Crime

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is speaking out about being muzzled for months in the Celeste Rivas murder case, TMZ has learned.

The M.E. says Celeste's cause and manner of death was determined way back on Dec. 9 but the information was only made public on Wednesday because there was a prior court order initiated by the LAPD that had been preventing them from releasing their findings.

In a statement, Dr. Odey Ukpo, says ... "After several months, I am grateful this information can now be released, not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss. It is unfathomable they have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter."

"The transparency of the information contained in our findings and reports is essential for empowering the community to make informed changes to affectively reduce fear and allowing the community to take informed action," he added. "Making the Department’s information publicly available is not just about accountability, it is about social justice and prevention."

Prosecutors say Jonathan Rinderknecht -- the man who allegedly started the horrific Pacific Palisades Fire -- shouldn't be allowed to introduce evidence and argue about the Los Angeles Fire Department's response to the wildfires to get himself out of trouble.

Here's the deal ... prosecutors say Rinderknecht's attorneys are trying to bring up alleged incidents of the department's supposed ineptitude to protect their client and reframe the case around the response to the January 2025 fire to distract from his alleged role in starting it.

One example Rinderknecht is arguing is that one member of the fire department apparently wasn't alarmed by seeing smoke. But prosecutors say brush fires commonly smolder after firefighters put them out ... something they say this particular firefighter knew, and explains the lack of concern.

Prosecutors list a series of examples they say are just like this ... insisting Rinderknecht's attorneys are grasping at straws and attempting to "transform his trial into a misguided and much lengthier trial about the LAFD."

"Unexpected" star Bella Vaughn's mom Falen has broken her silence after being arrested this week in Arkansas ... and it sounds like she's ready to fight the charges.

Kevin Hickey, Falen's lawyer, tells TMZ ... his client denies any wrongdoing ... and she plans to plead not guilty when she is scheduled to appear in court.

As we reported, FV was arrested on Monday for disorderly conduct and disrupting governmental operations. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Celeste Rivas' cause of death has just been revealed ... and the medical examiner in Los Angeles says she was killed by multiple penetrating injuries with unspecified objects, and her death was ruled a homicide.

The M.E. says there are "2 penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries. The wound -- [3/4 inch length and 1.5 inches deep] -- on the upper abdomen penetrates the liver, and the wound on the left chest -- [9/16 inch length and 2 inches deep] penetrates one of the left intercostal spaces, with disruption of the adjacent ribs' cortical surfaces."

It's interesting that the M.E. uses the word "may," which is something the defense will jump on.

It should also be noted that the M.E. says there were "multiple superficial linear abrasions on the right dorsal hand." It does not say whether or not these could be defensive wounds.

The M.E. also says that her left ring and pinky fingers were amputated, but the body diagram shows that her right pointer finger with the "Shhh" tattoo was intact.

Madonna’s been sounding the alarm over her missing wardrobe -- and TMZ’s now got the full list of what went missing ... including a lavender corset worth around $25K that she rocked during her epic performance with Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella last weekend.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the items -- originally reported missing by Madonna’s tour manager, Lindsey -- also include lavender gloves, purple trunks, thigh-highs, a slit-and-teddy combo, and a purple leather jacket.

That’s not all. A pink sequin jacket, pink gloves, pink thigh-highs, plus a Moschino corset were also reported missing -- with most of the pieces said to be archival.

A former beauty queen from Mexico was found shot to death in her apartment ... and, according to local reports, authorities are looking into two of her family members.

Carolina Flores Gomez was found with a gunshot wound to her head Wednesday, April 15, according to Reporte Indigo.

Authorities told the outlet they believed Gomez was killed Wednesday.

Prosecutors trying "American Idol" alum Caleb Flynn for murder say they expect to put his daughters on the witness stand to ask them about the night their father allegedly shot their mother to death inside their home.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors in Ohio say they anticipate multiple children testifying in Caleb's upcoming murder trial. We've also seen the witness list, and there are some redacted names.

As we previously reported, Caleb's two daughters were home the night their mother was murdered ... and prosecutors say Caleb pulled the trigger while his kids were in the other room.

D4vd is living a far different life than he was a week ago ... trading his $15,000 a month L.A. rental for a cold jail cell with strict rules.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the musician, charged with murdering Celeste Rivas, is being held in a segregated single cell. 

D4vd is escorted from his cell to the shower, which he is allowed every other day. The singer is only allowed to make phone calls on the days he is allowed a shower.

Sources tell TMZ that D4vd is allowed recreation time with fresh air, but only 3 hours per week. He has no contact with other inmates during rec time. 

Crocodile hunters may be all the rage Down Under ... but alligator hunters are born and bred in Florida -- with the state's cops being some of the best around.

The West Palm Beach Police Department shared a video Tuesday of an officer tangling with a reptile in a parking lot ... kicking off with the cop holding tightly onto the animal's snout -- before losing his grip.

Watch the clip ... faced with the sinister grin of his foe, the officer lifts up under its chin and tries again. When the alligator again slips away, he smacks it on the head a couple times to get it to look up ... before he and a partner are able to slap some tape around its jaws to muzzle it.

In the caption, the West Palm Beach Police Department joked officers need to be “ready for anything, even when it has scales and a serious attitude.”

The Houston Police Department is investigating an officer who is going viral after apparently using a series of racial slurs in a shocking social media video.

Officer Ashley Gonzalez has been relieved of duty pending the results of an investigation, according to Click2Houston.com ... with HPD saying they are looking into a video where a woman, who is reportedly Gonzalez, is telling a story about her wallet almost being snatched.

In the video, the woman says the guy who tried to take her wallet was Black ... and she called him the n-word after she says she caught him.

A young PBS employee’s life was cut short in a brutal shooting -- and cops say the man behind it was someone she once loved and trusted.

Ivy Unruh -- a 25-year-old engineer for PBS Kansas and a U.S. Marine veteran -- was gunned down outside her Wichita apartment early Friday morning ... allegedly by her estranged husband.

Police say Unruh was shot in the upper body around 8 AM and rushed to the hospital in critical condition. She fought for days, but ultimately died Monday from her injuries.

29-year-old Joshua Orlando -- identified as her estranged husband -- called 911 to report the shooting himself, according to the Wichita Police Department. When officers arrived, they arrested him at the scene and recovered a firearm.

Elizabeth Smart has gone from kidnap victim to child safety advocate — and now to professional bodybuilder with the mother of 3 looking absolutely stunning!

Smart posted an Instagram message Tuesday with a photo of herself wearing a bikini while showing off her perfectly sculpted body during a bodybuilding competition last weekend.

In her message, Smart said it would shock many of us to learn that she has now competed in a total of 4 bodybuilding competitions. She said she was frightened at first to post her muscle pics, thinking she would not be taken seriously or perceived as someone unworthy to continue helping survivors like herself. 

Joe Exotic is back in lockdown and this time it's over social media posts ... TMZ has learned.

The "Tiger King" star's attorney, Peter Ticktin, tells TMZ ... Joe has been placed in the Special Housing Unit at his federal prison in Texas since last week. According to Ticktin, Joe was disciplined after social media posts were shared online on his behalf ... though it's unclear if one specific message triggered the move or if it was a buildup.

As Ticktin puts it ... "The prison decided not to like his posts."

Joe is currently being held in isolation, and while his legal team hopes he'll be released within 15 days, there are no guarantees, and inmates aren't always told when they're getting out. Ticktin says he hasn't been able to speak with Joe since he was moved to SHU.

Celeste Rivas' family was devastated and exhausted after D4vd's first court appearance in his murder case ... which is why they scrapped plans to address the media for the first time since he was charged with killing her.

The family was supposed to hold court Monday outside the Hall of Justice in Downtown Los Angeles and give a statement through their lawyer ... but it never happened ... and now we know why.

Patrick Steinfeld, who is representing the family, tells TMZ ... "The Rivas Hernandez family are very private individuals who were overwhelmed by the day’s events. They were concerned for their safety when they heard about the bomb threat. They were intimidated by the onslaught of reporters and the aggressiveness of some camera people."

D4vd was heavily focused on promoting his new album around the time prosecutors say 14-year-old Celeste Rivas was last seen at his home.

TMZ has combed through D4vd's social media pages around the date of April 23, 2025 ... the same day prosecutors alleged D4vd invited Celeste to his rental home in the Hollywood Hills.

D4vd's TikTok page features a few posts on April 23 and in the following days ... and they're all focused solely on the release of his debut studio album, "Withered."

There have been several deaths and disappearances of scientists and government workers in the past few years ... and now the FBI is looking into whether or not these cases are linked, NBC News reports.

The House Oversight Committee announced Monday they're wondering if there's a possible connection between at least 10 people who have died or gone missing since 2023.

The Committee says two of them are linked to Los Alamos National Laboratory, and two of them are affiliated with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

And multiple disappearances involve the person in question leaving their phones behind.

These high-profile cases have even reached President Donald Trump, who told reporters Thursday it's "pretty serious stuff … hopefully a coincidence, or whatever you want to call it."

The president said we'll know in the next week and a half whether or not it's random.

But for now, we're breaking down each mysterious case.

Air Force Major General William "Neil" McCasland was reported missing by his wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, after he vanished from his home in Albuquerque, NM on February 27, 2026.

Neil spent his final two years in the USAF as a commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which many people believe contains evidence of aliens from a mysterious 1947 crash in Roswell, NM.

In the 911 call reporting his disappearance, Susan told the dispatcher she had "some indication that he planned not to be found."

Police say he left his phone and glasses at home, and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office reported a .38-caliber revolver was missing ... along with his hiking boots and wallet.

Steven Garcia was reported missing on August 28, 2025, last seen in Albuquerque, NM, wearing a green camo shirt and glasses.

According to a flier posted to the ALERT NEW MEXICO Facebook Group, he left his home with a handgun and "may be a danger to himself."

The Hill reports Steven was a property custodian with top security clearance at Kansas City National Security Campus, which manufactures "80 percent of non-nuclear components that go into the nuclear stockpile," according to the KCNSC website.

Monica Jacinto Reza went missing on June 22, 2025 while hiking in the Mount Waterman area of the San Gabriel Mountains in California, according to the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station.

According to SpaceNews, Monica is a scientist who, in the '90s, helped invent a "nickel-based superalloy" called Mondaloy to be used in rocket engines. The article notes she was working at Aerojet Rocketdyne at the time.

The press release from the House Oversight Committee on Monday said she worked as the director of NASA Lab's Materials Processing Group, and had previously worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The New York Post reports the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department searched for months, but never found her.

Melissa Casias went missing on June 26, 2025. Her husband, Mark, told Dateline she dropped him off at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where they both worked.

Their daughter, Sierra, told "Dateline" she heard her mom return home a little after 7:30 AM. When Sierra asked what she was doing back, Melissa said she had forgotten her badge, but ultimately told her daughter she was going to "either work from home or call out for the day."

Sierra then went to work at a cafe -- noting her mom brought her a sandwich a little before 1 PM ... and police confirmed they spoke then. She said her mom's behavior "wasn't out of the ordinary" ... but that was the last time she saw her.

Meanwhile, Mark told "Dateline" he got a concerned call from Melissa's boss ... who said she wasn't at work. When he was reportedly unable to reach his wife, Mark asked Sierra to contact her ... since they'd spoken recently.

Sierra says she texted her mom and the message was delivered, telling "Dateline" ... "I assumed that she was just gonna call him."

New Mexico State Police PIO Sergeant Ricardo Breceda told "Dateline" Melissa was last seen around 2:18 PM, when an acquaintance saw her walking along the NM 518 state highway ... which was also captured on nearby surveillance cameras.

According to "Dateline" ... Mark started frantically calling Sierra around that time because he still hadn't heard from Melissa. Sierra told "Dateline" when she texted her mom again, the message didn't deliver.

When she got home later that afternoon, Sierra told "Dateline" Melissa had left her keys and work phone on the kitchen table.

According to her LinkedIn ... Melissa had been an administrative assistant at LANL since March 2023. The lab "addresses national security challenges by advancing breakthroughs in science and technology" ... according to its website.

Mark told "Dateline" he "can’t grasp" Melissa's disappearance, saying ... "I don’t know. I can’t figure it out."

Anthony Chavez also worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico -- multiple outlets report -- and vanished just a month before Casias did.

According to the Los Alamos County Police Department, Anthony was reported missing on May 8, 2025.

In a Facebook post ... the LACPD said he is "not believed to be endangered," but his friends and family say his disappearance is "out of character."

It's unclear what Anthony's job at LANL entailed.

Frank Maiwald -- a scientist with experience in space research -- died on July 4, 2024 at the age of 61, according to his obituary.

The memorial says Frank spent years at JPL managing the development and delivery of several NASA instruments -- the SBG-VSWIR instrument and instruments for the AMR-C program.

According to the obit ... Frank worked on a bunch of other projects and has won multiple JPL and NASA awards.

There's no mention of his cause of death.

MIT professor Nuno Loureiro was shot in his home in Brookline, MA on December 17, 2025, and died at the hospital the following morning ... according to CBS News.

In an obituary, MIT confirmed Nuno was a professor of nuclear science and engineering, as well as a professor of physics.

MIT says Nuno was a "lauded theoretical physicist and fusion scientist," and his research "addressed complex problems lurking at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe."

According to CBS News, the suspect in Nuno's murder was identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente ... who had opened fire at Brown University just days before.

CBS News reports Valente was found dead in New Hampshire later that week ... and had died after shooting himself in the head, according to his autopsy.

No word on what his motive was.

Scientist Carl Grillmair was shot and killed on February 16, 2026 on his porch in Llano, CA in Antelope Valley ... according to Pasadena Now.

In an obituary, CalTech confirmed Carl was an astronomer for their Infrared Processing & Analysis Center. According to its website ... IPAC works closely with NASA and JPL to "advance exploration of our Universe."

Pasadena Now reports 29-year-old Freddy Snyder was charged with the murder and is set to be arraigned April 29.

No motive has been published.

The body of Jason Thomas -- who worked for the Novartis biomedical research institute -- was found in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026 ... three months after he had been reported missing.

According to a news release from the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, Jason's wife reported him missing to Wakefield Police on December 13, 2025 ... because he didn't come home the night before.

Jason was a senior investigator with Novartis, according to his Linkedin profile.

The D.A.'s office says in the release that the medical examiner hasn't determined cause of death yet ... but authorities are ruling out foul play.

Scientist Michael David Hicks died on July 30, 2023 ... according to an obituary written by the American Astronomical Society.

The memorial says Michael was 59 years old and living in Sunland, in L.A., at the time. It says Michael worked as a research scientist with JPL, where he worked on projects about asteroids and deep space.