'Most Haunted Places' Paranormal Investigator Dan Rivera Died on Tour With Annabelle Doll
Dan Rivera was on his 'Devils on the Run Tour' when he died.
Published July 16 2025, 10:22 a.m. ET
New England Society for Psychic Research and Most Haunted Places investigator Dan Rivera has died. Per the Evening Sun in Gettysburg, Penn., Dan died on July 13, 2025, during his Devils on the Run Tour. The paranormal investigator was 54 years old. Because he was also part of a group traveling with the infamous and allegedly haunted doll Annabelle, many immediately wanted to know about Dan Rivera's cause of death.
Annabelle gained notoriety in more mainstream pop culture thanks to movies like The Conjuring and, of course, Annabelle. The movies chronicle some of the late paranormal investigative couple Ed and Lorraine Warren's cases, and, according to files that are available online, Annabelle was a doll that the couple kept locked in a glass box in their home museum and advised against removing from the box.
What was Dan Rivera's cause of death?
According to the Evening Sun, paramedics arrived at the hotel where Dan had been staying in Gettysburg for that leg of the tour. CPR had been administered to him, but he was pronounced dead. As of now, there has been no official cause of death. However, according to the outlet, the Adams County Coroner Francis Dutrow said that an autopsy could take months to complete.
Following his death, Dan's wife, Sarah Bond Rivera, shared a statement on Facebook.
"As a devoted husband, father of four sons, and a staunchly faithful friend, he always had a quiet source of resilience, strength, and endless hope," she wrote. "Daniel carried a light and a brave heart every day through his life and his work. We are currently at a loss for words as we process his loss but are extremely thankful for the love, support, and respect during this unimaginable time."
Prior to his death, the Gettysburg portion of the Devils on the Run Tour ended in the afternoon on July 13. Dan invited patrons to see Annabelle up close, though the doll was still housed in its glass case. In 2022, CT Insider reported that Dan actually built the glass case for the Annabelle doll himself.
At the time, he said, "The reason why I built the case was because the museum was closed and we wanted to keep educating the public about these items that Ed and Lorraine collected. I built this case to represent Ed's original case."
He explained that the Annabelle case has three crosses to represent the Holy Trinity, and that the stain used on the wood contains holy water and holy oil.
The Annabelle doll has a spooky past.
According to the New England Society For Psychic Research website, Annabelle's past goes back pretty far. Although some movie-goers may have seen Annabelle's origins play out in the Annabelle movies in The Conjuring franchise, for others, it means more to actually see the details in the case files that the Warrens kept.
Annabelle's file on the website describes alleged strange happenings when Ed and Lorraine brought the supposedly haunted doll home for the first time. According to the file, Ed witnessed the doll levitating on its own. The couple also claimed that the doll may have been responsible for failing brakes and nearly causing fatal accidents.