As a courtroom takes up the death of a Lake Elsinore teen, new data shows Riverside County’s runaway numbers climbing

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) Riverside County logged 5,373 reports of a missing child last year according to according to data released by the California Department of Justice. That's about 15 a day. Nearly all of those reports in 2025, were runaways 5,328.

The county had 4,385 such reports in 2024. The 2025 figure is 988 higher  an increase of close to 20%, according to a News Channel 3 review of the state data, the largest jump of any county in California.

Most of the state moved the other way. DOJ figures show reports statewide fell more than 4% last year.

Riverside County ranked fifth in the state in 2024. It now ranks second, behind only Los Angeles County, which has roughly four times the population.

The state counts reports, not children. A teenager who runs away four times appears in the data four times.

The numbers come as a Los Angeles courtroom takes up the death of a Lake Elsinore teenager who was one of those reports.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez was a 13-year-old seventh grader when her family first reported her missing in 2024. Sheriff's department records cited show she was reported missing three times that year.

Her remains were found in September 2025 in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer d4vd. She was 14.

A preliminary hearing for David Anthony Burke, the 21-year-old performer, entered its second day Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Judge Charlaine Olmedo will decide whether the case goes to trial.

Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, and mutilating a body.

His attorneys have said the evidence will show he did not kill her.

News Channel 3 sits down with Operation SafeHouse this afternoon. Watch tonight at 4, 5, 6 and 6:30 for the full story.

Anyone who needs help can reach SafeHouse of the Desert in Thousand Palms at (760) 343-3211.