scheduled to depart
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for Chicago to launch the Withered World Tour.
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Speaker 1: So the timing suggests extreme urgent pressure. Whatever happened to Celeste,
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the disposal of the body, putting it in that car,
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it had to happen before dfour VD left the West Coast,
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before he embarked on this multimillion dollar international tour.
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Speaker 2: The need for distance, for time for him to be
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physically removed from the situation.
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Speaker 1: It seems paramount absolutely get out of town.
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Speaker 2: And so the car just sat there, abandoned, undisturbed, accumulating
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parking tickets for eleven days apparently before the tow truck
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finally came in September.
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Speaker 1: Eleven days of tickets before it was towed. So for
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weeks that vehicle just sat on Hollywood Street, concealing this
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tragedy inside.
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Speaker 2: Well, dfour VD was theoretically at least starting his tour
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preparations then maybe even leaving town. It demonstrates either incredible
14:38
coldness or maybe incredible reliance on his logistical team handles.
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Speaking of that tour, the discovery in September must have
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just thrown everything into absolute chaos. What was the immediate
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fallout for defour.
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Speaker 1: VID Oh, immediate and total chaos. His tour instantly abruptly canceled, done.
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Speaker 2: Huge financial hit presumably immense. Yeah, but DFVD or his
14:59
team took immediate steps to protect his assets, which is telling.
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Like what the source's note, he quickly transferred the ownership
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of his house in Cyprus, Texas, put it in his mother's.
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Speaker 1: Name, Ah classic legal maneuver, shielding valuable assets from.
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Speaker 2: From potential future civil litigation. Yeah, or asset forfeiture connected
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to the crime. Yeah, standard playbook for someone anticipating serious
15:21
legal trouble.
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Speaker 1: And the public climate around him. It must have turned toxic.
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Speaker 2: Over night, Oh, completely toxic. Dfour VD maintained absolute silence. Yeah,
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no statements, nothing, and that silence, combined with just the
15:35
extreme horrific nature of the crime, it fueled this intense public.
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Speaker 1: Obsession, right, people demanding answers.
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Speaker 2: Demanding answers, and sometimes, unfortunately, that obsession manifested as harassment
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aimed at his family.
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Speaker 1: Like the swatting incident.
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Speaker 2: Exactly in October twenty twenty five, his parents' home back
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in Houston was hit with the swatting incident, you know,
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a hoax nine one one call reporting something violent like.
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Speaker 1: Gunshots, forcing a massive, dangerous police response.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. It just underscores that climate of paranoia and how
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blurred the line can get between public interest and actual
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criminal intent.
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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, defour vied himself still silent. Social media channel's dormant.
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Speaker 2: The completely silent, while the public floods any remaining comments
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sections with hashtag justice force last.
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Speaker 1: Okay, let's shift focus back to the official side, the
16:20
investigation itself, that initial scene at the impound lot. How
16:25
did the police handle it well?
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Speaker 2: The first descriptions are stark. One worker quoted in the
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sources said it was like death itself, just overwhelming understandable. Identification,
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as we mentioned, was difficult. It relied heavily on those
16:37
dental records and that unique matching.
16:39
Speaker 1: Tattoo, and the LAPD took over quickly immediately.
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Speaker 2: The Robbery Hommitside Division RhD. They took the lead, recognizing
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the severity, the high profile nature of it all.
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Speaker 1: So what were their first steps?
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Speaker 2: They swiftly towed the Model three itself for detailed forensic analysis,
16:53
and they executed search warrants on that twenty thousand dollars
16:56
a month Sunset Bulevard property D four VD was renting.
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Speaker 1: Okay, the mansion. What did those initial searches yield? Were
17:04
they looking for signs of a crime scene inside the house?
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Speaker 2: Absolutely, that would be the primary goal. The warrants yielded,
17:11
according to reports, various items things like electronics, clothing stuff
17:17
the police hoped would establish residency, maybe pinpoint celests the
17:21
last moments.
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Speaker 1: But there was a complication. Wasn't there something missing?
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Speaker 2: Yes, And this became a crucial point of public confusion,
17:28
a huge legal complication right away. The lack of publicly
17:32
confirmed blood evidence during those first sweeps of.
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Speaker 1: The mansion, no blood found.
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Speaker 2: That's significant, very significant, and it brings us back to
17:39
the single biggest hurdle for the LAPD in those early
17:42
days and weeks, establishing the manner of death, not just
17:46
the cause, but how she died.
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Speaker 1: Was it homicide, accident? Suicide? Undetermined?
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Speaker 2: Precisely the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. They immediately deferred
17:55
the cause of death standard procedure when decomposition is dis advanced.
17:59
They had to wait for toxic cology results.
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Speaker 1: Because physical trauma markers things like bruises, stab wounds, blunt
18:05
force trauma, they'd be obscured or gone.
18:08
Speaker 2: Exactly impossible to determine visually. So the early thinking, according
18:13
to forensic expert Amy Santoro, who commented on the case,
18:17
the working theory for the LAPD seemed to be leaning
18:19
towards overdoses. Overdose what well. A few reasons, One the
18:25
tragic commonality of drug related deaths, especially in viriving sentinel
18:28
lase pills in the La party scene two. The body's
18:32
severely emaciated condition seventy one pounds. That can sometimes suggest
18:37
chronic drug dependency or at least severe neglect which might
18:40
accompany it.
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Speaker 1: So if the working theory was overdose, that changes everything legally,
18:45
doesn't it completely?
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Speaker 2: That distinction overdose versus homicide is the absolute difference between, say,
18:50
access rey charges for hiding the body.
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Speaker 1: And a murder trial for D four D.
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Speaker 2: It's the entire legal tightrope they were walking, and by
18:56
late September you had LAPD Captain Scott Williams affirming publicly
19:01
that Celeste had likely been dead several.
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Speaker 1: Weeks, which lines up with that late July parking date
19:05
of the Tesla perfectly.
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Speaker 2: Yet crucially, no homicide ruling was made. The official statement
19:12
was very careful, very circumspect. Criminal culpability beyond concealment remains unclear.
19:18
Speaker 1: Beyond concealment, so they acknowledged the body was hidden, which
19:22
is a felony in itself.
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Speaker 2: Undeniably, they had clear evidence of concealment of human.
19:27
Speaker 1: Remains, but they couldn't or wouldn't charge murder at that point.
19:30
What does that legal ambiguity mean for actually making an
19:33
arrest for dfour vid, it creates.
19:36
Speaker 2: A massive problem for the District Attorney's office. Defense attorney
19:39
Sarah Azari she weighed in on this. She explained the
19:42
huge risk that DA faces, which is if you arrest
19:45
someone for homicide without a confirmed cause of death from theme,
19:49
without being able to definitively say she was murdered, that
19:53
case is incredibly vulnerable.
19:54
Speaker 1: It risks dismissal because the defense can just argue it
19:57
was an accident, an overdose, and the concealment.
19:59
Speaker 2: Was precisely Asari's analysis was spot on. It's about gathering
20:03
dots before connecting them. The laped had the body, they
20:06
had the car, they had the connection to the celebrity.
20:08
Big dots, but without that definitive why she died or
20:12
how she died, their case for the most serious charge
20:15
for murder remained fundamentally weak, at least initially so.
20:20
Speaker 1: While the police are wrestling with you know, decomposition and
20:23
legal requirements and toxicology reports, the public grief back in
20:27
Lake elson Or must have been just immense.
20:29
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely immense, and that emotional response it served as
20:33
this constant, painful reminder of the human cost here.
20:37
Speaker 1: Were there vigils, public memorial.
20:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, there were public vigils, and Celeste's mother, speaking at
20:42
the funeral on October sixth, she conveyed just profound loss.
20:47
Her quote was simple but devastating. She deserved the world,
20:51
not this god and this public pressure on law enforcement,
20:54
you know, demanding accountability, demanding answers about D four VD.
20:57
It only intensified as this forensic stalemate dragged on into
21:00
the fall.
21:01
Speaker 1: Right, the longer it took, the more questions arose, and
21:03
that stalling investigation, that vacuum. Right, that's what drew in
21:07
the Next major figure in this story, isn't it.
21:09
Speaker 2: It is the private investigator who really, single handedly seems
21:13
to have broken this case wide open again. Steve Fisher.
21:16
Speaker 1: Steve Fisher. Now he wasn't hired by Celeste's family or
21:19
by the LAPD her No.
21:21
Speaker 2: Completely separate. He was brought in by the landlords of
21:24
that Hollywood Hills mansion.
21:25
Speaker 1: The unsuspecting landlords.
21:27
Speaker 2: Why because D fortyid's manager, Alex Rivera, remember the one
21:32
who arranged the sublet without their approval? Yeah, well he
21:36
apparently ghosted them on the rent to stop paying the
21:38
twenty thousand dollars a month after everything.
21:40
Speaker 1: Went down, So the landlords just wanted their property back
21:43
assessed damages exactly.
21:45
Speaker 2: They needed confirmation to damages legal documentation to formally reclaim
21:49
their property, standard procedure when a tenant defaults, especially under
21:53
such dramatic circumstances.
21:54
Speaker 1: The Fisher his background is more specialized than just assessing
21:59
rental damage.
22:00
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, and that's crucial to understand why he found
22:03
what he found. He's a season PI, yes, but with
22:06
specific technical expertise. He's an FAA licensed drone pilot, which
22:11
is interesting, okay, But more significantly, he's a NASAAR Certified
22:14
Search Specialist National Association for Search and Rescue NASAR.
22:19
Speaker 1: What does that mean?
22:19
Speaker 2: Practically, it means he's trained in methodical, structured search patterns,
22:24
the kind designed to find things, evidence, bodies, whatever that
22:28
standard patrol officers or even detectives doing a preliminary sweep
22:32
might overlook. He looks for things differently.
22:35
Speaker 1: So while LAPD's robbery homicide might have been focused on
22:38
obvious signs of a struggle like bloodstains, Fisher was perhaps
22:43
looking for something else exactly.
22:45
Speaker 2: He was potentially searching for the tools of concealment, evidence
22:48
of planning evidence of disposal, not just the immediate crime
22:52
scene itself, and.
22:53
Speaker 1: The sources confirm he found them.
22:55
Speaker 2: He absolutely did. His revelations on October twenty seventh, twenty
22:59
twenty five. They were explosive because he detailed finding specific
23:03
items tucked away in a utility closet at the mansion
23:07
after the LAPD's official raid had concluded.
23:09
Speaker 1: After the police had already searched and left.
23:11
Speaker 2: That's the claim which indicates one of two things, either
23:14
a somewhat rushed or incomplete search by the police initially.
23:17
Speaker 1: Or maybe a search that was too narrowly focused focused
23:20
only on say, blood and weapons, and missed the preparation tools.
23:24
Speaker 2: That's possible, too focused on the immediate crime scene evidence
23:29
rather than the evidence of concealment, preparation, or aftermath.
23:32
Speaker 1: Okay, so what were these specific items? What did Fisher
23:34
find in that utility closet that the police apparently missed.
23:38
Speaker 2: According to Fisher's report, he found industrial grade plastic sheeting,
23:42
multiple rolls of heavy duty ductave.
23:45
Speaker 1: Cleaning solvents, Okay, items consistent with cleaning up or wrapping.
23:50
Speaker 2: Something precisely, and perhaps the most chilling item, a disassembled saw,
23:54
a saw a disseveled saw. Now Fisher was careful, His
23:58
professional assessment was immediate. These were tools consistent with concealing
24:03
a body.
24:03
Speaker 1: Right, doesn't prove murder in isolation exactly.
24:05
Speaker 2: He stressed that these tools don't prove how she died,
24:09
but they paint a very vivid picture of a calculated disposal,
24:13
not just panic.
24:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. If the LAPD's working theory was maybe accidental overdose
24:18
followed by panic finding a disassembled saw in industrial plastic sheeting,
24:22
that kind of undermines the pure panic idea, doesn't it.
24:25
Speaker 2: It really does. It suggests at minimum some level of preparation,
24:29
some forethought about how to handle the situation.
24:31
Speaker 1: But it gets even darker based on Fisher's claims, he
24:35
didn't just find tools.
24:36
Speaker 2: No, this is perhaps the most disturbing part of his findings.
24:39
He also claimed to have found handwritten notes and digital.
24:43
Speaker 1: Files, notes and files about.
24:44
Speaker 2: What outlining what he characterized as sadistic plans, plans specifically
24:48
targeting Celeste.
24:50
Speaker 1: Sadistic plans like involving what he described them as, including
24:55
detailed scenarios involving restraint and methods of disposal. God, okay,
25:00
that changes the entire conversation. If those notes are real,
25:03
if they're specific, if they targeted Celeste, that could be
25:06
overwhelming evidence motive, premeditation, a pattern of abuse.
25:10
Speaker 2: It shifts the narrative dramatically, Yeah, away from accidental overdose,
25:14
potentially towards something far more sinister.
25:16
Speaker 1: Did Fisher say when these notes or files were dated?
25:19
Speaker 2: Yes, he confirmed they were dated to July twenty twenty five, July.
25:23
Speaker 1: The critical month, right when the relationship must have been
25:26
breaking down, right when the tussle was parked exactly.
25:29
Speaker 2: He called these documents contingency blueprints, dark and calculated. His
25:35
interpretation was that they strongly suggested foreknowledge of her death
25:39
or at least highly detailed plans for body disposal if
25:43
or when she died, whether by overdose, neglect, or something else.
25:47
Speaker 1: Calculated. That's the word that stands out.
25:49
Speaker 2: Yeah.
25:49
Speaker 1: What about the technical side. Did Fisher look at the
25:51
house's surveillance system.
25:53
Speaker 2: He did. He reviewed the Holmes sophisticated system, and he
25:57
noted some suspicious things. Smoked detectors had been covered covered why,
26:02
sometimes done to prevent alarms during smoking, maybe drug use
26:06
or maybe something else. And cameras appeared to have been
26:09
tampered with. He said. He only managed to retrieve partial footage.
26:13
Speaker 1: Which he handed over to Latd yes.
26:15
Speaker 2: Handed over on a DVD, according to the reports.
26:17
Speaker 1: Okay, so tampering suggests someone inside the house was trying
26:19
to blind the immediate scene. But did Fisher find anything
26:22
useful from outside the house neighborhood cameras.
26:25
Speaker 2: Yes, And this is a really key corroborating detail. It
26:28
actually aligns interestingly with the accidental overdose theory, or at
26:33
least complicates the dever D did it directly narrative. Oh So,
26:37
neighborhood cams showed the black Model three being parked on
26:41
that crucial date, July twenty ninth, but it was parked
26:44
by an unidentified entourage member, not by dver D himself. Ah.
26:50
Speaker 1: Okay, that is a crucial distinction. So someone else physically
26:53
moved the car containing the body.
26:55
Speaker 2: That's what the footage suggests, and it supports Fisher's primary
26:58
hypothesis about what might have happened, which is his hypothesis
27:00
is Celest may have died, perhaps by accidental overdose, as
27:04
the initial me theory suggested, but died elsewhere in the
27:06
mansion that not necessarily killed violently. Okay, And then the
27:10
body was moved in panic, but perhaps calculated panic by
27:13
a member or members of Deferty's entourage acting quickly to
27:17
protect deferd's tour, his career, his reputation, get the body
27:21
out of the house before he leaves town.
27:23
Speaker 1: That hypothesis, it neatly explains the lack of blood evidence
27:26
found inside the house by the LAPD. Doesn't it perfectly If.
27:29
Speaker 2: She died, say, in a bedroom, and was quickly cleaned up, wrapped,
27:33
and moved to the car for disposal, the house would
27:36
show signs of cleaning. Maybe those concealment tools fish are found.
27:40
Speaker 1: But not necessarily a massive pool of blood that would
27:43
survive a police search weeks later.
27:45
Speaker 2: Exactly, which is precisely the pattern Fisher reported finding. He
27:49
explicitly stated he believes a group was involved, not just
27:53
DFOURVD acting alone.
27:55
Speaker 1: And the timing works. Someone else could have stayed behind
27:58
to manage the situation while D FOURVD prepared to leave.
28:01
Speaker 2: Yes, Ficher believe someone stayed at the house during D
28:04
four d's final tour preparations and departure. Someone handled the
28:07
logistics of the.
28:08
Speaker 1: Disposal, So Fisher's conclusion wasn't necessarily D four VD murdered
28:12
her with his own hands.
28:14
Speaker 2: Not necessarily that simple. His public statements focused heavily on
28:18
demanding accountability, yes, but also specifically for the statutory crimes.
28:22
Speaker 1: Right back to the age difference exactly.
28:25
Speaker 2: He force fully argued, Look, regardless of how she died,
28:27
So LUs was fourteen when this alleged relationship was happening,
28:30
an adult defour bed most answer for statutory rape charges, period.
28:34
Speaker 1: And that shifts the legal focus entirely, doesn't It away
28:38
from the difficult forensic stalemate on the cause of death completely.
28:41
Speaker 2: It gives the prosecutors a clear path to some charges,
28:45
even if murder remains difficult to prove.
28:47
Speaker 1: Okay, So now let's try to synthesize all of this.
28:51
We have the forensic limitations, the celebrity machine trying to
28:54
conceal things, and then the pi's explosive findings. We're left
28:59
with basically two primary theories, and they clash pretty dramatically.
29:02
Speaker 2: That's right. Theory one is essentially accidental overdose and cover up. Okay,
29:07
This theory is supported by those early toxicology leaks hinting
29:10
at fentanyl laced pills and known danger. It's supported by
29:14
celestes emaciation supported by the lack of clear trauma markers
29:18
on the body.
29:18
Speaker 1: And the concealment tools Fisher found, how do they fit
29:21
in this theory?
29:22
Speaker 2: They point to extreme panic, yes, but also a calculated
29:25
effort to protect the brand, protect dvour V after a tragic,
29:29
unplanned death occurred, damage control.
29:32
Speaker 1: Okay, that's one possibility, But the second theory.
29:35
Speaker 2: The second theory centers on the darker possibilities, and this
29:38
is fueled almost entirely by that sadistic stuff the notes
29:43
in digital files Fisher reported finding.
29:45
Speaker 1: Right the plans for restraint and disposal exactly.
29:48
Speaker 2: While the lack of blood evidence might argue against the
29:51
spontaneous violent killing in the house, those notes, if authentic
29:56
and accurately described, suggests a potential pattern coercion, manipulation, abuse.
30:02
Speaker 1: So even if an overdose was the immediate mechanism of death.
30:06
Speaker 2: Right, even if that's what the toxicology finally shows the
30:09
presence of those plans, the calculated nature of the concealment
30:12
described by Fisher, it could suggest a level of control
30:16
of foreign knowledge, maybe even contributing negligence or endangerment That
30:20
elevates defour vd's culpability far beyond just simple panic after
30:23
an accident. It makes the death feel less accidental.
30:27
Speaker 1: And the narrative darkens even more when you layer in
30:29
defour vd's own work, his music, his communications, potentially his clues.
30:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's chilling to consider those lead demos. I mean,
30:35
one unreleased track was allegedly.
30:37
Speaker 1: Titled Celeste, named after her.
30:39
Speaker 2: Apparently, and containing lyrics that, in retrospect just sound like
30:43
a confession, something like you slipped away in the night,
30:46
now you're gone at a sight.
30:48
Speaker 1: Wow. If those were written around July twenty twenty.
30:51
Speaker 2: Five, it suggests an immediate intimate knowledge of her disappearance,
30:54
doesn't it?
30:55
Speaker 1: It really does. And what about those earlier communications from
30:58
when the relationship started.
31:00
Speaker 2: Those early discord locks from twenty twenty four, Remember when
31:03
she was just thirteen? Reports say, the banter, the messages,
31:06
they quickly evolved into this highly possessive language from D
31:10
four VD possess of aw He allegedly wrote to Celeste
31:14
your mind.
31:14
Speaker 1: Now no running, You're mind now no running to a
31:18
thirteen year old.
31:19
Speaker 2: Yeah. And you pair that possessiveness with the alleged detailed
31:22
plans for restraint found later by Fisher, it paints a
31:25
potential picture of exploitation, of grooming that profoundly deepens the
31:30
case beyond just you know, a tragic party scene overdose.
31:33
Speaker 1: But we keep coming back to it. The forensic roadblocks.
31:37
They remain the single biggest threat to securing the most
31:39
serious charges, don't they.
31:41
Speaker 2: They really are the crux of the legal challenge. Decomposition,
31:45
especially in a confined warm space like a carfront in
31:49
the California summer, it just rapidly degrades evidence, crucial evidence.
31:54
Speaker 1: So the medical examiner might just throw up their hands.
31:57
Speaker 2: Experts have warned that's a real possibility. The me might
32:01
ultimately be forced to rule the cause of death undetermined,
32:05
just not enough evidence left to say for sure how
32:07
she died.
32:07
Speaker 1: And without that definitive cause, the.
32:09
Speaker 2: District attorney cannot ethically or maybe even legally, file homicide charges.
32:15
The burden of proof is too high.
32:16
Speaker 1: So if that happens, if it comes back undetermined, what's
32:20
the legal path forward? Then what can they charge?
32:22
Speaker 2: The focus shifts entirely. It shifts to those statutory crimes
32:26
that Fisher highlighted.
32:27
Speaker 1: Statutory rate.
32:28
Speaker 2: Statutory rate absolutely given Celes age fourteen during the core
32:31
period of the alleged relationship, that's potentially chargeable based on testimony,
32:36
digital evidence, neighbor sightings regardless of the cause of death,
32:39
and the concealed and accessory after the fact, or the
32:42
specific charge of concealment of human remains for removing the
32:46
body parking the model. Three those acts are felonies in themselves.
32:50
Speaker 1: So still serious charges, Still potential jail.
32:53
Speaker 2: Time, Oh, significant jail time, yes, but it falls far
32:57
short of murder, far short of the justice of the
32:59
Revs family, and probably the public is seeking for Celeste's
33:03
death itself. Yeah.
33:05
Speaker 1: And what's also fascinating, in a grim way, is how
33:07
this one individual tragedy it seems to have triggered this
33:11
much broader societal reckoning. This case isn't just about Defoor
33:15
ged Dae anymore, is it not?
33:16
Speaker 2: At all? It's become exhibit a for several perceived systemic
33:20
failures like what for example, Well, for instance, there's intense
33:23
scrutiny now being directed at California's runaway reporting laws and
33:26
child welfare.
33:27
Speaker 1: System because of those eleven calls.
33:29
Speaker 2: Exactly eleven calls to the Sheriff's office about Celeste running
33:32
away or needing a welfare check. And yet the system
33:35
couldn't or didn't interview effectively enough to prevent her death.
33:39
Speaker 1: So advocates are demanding change.
33:41
Speaker 2: Yes, demanding legislative reform, arguing that the maybe decentralized, maybe
33:48
overburdened system allowed Celeste to just fall through the cracks,
33:52
repeatedly prioritizing perhaps parental rights or stability over immediate child
33:58
safety in a high risk situation.
34:00
Speaker 1: And it goes beyond state law, doesn't it. It's hit
34:02
the national level too, it has.
34:04
Speaker 2: The case is giving huge momentum to child safety advocates
34:07
who are pushing for congressional hearings, and they're specifically targeting
34:10
social media.
34:11
Speaker 1: Platforms platforms like TikTok and discord, where Celest and D
34:14
four VD apparently connected precisely.
34:17
Speaker 2: The argument being put forward is that these platforms, maybe
34:19
through their algorithms, facilitate a kind of grooming process. They
34:22
can funnel vulnerable young users like Celeste directly into the
34:26
view into the dms of older individuals, potentially predators.
34:30
Speaker 1: So Celeste's story becomes the face of that particular digital danger.
34:34
Speaker 2: She has become the face of it. Yes, it connects.
34:36
D four vd's fame built on those very platforms directly
34:40
to her exploitation. Critics argue he leveraged a platform that
34:44
thrives on connecting people like him with potentially vulnerable fans
34:48
like Celeste. The celebrity is just the human endpoint of
34:52
what they see as a dangerous digital funnel.
34:55
Speaker 1: So as we stand today, late October twenty twenty five,
34:59
what is the current precarious status of this whole investigation?
35:03
Where do things rest right now?
35:05
Speaker 2: Okay, the entire weight of the investigation, especially regarding homicide charges,
35:10
it rests squarely on that pending toxicology report from the
35:13
medical examiner.
35:14
Speaker 1: Everything hangs on toxicology pretty much.
35:16
Speaker 2: If it provides clarity, say it finds a massive lethal
35:19
quantity of a specific substance like fentanyl, it guides the
35:22
da' strategy, maybe towards manslaughter, maybe towards murder, if they
35:26
can link it to the notes Fisher found.
35:27
Speaker 1: But if it's inconclusive, if it comes back undetermined.
35:31
Speaker 2: Then the focus shifts immediately and probably permanently, it shifts
35:34
to those guaranteed statutory crimes, the statutory rape, the concealment charges,
35:38
accessory after the fact charges, They likely camprove charges, They
35:42
almost certainly can prove based on the known evidence, but
35:46
the pressure on the DA George Gascon to pursue some
35:49
charges even if they are murder it's immense. Critics are
35:53
already watching closely, ready to cry celebrity favoritism if there
35:56
are delays or if the charges seem too lenient himself.
36:00
Speaker 1: Where is he and all this still silent, Still.
36:02
Speaker 2: An untouchable figure, seemingly tour canceled, assets transferred, and he
36:07
has effectively vanished from.
36:08
Speaker 1: Public view, vanished where.
36:10
Speaker 2: There are unconfirmed sightings, rumors suggesting he might be hiding
36:14
out in Europe, somewhere, insulated by his wealth, protected by
36:16
his manager's logistical network. Yeah, just waiting, waiting for the
36:20
legal dust to settle. His silence. Really, it speaks volumes
36:23
about the strategy, which is deny everything implicitly, to lay
36:26
as long as possible and let the lack of definitive
36:29
forensic clarity on the cause of death be his shield.
36:32
Speaker 1: It's just this entire saga. It really is such a stark,
36:35
awful tale about the catastrophic consequences when fame, power, money,
36:40
when all that collides with youth, vulnerability and neglect. It
36:44
truly is our final takeaway here, I think has to
36:46
highlight that core chilling tension. The contrast between this multi
36:53
million dollar superstars meticulously curated public image, shiny successful, and
37:00
the horrific, isolated darkness that was eventually found concealed in
37:04
the front of his car. It's almost unbelievable.
37:06
Speaker 2: The just supposition is jarring, and.
37:08
Speaker 1: The fact that it took a specialized private investigator, Steve
37:12
Fisher to apparently uncover such meticulous crucial evidence.
37:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, the industrial sheeting, the duct tape rolls those chilling
37:19
notes that disassembled.
37:20
Speaker 1: Saw evidence that the LAPD, for whatever reason, seemingly missed
37:24
in their official raid. That speaks volumes, doesn't it. It
37:27
suggests maybe a sophisticated, covered up, a high level logistical
37:30
operation designed perhaps to erase a child's existence, erase the
37:33
evidence from the official record.
37:35
Speaker 2: It certainly raises serious questions about the initial investigation and
37:38
the extent of the concealment effort.
37:40
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, you have the Reva's family just struggling, struggling towards
37:44
some kind of closure, memorializing Celeste with that plaque reading
37:47
forever fifteen, relying on a GoFundMe campaign just to get by.
37:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, the human cost is immense one hundred and fifty
37:52
thousand dollars raised, but it doesn't bring her back.
37:55
Speaker 1: No an accountability, real accountability. It requires truth, and that
37:59
true it remains frustratingly locked inside a forensic lab somewhere,
38:04
battling the relentless erosion of time and decomposition.
38:07
Speaker 2: The science might just not be there in the end.
38:09
Speaker 1: This D four VD saga, it really feels like a
38:14
profound requiem for innocence lost. It's a story about a
38:18
child who is desperately seeking validation, seeking connection, and appears
38:23
to have found ruthless exploitation instead, until that final word
38:27
comes down from the medical examiner, if it ever comes definitively,
38:32
my questions are just going to continue to linger, aren't
38:33
they Like that unforgettable, awful stench from the impound lot.
38:37
Speaker 2: They will what really killed Celestreevus.
38:39
Speaker 1: And maybe even more disturbingly, who let her fade away?
38:42
Who were the systemic actors, the individual actors who failed
38:45
to protect her as she disappeared into the blinding, dangerous
38:48
glare of fame for society? Maybe this case is a mirror,
38:52
a really uncomfortable mirror. It demands we ask ourselves in
38:56
this world so obsessed with celebrity, with fame, with the
38:58
next big thing. Who is protecting the invisible children, the
39:02
ones just out of frame.