The notorious Annabelle doll was not in the room where American paranormal investigator Dan Rivera died mysteriously, said Pennsylvania authorities in their investigation. A paranormal investigator was found dead in his hotel room in Gettysburg on July 13. But the eerie coincidence has only deepened the unease around his final hours.
The 54-year-old Rivera, a researcher with the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), was on a tour with the haunted Annabelle when he died in one of the US' most haunted towns, for the Devils on the Run tour. When the news of his sudden death made it to the headlines, people began to suspect that the Annabelle doll was behind his mysterious death.
On Sunday morning, July 13, his body was found in the hotel room. The doll made famous by The Conjuring horror franchise is believed by many to be demonically possessed. Adams County Coroner Francis Dutrow told People on Friday, 18 July, that the haunted doll was not in the room at the time when he arrived at the site on Sunday. In fact, the Annabelle doll was not there at any time during Dan’s stay in the hotel room.
The Pennsylvania State Police shared a report on July 16 stating that “nothing unusual or suspicious was observed at the scene." Rivera was discovered by hotel workers in Straban Township, as per the Pennsylvania State Police report on Wednesday, July 16.
Earlier on the day, the 54-year-old paranormal investigator had told his colleagues that he was not feeling well and had decided to rest in his hotel room. He was later discovered dead in his room, with the exact cause still unknown. An autopsy report is expected in 8–10 weeks.
The Annabelle doll's story dates back to 1968, when a young medical student received it as a gift. What began as minor disturbances erupted into disturbing paranormal activity. A medium later claimed the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle. However, when the roommates tried to live peacefully with the doll, it started acting violently.
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, founders of NESPR, investigated the doll and revealed that the Annabelle doll was demonically possessed. Since then, Annabelle has been kept locked in a glass case, sealed off from the world, or so it is believed.