A paranormal investigator touring the United States with the world-famous Annabelle doll died “unexpectedly” at 54 on Sunday.
Dan Rivera’s death came a day after an Evening Sun reporter described him as “full of charisma” when he led a sold-out event displaying the supposedly cursed Annabelle doll, which is the subject of Hollywood’s The Conjuring horror series.
Officials have not said how Rivera died. His passing was confirmed by the New England Society for Psychic Research, where he was its lead paranormal investigator.
First responders conducted CPR on a man of Rivera’s age at a hotel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was staying, according to police scanner archives, according to the Evening Sun. The paper described his passing as unexpected.
Rivera, a father and U.S. Army veteran, had traveled around the U.S. with the haunted doll to put on shows for horror fans. His organization said he sold out all three of his showings—on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—over the weekend.
The Annabelle doll was housed for years by Ed and Lorraine Warren, a married couple of paranormal investigators. They kept the Raggedy Ann doll in a locked box at the Warren’s Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut, until it closed in 2019, the same year Lorraine died at the age of 92.
The couple claimed that the doll was “inhabited by an inhuman spirit” and warned that it should not be interfered with.
Lorraine told an event in 2014 that a museum-goer who taunted the doll had died in a motorcycle crash shortly after he was told to leave the museum, according to the New Haven Register.
Rivera, in addition to touring with Annabelle, also appeared as an expert on the Travel Channel’s Most Haunted Places and served as a producer for the paranormal Netflix series 28 Days Haunted. The Evening Sun reported that he was mentored by Lorraine.
“I can’t believe you’re gone,” wrote Holly Johnson, tagging Rivera on Instagram. “The paranormal community has lost a great person… You will surely be missed.”
Chris Gilloren, a fellow paranormal investigator who attended Rivera’s final event, shared a tribute as well.
“Dan truly believed in sharing his experiences and educating people on the paranormal,” he said. “His kindness and passion touched everyone who knew him.”
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