Paranormal investigator Dan Rivera dies suddenly on ‘Annabelle' haunted doll tour

New York Post

4 days ago

A paranormal investigator died suddenly on Sunday night while touring with the infamous and supposedly haunted Annabelle doll, his tour organizers have announced.
Dan Rivera, a US Army veteran, was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on his sold-out 'Devils on the Run Tour' when firefighters and medics were rushed to his hotel, the Evening Sun reported.
CPR was performed but Rivera, 54, died, according to the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), where he was the lead investigator.
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His exact cause of death remains unclear.
4 Paranormal investigator Dan Rivera has died suddenly at the age of 54.
Instagram/@dan_rivera_nespr
Rivera was featured as a paranormal investigator on the Travel Channel's 'Most Haunted Places,' and served as producer for a number of other shows, including Netflix's '28 Days Haunted.'
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As part of his tour, Rivera was traveling around the US with other members of NESPR to show off Annabelle, the creepy and allegedly demonic doll.
His death came after he finished a three-day sellout stop in Gettysburg from Friday through Sunday, hosted by 'Ghostly Images of Gettysburg Tours' at the Soldiers National Orphanage, the NESPR said on Monday.
4 He was on tour with Annabelle, the supposedly haunted Raggedy Ann doll.
Facebook/Dan Rivera
Rivera, who is survived by his wife Sarah and four children, used social media, including viral TikToks, to bring the tour to international attention.
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Fellow paranormal investigator Ryan Buell paid tribute to Rivera.
'I have so many amazing memories with this guy. 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,' he wrote on TikTok.
4 Rivera had just completed a three-day sellout run in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, when he died.
Facebook/Dan Rivera
Annabelle, a Raggedy Ann doll, was tied to a series of supposed hauntings in 1970 after being given to Connecticut nursing student named Donna.
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Ed and Lorraine Warren, the famous paranormal investigators, claimed the doll physically lifted its own arms, followed people around the apartment, and would display other frightening and malicious behavior.
The couple also claimed Annabelle had stabbed a police officer and caused a car crash involving a priest.
4 He is survived by his wife and four children.
Facebook/Sarah Bond Rivera
A psychic medium claimed the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a dead 6-year-old girl called Annabelle, and the Warrens said it was demonically possessed and moved the doll to their museum in Connecticut.
The Warrens, who founded the NESPR in 1952, investigated a number of mysterious cases, including the Amityville Horror house on Long Island and the Annabelle doll.
Their stories inspired 'The Conjuring,' the highest-grossing horror movie series worldwide.
After Ed's death in 2006, followed by that of Lorraine in 2019, the Warrens' occult museum and the NESPR have been maintained in Connecticut by their daughter Judy and son-in-law, Tony Spera.
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In 2019, the museum closed to the public over zoning issues, and in recent years, they have toured around the US instead.
Back in mid-May, conspiracy theorists tried to link Annabelle to a prison breakout and devastating fire in Louisiana, pointing to the timing of the doll's tour stop in New Orleans.
But Spera stamped out the speculation, telling the Post that Annabelle was never 'out of our control' during the pit stop in the Big Easy.