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Renowned paranormal investigator Dan Rivera passed away in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the night of July 13, 2025. He was traveling with the infamous and seemingly haunted Raggedy Ann doll called Annabelle, as part of his “Devils on the Run” tour. Rivera was 54.
The official cause of death remains undisclosed as of writing, and an official autopsy will be conducted. However, Merca20.com reported that Dan allegedly died of a sudden cardiorespiratory arrest.
According to the New York Post, emergency responders were called to his hotel room. However, despite their CPR efforts, Rivera could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene. Tour organizers confirmed the news to the outlet.
In the wake of his demise, social media users are having diverse reactions. For instance, X user @thedemigod99 commented on Creepy.org’s post sharing the news of Dan’s death.
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“Okay, who's gonna put the doll back?” the user asked.
Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.
“I am sure the doll has nothing to do with this,” a netizen wrote.
“There is no way this actually happened… right?” another netizen asked.
“Do we need to fear Labubus now?” a third user asked.
Others continued to chime in and recommended that they should lock the doll far away, while others suggested that the incident was just a coincidence.
“Eh, I call coincidence or a health problem... a lot of people have been around that doll and are perfectly fine… Of course, out of the thousands and thousands of people that visit that doll or paranoid hunters that are around it... one is bound to die of related health issues,” a person wrote.
“You mfs keep playing with that d*mn doll, put that b*tch Annabelle back in that basement and leave her weird a** alone,” another person wrote.
“Helllll to the naw naw!!!” an individual wrote.
Dan Rivera’s employer, the New England Society for Psychic Research, or the NESPR, posted a tribute on Facebook, praising him for serving “his country and people around him.”
“Dan’s passion for the paranormal was rooted in a genuine desire to educate, help, and connect with others, whether through social media, conventions, or investigations with local families seeking understanding and peace,” the post read.
It continued, “Dan’s strong faith was a guiding light in his life. He never wavered in his belief in god and often spoke about the spiritual side of the work we do. We find comfort in knowing that he is now at peace, reunited with loved ones who have gone before him.”
Fellow paranormal investigator Ryan Buell also mourned Rivera’s passing on TikTok, sharing he had “amazing memories” with him and had toured with him two months ago.
All you need to know about Dan Rivera and Annabelle
Before becoming a paranormal investigator, Dan Rivera served in the United States Army. He also served as the lead investigator with the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) and appeared on paranormal TV shows, including Most Haunted Places on Travel Channel and 28 Days Haunted on Netflix, which he also produced.
As for Annabelle, it has been claimed as haunted since the 1970s when a nursing student named Donna received it as a gift from her mother. When she and her friends began noticing strange happenings, they invoked a medium and were informed that the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle Higgins resided inside it. Higgins reportedly had died in the same location where Donna and her roommates were staying.
NESPR founders, demonologists, and paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, were called to investigate. They alleged that the doll was demonically possessed, caused harm to humans, and moved on its own. The Warrens even claimed that the Amityville Horror was the doing of Annabelle, which later inspired the movie franchise, The Conjuring.
Notably, they put the doll in a specially built glass case at the Warren Occult Museum in Connecticut to keep the supposedly evil spirit trapped. Later, the museum shut down in 2019 due to local government regulations.
However, Dan Rivera had been touring with it since the beginning of this year to various places across the USA with members of the NESPR. From July 10 to 12, they completed a three-day sold-out stop at the Soldiers National Orphanage in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Ghostly Images of Gettysburg Tours organized the event, and Dan Rivera used his TikTok channel to promote the tour and share glimpses from it.
The day before his demise, Dan Rivera posted a video sharing live updates from the tour, where he told a group of visitors that he had taken steps to “protect them” from Annabelle, before leading them to the room where the doll was displayed. The steps included building the glass case using three crosses, which represented the holy trinity, and then splashing it with holy water.
Dan Rivera is survived by his wife, Sarah, and their four children.
