Annabelle, the infamous haunted Raggedy Ann doll that took center stage in The Conjuring horror film franchise, recently made headlines after ghost hunter Dan Rivera died on July 13 during the sold-out “Devils on the Run” tour, which showcased Annabelle at various locations across the United States.
Rivera served as the lead investigator for the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), the paranormal group founded by renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. He played a key role in promoting the tour, producing several viral TikTok videos that gained widespread attention, especially after a rumor circulated online that the Annabelle doll had vanished from its glass case at the Warrens’ Occult Museum in Connecticut.
Rivera had been touring with Annabelle in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, when emergency crews were called to his hotel. Despite efforts to revive him with CPR, he passed away. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed and remains pending the results of an autopsy, which could take several months.
Inhuman Presence
This is not the first time Annabelle has been tied to mysterious events. Famously featured in The Conjuring films, the doll has carried a sinister reputation since 1970, when the Warrens first investigated it for demonic possession.
The doll’s original owners, Donna and Maggie, reported seeing Annabelle mysteriously move around their apartment and write messages claiming to be the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle Higgins looking for companionship. Although Donna and Maggie gave Annabelle permission to continue inhabiting the doll, the Warrens determined that the spirit was, in fact, a demonic presence.
“Once you open the door to the other realm, it’s very difficult to close,” Tony Spera, the current Occult Museum curator and the Warrens’ son-in-law, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “You don’t know what’s out there, so you must be careful with what you invite in.”
The Warrens built a custom-made glass case for Annabelle inside their museum, where she has reportedly been the cause of fatal encounters for those who dare to mock or challenge her. In one instance, Catholic exorcist Father Jason Bradford reportedly picked up the doll and threw it back in its chair, saying, “You’re just a ragdoll, Annabelle, you can’t hurt anyone.” Upon leaving and driving away, the exorcist narrowly survived an accident when his brakes failed at a busy intersection.
In another incident, a young man repeatedly banged on Annabelle’s glass case, daring the doll to scratch him. After Ed asked him to leave the museum, the man rode his motorcycle home with his girlfriend. While driving, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The man was killed instantly, but his girlfriend survived and remained hospitalized for over a year.
“The best way to not have anything bad happen to you is to not dabble,” Spera said in an interview with Cosmopolitan. “If you don’t dabble in occult practices at all, if you don’t use a Ouija board, if you don’t ask to see a ghost, if you don’t challenge something in a house — odds are you’re never gonna have a problem.”
