Connecticut paranormal investigator, 54, dies while on tour with Annabelle, said to be most haunted doll

The sudden death of a 54-year-old man who was on tour with Annabelle, said to be the world’s most haunted doll, is being mourned by the paranormal world.

Dan Rivera was the lead investigator for the New England Society for Psychic Research or N.E.S.P.R., an organization founded by famed, late Connecticut paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Rivera was known for his passion in defending others against dark forces.

“It is with deep sadness that Tony, Wade, and I share the sudden passing of our close friend and partner, Dan Rivera,” said a post on the organization’s Facebook page.

“We are heartbroken and still processing this loss. Dan truly believed in sharing his experiences and educating people on the paranormal. His kindness and passion touched everyone who knew him. Thank you for your support and kind thoughts during this difficult time.”

Rivera says in a video online that he and Lorraine Warren had an instant connection when they met on separate paranormal investigations years ago. He wound up working for the Warrens and said he and Lorraine had a special bond until her death.

Rivera is said to have been on a nationwide tour with the scary Raggedy Ann doll that has been said to make bad things happen to people who anger her.

They were in Gettysburg, Pa. on the “Devils on the Run Tour,” when medics were called to aid Rivera. His cause of death is pending. Speculation is already whirling online about his death.

Annabelle draws huge crowds wherever she goes because of all the mystery and fear surrounding anecdotal stories about her.

Annabelle is displayed in a locked glass case with crucifixes attached, the case covered with Holy Water infused lacquer.

Visitors are always told to heed the warning on the case not to touch.

Annabelle is one of the most famous items from the Warrens’ Occult Museum collection.

Ed and Lorraine Warren determined during an investigation that Annabelle is inhabited by an “inhuman spirit.”

The doll got so rambunctious during the ride to the Warren’s home in Monroe from an investigation site, that Ed Warren had to sprinkle her with holy water, the late Lorraine Warren has said.

A man who once ignored the warnings and taunted the doll at the museum, died in a motorcycle crash on the way home, as the story claims.

There are countless stories of Annabelle wreaking havoc.

The real Annabelle doll is an innocent-looking old-fashioned Raggedy Ann doll. The doll used in the Annabelle movies is a frightening-looking porcelain doll.

The Warrens took control of Annabelle during an investigation in the 1970s after a young Hartford nurse received the doll as a gift from her mother and numerous creepy things occurred.

Later, the nurse claimed the doll attacked her friend. She held a séance and was told the doll held the ghost of a girl named Annabelle. The nurse called a priest. The priest told her to call the Warrens.

The Warrens decided “there was something evil in that doll,” their son-in-law Tony Spera and now leader of their organization has said.

The nurse called the priest to do an exorcism on the house and bless the nurse and her roommate.

“They said, ‘We don’t want the doll anymore.’ The Warrens took it back to their museum” in Monroe, Spera has said.

It all started when, “One day the nurse came home and thought, I could have sworn I put that doll on the couch. It was in the bedroom. Then it happened more,” Spera has said. “One day she was sitting at the breakfast nook with the doll and suddenly the doll’s arms moved.”

The Warrens came to investigate and determined the doll itself was not possessed, but manipulated by an inhuman presence, they have said.

The Warrens are also famous for their investigation of a haunted house in Amityville, NY, and the 1980s Connecticut poltergeist case based on a Warren case, in which demonic possession was used unsuccessfully as a defense in a murder trial.

Spera has said of all the items in the museum, Annabelle scared him most.

Spera one regaled young filmmakers from Glastonbury with stories about Annabelle and the misfortune that came of museum goers who disobeyed the rules and touched or defied the doll on display, a visiting priest among them.

The Occult Museum in Monroe is no longer open to the public, but some items, including Annabelle, are brought to other locations for paranormal events. Annabelle has been displayed at Mohegan Sun.

The late Lorraine Warren has said the power of her Catholic faith has gotten her out of frightening situations because she uses goodness to fight the demonic. Holy water was a frequent tool used by the Warrens.

Other highlights of the museum include Ouija boards, Voodoo dolls, objects used in satanic rituals, a coffin that a 17-year-old boy allegedly slept in before stalking women at night and artifacts from a plane that crashed into the Florida Everglades, according to Courant archives.

The young filmmaker from Glastonbury, Michael Gilbertie, has said he had nightmares of the movie going wrong and of Annabelle being at the foot of his bed, rendering Gilbertie unable to move.

“Thankfully none of those nightmares came true,” Gilbertie said in 2023. “I’ve seen too many crazy and ghostly things in my life to not believe.”

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