Haunted by Annabelle? Paranormal investigator dies after touring with ‘demonic' doll
Rivera had just completed a sold-out, three-day stop in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of his 'Devils on the Run Tour' when he was found unresponsive in his hotel room, New York Post reported. According to The Evening Sun, firefighters and medics rushed to the scene after receiving a report of CPR in progress. Despite emergency efforts, Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene.
The New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), where Rivera served as lead investigator, confirmed his death on Monday. 'His exact cause of death remains unclear,' the group stated. Authorities have said the incident did not appear suspicious, but a formal investigation is ongoing.
Rivera was widely known in the paranormal community for his work on the Travel Channel's Most Haunted Places and as a producer on Netflix's 28 Days Haunted. He used social media, particularly viral TikToks, to bring new audiences into the world of paranormal research and the legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
As part of the NESPR team, Rivera had been touring the US with the original Annabelle doll — a Raggedy Ann figure famously tied to a string of supernatural claims dating back to the 1970s. The Warrens, pioneers in the field of paranormal investigation and founders of NESPR, alleged that the doll had physically moved on its own, stalked people, and even caused violent accidents, including a stabbing and a car crash involving a priest.
Annabelle was initially gifted to a nursing student in Connecticut named Donna, who first reported the disturbing activity. A psychic medium later claimed the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a six-year-old girl named Annabelle, while the Warrens concluded it was actually demonically possessed. It now resides in the Warrens' occult museum in Connecticut, which has been closed to the public since 2019 due to zoning issues.
Tony Spera, the Warrens' son-in-law and current caretaker of their legacy, continues to bring the doll on tour across the US. Rivera was one of the key figures in this travelling exhibit, helping to reintroduce the doll's chilling lore to younger generations.
'I have so many amazing memories with this guy,' fellow paranormal investigator Ryan Buell wrote in a tribute on TikTok. 'Just as recently as two months ago, we traveled around the country and introduced a whole new generation to Ed and Lorraine Warren's legacy.'
Rivera is survived by his wife, Sarah, and their four children.
The Annabelle doll, now world-famous through 'The Conjuring' film universe — the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time — has continued to stoke public fascination. Earlier this year, conspiracy theorists falsely linked the doll to a prison breakout and a fire in Louisiana after it passed through New Orleans. Spera swiftly dismissed the rumours, telling The Post that the doll had never been 'out of our control.'
Despite its fearsome reputation, the Warrens maintained that the doll was securely locked away in a blessed container — and warned against treating it as a harmless curiosity.
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