The Annabelle Raggedy Ann doll sits in a case in the Warrens' Occult Museum. Photo / Getty Images
The Annabelle Raggedy Ann doll sits in a case in the Warrens' Occult Museum. Photo / Getty Images
Dan Rivera, the handler of the real-life Annabelle doll that inspired The Conjuring character, has died while on tour with the cursed toy.
Paranormal investigator Rivera was the primary caretaker of the Annabelle doll, a possessed Raggedy Ann doll that was housed in the now-closed Occult Museum of Ed Warrenand his wife Lorraine Warren in the back of their house in Monroe, Connecticut.
Rivera was on a Devils on the Run Tour of the US, hosted by Ghostly Images of Gettysburg and the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR) - which was founded by the late Warrens - when he unexpectedly died at the age of 54.
No cause of death has yet been released.
A post on the New England Society For Psychic Research official Facebook page read: “It’s with deep sadness that Tony, Wade, and I share the sudden passing of our close friend and partner, Dan Rivera. 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.”
Despite Rivera’s death, the doll will continue to tour on the remaining dates.
The haunted Raggedy Ann doll - which is based on the character featured in a series of books by American writer Johnny Gruelle - is connected to paranormal events in the 1970s.
It had come into the possession of Donna, a 28-year-old student nurse, from Hartford, Connecticut, who reported the doll behaving strangely and would move around her apartment on its own.
A psychic medium informed Donna and her roommate that the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a dead 6-year-old, but after it began exhibiting malicious behaviour they contacted the Warrens who pronounced it was demonically possessed and took it away to store in a glass case in their occult museum.
Replica of the doll from the movie Annabelle decoration at the Parque Warner Madrid. Photo / Getty Images
The Warrens claimed the doll could give “psychic slashes” to people she didn’t like, drawing blood as if she had used a knife.
The Conjuring Universe movies, which are based on the Warrens’ real-life paranormal investigations, made Annabelle a horror icon, albeit with a different design because of copyright issues with the Raggedy Ann doll.
The demon doll is the main protagonist in Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017) and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). It also appeared in The Conjuring (2013), The Conjuring 2 (2016), Michael Chaves’ The Curse of La Llorona (2019) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2020).
The Conjuring: Last Rites, the final movie in the current Conjuring Universe, will hit cinemas this September.
