LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (AP) — Just down the road from Celeste Rivas Hernandez’s house is the high school she would have attended, where a slew of college flags show the schools chosen by students after they left sleepy Lake Elsinore in Southern California.
Rivas Hernandez did not live long enough to study there. She was killed before her 15th birthday. An said she still had braces when she died.
Her brief life unfolded in this unassuming community with a population of more than 70,000 and a sprawling lake at the center of town that is home to a lively water sports scene.
Almost eight months have passed since her decomposed and dismembered body was discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to the . The 21-year-old musician, whose legal name is David Burke, was and other offenses in connection with the death and his relationship with Rivas Hernandez. He this week.
Little is known about teen's relationship with singer
Little is known about how the young girl entered Burke's orbit or what their relationship looked like. She grew up roughly 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the Hollywood Hills rental home where Burke lived and near where his car was abandoned with her body inside.
Their lives unfolded in contrasting environments. The street where Rivas Hernandez grew up has chain-link fences and small front yards. The street where Burke lived had security gates at nearly every driveway and privacy hedges interspersed between palm trees.
Rivas Hernandez's home has a white picket fence around the front yard and plants and flowers lining a walkway. Two rosary beads hang on the front door, and a painted rock nearby says “You Matter.”
More than half of the town's residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the latest census data. The streets are dotted with fast food chains and local businesses.
Several neighbors on the family's street and other Lake Elsinore residents said they did not personally know the family or Rivas Hernandez and that the family tended to keep to themselves. Even the neighbor who set up a sprawling memorial in her honor, Kayleigh Cortez, said she did not know her.
Seventh grader was reported missing in 2024
Rivas Hernandez was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family reported her missing in 2024. Authorities said she had run away, and several residents remembered seeing flyers with her photo around town when she was missing.
“I didn’t know her personally, but she was a girl with a normal life. She had friends at school,” Elizabeth Davalos, a Lake Elsinore resident, said in Spanish.
Her parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, issued a statement Tuesday through their attorney that marked the first time they publicly commented on the case or their daughter. They described her as “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”
“Every Friday night was movie night, and we spent wonderful times together,” the statement said. “We love her very much, and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”
Some neighbors declined to be interviewed, citing fatigue from the media attention that has followed the case.
Town is a tight-knit community
Katie Favreau, a local business owner and longtime Lake Elsinore resident, said the town is a tight-knit, supportive community. Her appliance repair shop is a few doors down from where Hernandez grew up, but Faverau did not know her or her family.
“It’s just a really good, old-fashioned place to live. It’s like small towns in the Midwest. It’s just stuck in the middle of Southern California instead,” Favreau said. “If somebody is in need in this town, the whole town will rally.”
Favreau said the community has been supportive of Rivas Hernandez's family, and the majority of residents respect their privacy and grief. Conversations about the young girl's life and death are now “sporadic,” she said.
The memorial honoring Hernandez's memory showed signs of recent visitors this week, with fresh flowers mixed in with ones that had wilted long ago. There was an Easter bunny mixed in with a plush Hello Kitty toy that appeared to have been there for months.
Artificial tea candles spell out Celeste at the base of a sign that says “Justice for Celeste Rivas” and has handwritten notes from friends and mourners. Many included Bible verses or wishes that she is now at peace.
“God looked around his garden. He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest," one note read. "God's garden is beautiful, he always takes the best.”
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Associated Press journalists Leslie Ambriz and Damian Dovarganes in Lake Elsinore, California, and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
