Handler Dies, Jailbreak And Fire Follow: Haunted Annabelle Doll Sparks New Panic
Dan Rivera, handler of the doll during the "Devils on the Run" paranormal exhibit, was found dead in his hotel room under mysterious circumstances this week. Rivera, a cult figure in the ghost-hunting world, had been touring with Annabelle, a supposedly demon-possessed Raggedy Ann doll made famous by The Conjuring films.
The tour, which began in May, stopped in New Orleans just days before a fire destroyed the historic Nottoway Plantation and ten inmates escaped from a nearby jail. Rumours quickly swirled that Annabelle had gone missing and may have been connected to the disasters.
However, Tony Spera, owner of the Warren Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, refuted these claims.
"You know, it's easy for rumours to start. The fact of the matter is that doll was never out of our sight, never out of our control," Spera told NBC News this week. "It's in a protective case and many precautions were taken to make it safe."
Paranormal investigator Ryan Buell supported this by posting a video from the museum on May 24, showing Annabelle secured behind him.
Despite these reassurances, conspiracy theories and fear have spread rapidly online. Ghost City Tours founder Tim Nealon said, "I didn't realise people were actually taking this seriously."
Annabelle's legend traces back to the 1970s, when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren claimed it was used by a demonic entity to manipulate and harm humans. Plans for the doll's future appearances remain uncertain following Rivera's death.
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India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
Paranormal Veteran Found Dead After Haunted Tour – Annabelle Doll Vanishes, Mystery Deepens
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Dan Rivera knew what it meant to walk into places most people avoid. He had stood still in rooms where the air never quite felt empty, stepped carefully across floorboards that remembered too much and sat in silence where children once wept. Ghost stories were not stories to him. They were testimonies. On the night of July 13, Dan finished another tour. It was a full house. The 'Devils on the Run' had stopped at the old Soldiers National Orphanage, a place layered in loss. He spoke with care, as he always did, about Annabelle – the doll many believe never truly sleeps. People listened and laughed. Some looked over their shoulders. Then Dan said goodnight and walked away into the Gettysburg dark. He never made it to morning. Hours later, hotel workers unlocked his door. Dan was alone. He was not breathing. Paramedics came. The Pennsylvania State Police arrived. Nothing looked out of place. No blood. No broken glass. Just quiet. And something was missing. The doll. Coroner Francis Dutrow, the first official on the scene, confirmed what people had already begun whispering online. 'The Annabelle doll was not in the room when I arrived. It had never been in there,' he said. That absence carried weight. Dan had been touring with Annabelle. He had spoken about her only hours earlier. She was part of his work, his warnings and his purpose. But in the room where he died, she was gone. The New England Society for Psychic Research, the group Dan had worked with for more than a decade, tried to calm the storm of speculation. 'She is safely secured,' they said. But that statement only opened more questions. When did she leave? Who took her? Why was not she there? Beneath NESPR's online tribute to Dan, someone wrote asked, 'What happened in that room?' Annabelle's story goes back further than most know. Not born from film scripts, but from a small apartment in Connecticut in 1968. A nursing student received the doll as a gift. She kept it in her home. Then things began to move. The girl brought in a medium. The answer – a child named Annabelle lived inside the doll. But the Warrens, Ed and Lorraine, felt something colder. They did not call it a haunting. They called it a possession. The doll was locked behind glass in their museum. A warning written above it, 'Do Not Touch.' But Annabelle never really stayed quiet. She appeared on movie posters. Inspired entire horror franchises. Gathered followers, skeptics and believers. Dan Rivera spent years carrying her story, reminding people that what scares us often wants to be heard. Dan was not in this for fame. He was a veteran. A husband. A father. He joined the NESPR to help people who were afraid in their own homes. To offer answers where others only gave silence. He became a familiar face on paranormal shows. Netflix's '28 Days Haunted'. Travel Channel's 'Most Haunted Places'. But those who knew him say his real gift was offline, in basements, living rooms and abandoned schools, where families waited for peace. 'He always listened first. He never treated fear like fiction,' the NESPR said. Ryan Buell, host of 'Paranormal State', described Dan as 'thoughtful, committed and kind'. A man who had seen shadows but always carried light. That final day, Dan did not feel well. He told his colleagues he would be heading back early. The tour went on. He quietly stepped away. By nightfall, he was gone. The autopsy report will take time, maybe two months. So far, no signs point to foul play. No evidence of anything unnatural. But the timing is impossible to ignore. He had spent his night talking about a cursed object. The doll vanished. Then he died. Dan's death has left a hole, not just in his team, but in the community that followed his work. The NESPR says their tours will continue, now in his name. But for those who stood with him in old theatres, abandoned hospitals and war-touched orphanages, there is something they cannot stop thinking about. A man devoted to unmasking fear now gone. A doll that should have been locked away now unaccounted for. Dan Rivera leaves behind his wife, his children and years of unanswered questions. He followed the stories that no one else dared to. He believed people when they said they were scared. He chased shadows with steady hands. Now, as people search for meaning, all that remains is silence and a locked door. And somewhere, once again, Annabelle is missing.
NDTV
5 hours ago
- NDTV
"Demonic" Annabelle Doll Missing From Hotel Room Where Paranormal Investigator Found Dead: Report
The Annabelle doll, a supposedly haunted relic, was found missing from paranormal investigator Dan Rivera's hotel room after his death in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, People reported. The 54-year-old was found dead in his hotel room on July 13 after leading a sold-out ghost tour called "Devils on the Run" at the Soldiers National Orphanage, which featured the Annabelle doll. The cause of death remains unknown, with autopsy results expected in eight to ten weeks. However, the authorities confirmed that Rivera's death didn't appear suspicious, and he was found alone in his hotel room. Adams County Coroner Francis Dutrow told People Friday that the doll wasn't in the room when first responders found Rivera. Here's what we know about the Annabelle doll The Annabelle doll is believed to be haunted and has been linked to a series of paranormal activities since the 1970s. According to the New England Society for Psychic Research's website, the doll was gifted to a student nurse. She brought it home, where she lived with her roommate in 1968. "Almost immediately, the roommates noticed strange occurrences with the doll and they were introduced to a medium who told them the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle," the organisation wrote. "The two roommates tried to accept the doll's spirit and please it only to have it reciprocate maliciousness and violent intent." Ed and Lorraine Warren, renowned paranormal investigators, claimed the doll was "demonically possessed". The doll also inspired the horror film franchise The Conjuring. What are the conspiracy theories? Conspiracy theorists have linked Rivera's death to the Annabelle doll, despite police statements that nothing unusual or suspicious was found at the scene. Some fans and followers are also speculating about the doll's curse, while others are paying tribute to Rivera's work and legacy. In a report shared on July 16, the Pennsylvania State Police said, "Members from PSP Gettysburg responded to a hotel in Straban Township, Adams County for a report of a deceased [man]." "The decedent was discovered in his hotel room by workers. Nothing unusual or suspicious was observed at the scene." Despite Rivera's death, the New England Society for Psychic Research plans to continue their supernatural tour, honouring Rivera's memory.
Economic Times
8 hours ago
- Economic Times
Annabelle doll disappears after investigator touring with it dies suddenly. What happened in that hotel room?
Dan Rivera Dies in Hotel Room After Haunted Tour Featuring Annabelle Doll (Image Source: Wikipedia) In a development that has unsettled both skeptics and believers in the supernatural, paranormal investigator and U.S. Army veteran Dan Rivera was found dead in his hotel room in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just hours after leading a sold-out ghost tour. The 54-year-old had been traveling across the United States as part of the 'Devils on the Run Tour,' a paranormal exhibition that featured the infamous Annabelle doll — a figure long associated with alleged demonic was discovered unresponsive on Sunday night, July 13, in a Straban Township hotel, according to Adams County Coroner Francis Dutrow, who spoke to People magazine . Officials confirmed that Rivera was alone in the room and that no foul play or suspicious circumstances were observed at the scene. The cause of death remains undetermined, pending autopsy results which could take several weeks. What has added to the mystery is the absence of the Annabelle doll, which Rivera had been showcasing as part of his tour. First responders noted the doll was not in the room at the time his body was found. Dutrow explicitly stated that 'there was no Annabelle doll present' when emergency personnel Annabelle doll, which inspired The Conjuring film franchise, has long been at the center of supernatural folklore. As per New York Post , originally given to a nursing student named Donna in 1970, the Raggedy Ann-style toy was soon linked to strange and disturbing events. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who founded the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) in 1952, claimed the doll exhibited autonomous movements, followed people around, and even attacked a police officer. It was eventually moved to the Warrens' Occult Museum in Connecticut for safekeeping.A psychic medium once suggested the doll was possessed by the spirit of a six-year-old girl named Annabelle. Over time, the doll has become a notorious object in paranormal circles, often blamed for unexplained incidents and accidents involving those who came into contact with there is no official evidence linking Rivera's death to the doll, speculation has been rampant on social media. Conspiracy theorists have drawn connections between Rivera's sudden demise and the supposedly cursed object, despite state police confirming that 'nothing unusual or suspicious' was found during their had been a prominent figure in the paranormal field, with appearances on the Travel Channel's Most Haunted Places and production credits on Netflix's 28 Days Haunted. He was touring with NESPR — the organization founded by the Warrens — to educate audiences about the doll's history and the broader world of the the shock surrounding Rivera's death, NESPR has announced that the tour will continue. In a public statement, the organization said Rivera would have wanted the mission to go on, emphasizing his dedication to sharing knowledge and preserving the legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren. 'We will carry his spirit in everything we do,' the group stated, underlining their intent to honor Rivera's contributions to the field, as per New York Post . Meanwhile, tributes have poured in from colleagues and fans, including fellow paranormal investigator Ryan Buell, who shared his memories of Rivera and praised his role in introducing a new generation to the Warrens' legacy.
