July 16, 2025 • 22 mins
A tragic and eerie story out of Pennsylvania that has horror and paranormal fans reeling! 54 year old Dan Rivera was touring with the real life Annabelle doll featured in “The Conjuring” series, when he suddenly and unexpectedly died alone in his hotel room. Amy and T.J. go over the latest in the investigation into his death and the history of the doll… there are many who believe she has killed before.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, folks, it is July sixteenth, twenty twenty five, and
I knew this sounds crazy, but did the Annabelle Doll
just kill somebody?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to this edition of Amy and TJ. And Robes.
This is a tragedy.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It is a sad story about the death of a
fifty four year old man. But this was a sudden,
unexpected and now unexplained death. And the unexplained part is
where now people are filling in the blanks and they're
explaining it by saying that the Annabelle Doll.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yes, that doll had something to do with it.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That's right, because it wasn't just any fifty four year
old man. It was fifty four year old Dan Rivera,
who was the man in charge of handling the actual,
the real Annabelle Doll and taking this doll on a
tour across America. And after he wrapped up a three
day tour in Pencil in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that afternoon, by
(01:03):
eight o'clock that night, this is Sunday night, he was
found unresponsive and declared dead by paramedics in his hotel room,
just hours after the tour wrapped in Gettysburg.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And it doesn't even matter to folks that police are
saying there's nothing suspicious about the death, meaning there was
nobody else in the room. There didn't seem to be
any foul play. Who knows what it was, but someone
was there trying to give him CPR. But of course
everybody's wondering did that doll have something to do with it?
Now I'm sitting here talking about this. You and I
are huge horror movie fans, and I probably is it
(01:36):
fair to say this is our favorite horror movie franchise of.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
All time, without a doubt that the Conjuring series is
by far, hands down our favorite horror movie series.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's also the most successful, it is, guys, in horror
movie history, So it's a big deal. So I'll keep
we just saying, Annabelle, I think everybody knows what we're
talking about with this doll here, right. So I didn't
actually realize that they toured with the doll. The doll
has been kept in a museum in a box if
you will, in Connecticut and supposed to be protected, if
you will, but they do take it out on tours.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I didn't know it hit the road.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
I didn't either.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's called the Devil on the Run tour and Dan
Rivera is actually the lead investigator for the New England
Society for Psychic Research.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
This is a real society that.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Was actually founded back in nineteen fifty two by Ed
and Lorraine Warren and Dan Rivera. The man who died
was a protege of Lorraine Warren. She was his mentor,
so to speak, and he took over possession of the
doll when Lorraine passed just a few years ago. I
know I said that with extra emphasis, yes, But he
(02:46):
actually when he took the doll on tour, he talked
about the measures he took to protect the crowd and
himself from the doll. With the box she was placed in.
I mean, this was serious business for him.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know you could do that.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
But the wood was treated, he said, in the box
with holy water. So it's constantly surrounded by holy water.
And then it has three crosses, yes, that are in
there as well, the Holy Trinity. And he said that
is what's used. And that sign you see, I didn't
know that was real. But that sign we see in
the movie that's on the box that they have in
there where the.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Doll is kept.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It says warning was it absolutely do not open.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Correct, that's real.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Yes, So he starts these tours and by the way,
everywhere he's been, it's sold out within moments. When when
people find out that Annabelle, the actual Annibal Bell that
spawned all of the movies we have watched, is.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Coming to their town.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Some people are upset about it, and we'll get into that,
but it sells out immediately because people are fascinated. And
he begins the tour by explaining to the folks who
came what he's done to protect them from the Doll.
And in this last tour on Gettysburg, he began by
joking because he had seen what was going on online
when the Doll went to New Orleans back in May.
(04:02):
Apparently there were some major events that happened the day
she left, including a historic plantation that burned down. Remember
those ten inmates that escaped the New Orleans prison. People
were pointing to annabel and saying she caused these things
to happen. So Dan Rivera this weekend was joking, Hey,
by the way, annabel did not burn down that plantation
(04:24):
and we did not free those prisoners. So he was
joking about the viral online tiktoks that had taken place
where people were actually concerned and blaming Annabel for problems.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know, that tells you something the level of unease
that people he tried to calm a crowd down that
was there to see the doll. But that tells you
it's become such a part of culture. And we all
have a fascination with the paranormal, and this is one
that has been researched and researched and researched by two
people who are believed to be pioneers of the paranormal,
(04:58):
ad and Lorraine Warren. If anybody is going to be
believed as legit when it comes to this stuff, they
have at least built a reputation over fifty years of
doing this stuff. And then you give the movies have
made it wildly popular. So people are scared as damned.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
All And in terms of the legitimizing of this couple,
you know, some people this may not hold that much weight,
but Ed Warren is the only non priest who was
allowed by the Catholic Church or was recognized by the
Catholic Church as a demonologist, that is true, and was
brought in to look at certain cases of possession. And
(05:36):
I think we've all heard about the Amityville Horror. Well
they were involved with that as well, so the Haunting
in Connecticut, the Haunting, the Conjuring franchise. Some of these
movies we've seen stemmed from cases that they actually investigated
and wrote about and gave speeches about.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
So I think without question now certainly with the movies
this is there. I guess Amiteville Horror was probably the
most famous case with this particular artifact. This one doll
has to be the thing that we recognize with him
so often, so I didn't realize they tour around with
the thing. So here we are he ends up. We
might not know for a month or so because they
have to do a whole full autopsy there in that county,
(06:16):
So this mystery might continue.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And even if they come out and.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Say, well he had cardiac arrest or whatever.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Happened, that's not gonna call anyone's curiosity whatsoever, because yes,
that actually would make it seem even more possible, right
that Annabel had something to do with it, because people
keep pointing to I mean, if you guys go online
and just google this, tiktoks social media, people are going
wild with this.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
But they have even pointed.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Out some of these folks who follow Annabel and follow
the series, say, hey, Lorraine and Ed Warren specifically said,
do not move this doll, do not travel with this doll,
do not touch this doll. So they were saying that
Dan Rivera and folks were actually doing exactly what the
ORNs warned them not to do, and so that makes
his death all the more creepier, all the more scarier.
(07:06):
And I don't think you're going to convince folks who
believe this type of thing and the powers that Annabel
may possess, They're always going to believe that she has
something to do with this.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
This is the perfect story for the times, isn't it.
It's one you can never actually get a definitive answer,
and even when an authority gives you one, you're still
never going to believe it. And with social media, now
this story will continue forever, and folks will point to
this and say the doll is in some way responsible.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
They are going to point to this and say the
supernatural exists, and here is exhibit A.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Now, I look, I have seen a lot enough over
the years to with something's out there.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Even if I didn't see it for myself. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I would lead probably into that camp. I think it
was years ago. I want to say it was twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty. There was rumors that the doll had escaped,
and so we talk about crazy people were losing their minds,
wondering and actually blaming these people, saying, you're actually putting
the public at risk by having the doll outside of
the home. That is a little more level than just
(08:08):
paranoia about the paranormal. They actually are blaming these people.
Don't take this thing out. It's a dangerous item.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
Well, you know what, And even if it's possible.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I don't know what any of you, our listeners believe
or not, but if it's even possible, why tempt fade
I was actually taken aback by one TikTok person who
after her stop in New Orleans in May where the
plantation burned down and the inmates escape.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
This is pretty creepy.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Now that we know what happened on Sunday, or at
least we know that Dan Rivera died. This TikToker said,
she just burned down a plantation. Why are we doing this?
Gettysburg is her next stop. They were actually concerned about
Gettysburg after what they felt had happened in New Orleans.
I mean, and they were absolutely concerned and worried and
(08:58):
asking the tour to stop, ask the tour to end.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Okay, And you can say what you want about, well,
come on, necessarily, that's ridiculous to think that's responsible. That's fine,
But went it's this close right when there? That wasn't
That's an occurrence in a city the doll happened to
go to. This is the man who has been handling
the doll all weekend. Now I didn't see robes a definitive,
but I think a police report the doll was not
(09:23):
in the room.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Do I see that? Right? The doll wasn't in the room.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
They believe it was stored in a van or a
vehicle that was in the parking lot.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Was the last I saw? Did you see anything?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I did not see anything that said that if the
doll was in the room.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
A bigger headline.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
We would have absolutely absolutely seen that reported because that
would have been utmost importance. However, the doll was nearby, that's.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
What they say.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
But again he's been handling it all weekend. Look, the storyline,
at least throughout the movies. It was a part of
the Conjuring series, but they did their whole annabel series.
What three movies annabel annabel Creation, and annabel Comes Home.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
We will have you know that most of what you
see in Annabelle that first movie is actually not true.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
It's made up.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It is made up. There's an opening scene that shows
Ed and Lorraine, or at least the actor is playing
them in a scene talking to some students. That stuff
is based in fact. But everything after that, I didn't
even necessarily realize it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Like the rest of the movie is all fiction.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
But the opening, the very first Conjuring, the one that
sucked me and so many people into the series because
it was so well done. The opening scene of the
First Conjuring. We rewatched it last night after we saw
this headline is all fairly accurate in terms of the
Annabelle story and how it began.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, the story how it began. We're gonna get into
that in just a moment. Do you know all this
started because a mom gave her daughter a doll as
a gift.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
And also we're talking about Dan Rivera.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
But believe it or not that is not the only
death that has been attributed to annabel sor Right, folks,
we're here talking about Dan Rivera, the paranormal investigator who
passed away suddenly, unexpectedly, and at this point it's unexplained
(11:18):
a hotel room by himself on tour with the real
life Annabelle Doll. And we haven't even said we talked
about this Annabell doll. It doesn't look like it does
in the movie.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
In fact, i'm sure many of you, even if you
didn't watch the movie, know what that Annabelle doll looks like.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
It's so scary.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Some people won't even watch the movie because the doll
is so creepy in this movie. The actual Annabelle Doll
actually looks very different. It's a larger than you would
normally expect raggedy ann doll. It's and that almost is
creepier in a way because it seems benign.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It seems sweet sweets and that are red hair that's
a little curly, or it's whiny or yarnie or whatever
it is.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Yes, but it's that old school raggedy ann doll that
was almost like a plush toy.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
It wasn't the porcelain.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Doll that you see in the movies, but still just
as if not more creepy because it isn't so intentionally creepy.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah, because the thing is actually smiling. It actually looks
completely innocuous. The other one does not.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Yeah, the other one looks evil.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh yeah, it looks like well, it.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Still has a weird fate and it's porcelain.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Yes, and it never chuk.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
No, I don't like it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
But we talk about Dan Rivera, yes, and look that
speculation online and people can have their theories.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And all this.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
But Ed Warren himself spoke of someone I believe was
in the seventies. A young man came by on a
tour looking at the doll and was somewhat mocking the doll,
almost challenging the doll do something. And what happened to
that guy after he.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Left that tour He died in a motorcycle crash shortly
after he was told to leave the museum.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He was mocking the dolls much they asked him to leave.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
He left the museum and died in a motorcycle crash.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Obviously that can be a coincidence, But when you go
through the history of this doll. You will never see
something like that and say, wow, that was just an accident.
The doll itself, though, the history here is fascinating. Again,
some of the movies do get into it. There's an
opening scene of the Conjuring opening scene of Annabelle. Where
are those two actors we love who are playing Ed
and Lorraine? Are talking to three people sitting on a couch,
(13:28):
two of them, one of them is a nursing student,
one of them is her friend, and the other, who
is a guy who doesn't say anything, is also the
other on the couch. What you're seeing there is a
representation of actual, real people and something that actually happens.
So go back to the store. We told it was
nineteen seventy. A mom gives this doll to her daughter, Donna,
(13:50):
a nursing student.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
No big deal.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But when she takes it home with her friend, that's
when rose things immediately start to get a little weird.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yes, the friends started to notice the doll making small movements.
They said, the doll would just suddenly show up in
a room that they didn't leave it in.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Okay, that's super creepy.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And the little ones, they said just the head would
be turned a different way, or the leg would be crossed,
just subtle things. Thinking they were crazy for a second,
but they noticed it enough to where they knew they weren't.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Crazy, and they each of them individually noticed it, and
so it wasn't as if they saw it at the
same time. So they were literally comparing notes.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
And then speaking of.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Notes, they said that they found a note on parchment
paper that read help me, help us, and in the
movie if you are a fan, the Annabelle doll wrote
miss me with the question mark, so a slight variation
but similar to what the actual story is.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
They said that was totally weird. Yes, to side those
notes show up. The weirdest part, they said, was we
don't keep parchment paper in the house, so they had these. Yeah,
it's been weird enough. It was on notebook paper that
you kept in the house, but now the note parchisement
paper paper we don't have any, we've never kept and
it's showing up.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yeah, they used that tactic in several of the movies.
One of my favorite of the annabel series is annabel Creation.
Same thing, like little parchment pieces of paper left throughout
the house, almost like a hide and seek game or
a like a scavenger hunt, so to speek. But it's
so creepy, but that is supposed to have actually happened.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, and it this all now freaked them out enough
they decide to call in a medium.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
The medium is the one who.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Then robes helps us get the name Annabelle because the
medium was able to contact a spirit claimed it was
Annabel Higgins, a seven year old girl who died who
had lived on that property before.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Of course, years and years.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Later, apparently the doll liked the girls and was just
reaching out because it just wanted to hang out and
be loved.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So the girls, thinking that was.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
The case, gave the spirit permission to enter the doll.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
And that's when all hell broke lips.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Yes, because they eventually had to call in Ed and
Lorraine and they were like, yeah, the doll isn't possessed
by some sweet girl named Annabel Higgins who is seven
years old, who it made you believe it was. Actually
it's an inhuman demonic spirit trying to possess you. So
Ed and Lorraine were famous for saying this. This has
(16:21):
always creeped me out. Houses aren't haunted items aren't haunted.
People are haunted, and so perhaps they say demonic spirits
in order to get closer to entering you. The human
can enter an inanimate object and then jump into you.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
You know, all this paranormal stuff. That's one thing I
can understand. I'm like, okay, that makes sense. I mean,
I don't know if I'm silly for that and watch
too many movies, but the idea that a spirit is
not gonna occupy my couch, it's actually just hanging around waiting.
And one of the scariest moments for these women that.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Really took off.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And I put it in here in the exact quote
the way that Ed and Lorraine at least wrote on
their website and they described it their friend Lou that
was in the house. He was if you watched the movie,
you all go back and watch the opening to the contract.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
And the guy that's sitting there is the one we're
describing now and he says nothing. It just sits there
looking scared the whole time. Yeah, he nails it, because
the real character is named Lou. He was a friend
of theirs. And this now is how on their website,
and I put it here in quotes robes, you could
take it, you read it. But talking about when he
was awake and couldn't move, this is how they describe
(17:31):
what he experienced with the Annabelle doll.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
That's right, so lou claims. Quote, he was awake but
couldn't move. He looked around the room but couldn't discern
anything out of the ordinary.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
And then it happened.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Looking down towards his feet, he saw the doll Annabelle.
It began to slowly glide up his leg, move over.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
His chest, and then stopped.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Within seconds, the doll was strangling him. I'd be quiet
to be unable to speak out of fear in any way,
shape or form.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And again I am imagining the doll that was in
the movie. He saw the raggedy ann doll crawling up
towards him.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That is nuts.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
If that's a true story, can you imagine?
Speaker 4 (18:15):
No, No, it's my worst nightmare. That's absolutely my worst nightmare.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
So that was in the nineteen seventies. So, folks, that
same doll that you're hearing that guy describe what happened
to him is the same exact doll that's.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Being carried around on tour right now.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Woof is the same the same doll that that man
mocked at the museum who then later died in a
motorcycle accident.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Same doll we're talking about here. So how have they
been able to keep this spirit at bay all these years?
Where they describe what this nurse and her friends and
roommates experience was an infestation stage. So it was trying
to this is how they explained it. It was moving
the doll around by teleportation just to arouse human curiosity,
(19:03):
trying to get your attention, to pay attention to what's
going on over here, get you to make a move.
They made a move by bringing in the medium. That
was the absolute wrong thing to do. It was able
then the spirit to use the medium to communicate, and
if you can communicate, then you can manipulate. And he
was able to manipulate the girls into thinking that it
was a Benigne, little seven year old girl, and they
(19:26):
invited it in and all the trouble started. And that
is the story of where that Annabel doll is supposed
to be still today with some spirit attached to it
that's trying to get into.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
A human being, you know, And it's so scary, but
it's really interesting last weekend.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
The day before Rivera died.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
You know, I was telling you he was trying to
calm the crowd down, saying, hey, she wasn't responsible for
the New Orleans plantation burning, she wasn't responsible for the
inmate escape. Apparently, the day before the doll got there,
there was a nine to one to one outage in
Pennsylvania in Gettysburg, where emergency alerts were blaring across cell phones,
(20:08):
including inside the first showing of the doll. So the
beginning of the tour, everyone's phone started having some emergency
alert saying nine to one to one.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Was out of service.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
And so he said, I know that was ironic, but
she didn't cause that either. There were just enough little
things that were happening that left people on edge. So
to have it culminate this last weekend's tour with the
death of Rivera, that is simply shocking. He did give
the audience, and we'll give this to you advice if
you think that somehow you have an.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Evil spirit around you, or you end up near or
around Annabelle.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
He said that Lorraine Warren told him, and he told
them to protect yourself, close your eyes and envision yourself.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
In a halo of white light.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
That's kind of creepy of the person who is leading
the tour of a doll that supposedly inhuman and evil
that he gives you basically a tip to protect yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I'll take it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And you know what, I might find myself and feel
silly about it, but using.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
That tip, why not at some point it can't hurt.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
She was considered a clairvoyant. She was considered someone who
could sense auras and spirits around her. I'll take it.
This is a fascinating story. It is a tragic story
about the death of a man who's died suddenly, who
was out there carrying on work, who he thought he
was doing good work at least, who spread the word
and teach more about paranormal to prove that there is
(21:36):
evil out there, to prove the devil is all these things,
just to educate. He clearly was dedicated to doing this
and was keeping up the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
So what a legacy. So such a sad, sad, tragic story.
And there's debate and discussion like this around it. Some
of it's a little harsher and some of the jokes
that are out there and people being mean about who
they want the doll to go out. I've seen that
(21:56):
some of that shit, yes, but it just bottom lines
a track right now, and somebody lost somebody they loved.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
That's such an important point that shouldn't be lost in
a story like this. But you know, it remains to
be seen where Annabel will end up, if she'll go
back to where she was, if she'll continue on tour.
Of course, we'll keep our eye on the situation. But
it is a fascinating story, a tragic story, and just
want to thank you for taking the time to listen
(22:23):
to it and to us. And with that, I'm Amy
robot on behalf of my partner TJ.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Holmes.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Stay safe, everybody,
Hey, folks, it is July sixteenth, twenty twenty five, and
I knew this sounds crazy, but did the Annabelle Doll
just kill somebody?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to this edition of Amy and TJ. And Robes.
This is a tragedy.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It is a sad story about the death of a
fifty four year old man. But this was a sudden,
unexpected and now unexplained death. And the unexplained part is
where now people are filling in the blanks and they're
explaining it by saying that the Annabelle Doll.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yes, that doll had something to do with it.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That's right, because it wasn't just any fifty four year
old man. It was fifty four year old Dan Rivera,
who was the man in charge of handling the actual,
the real Annabelle Doll and taking this doll on a
tour across America. And after he wrapped up a three
day tour in Pencil in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that afternoon, by
(01:03):
eight o'clock that night, this is Sunday night, he was
found unresponsive and declared dead by paramedics in his hotel room,
just hours after the tour wrapped in Gettysburg.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And it doesn't even matter to folks that police are
saying there's nothing suspicious about the death, meaning there was
nobody else in the room. There didn't seem to be
any foul play. Who knows what it was, but someone
was there trying to give him CPR. But of course
everybody's wondering did that doll have something to do with it?
Now I'm sitting here talking about this. You and I
are huge horror movie fans, and I probably is it
(01:36):
fair to say this is our favorite horror movie franchise of.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
All time, without a doubt that the Conjuring series is
by far, hands down our favorite horror movie series.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's also the most successful, it is, guys, in horror
movie history, So it's a big deal. So I'll keep
we just saying, Annabelle, I think everybody knows what we're
talking about with this doll here, right. So I didn't
actually realize that they toured with the doll. The doll
has been kept in a museum in a box if
you will, in Connecticut and supposed to be protected, if
you will, but they do take it out on tours.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I didn't know it hit the road.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
I didn't either.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's called the Devil on the Run tour and Dan
Rivera is actually the lead investigator for the New England
Society for Psychic Research.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
This is a real society that.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
Was actually founded back in nineteen fifty two by Ed
and Lorraine Warren and Dan Rivera. The man who died
was a protege of Lorraine Warren. She was his mentor,
so to speak, and he took over possession of the
doll when Lorraine passed just a few years ago. I
know I said that with extra emphasis, yes, But he
(02:46):
actually when he took the doll on tour, he talked
about the measures he took to protect the crowd and
himself from the doll. With the box she was placed in.
I mean, this was serious business for him.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know you could do that.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
But the wood was treated, he said, in the box
with holy water. So it's constantly surrounded by holy water.
And then it has three crosses, yes, that are in
there as well, the Holy Trinity. And he said that
is what's used. And that sign you see, I didn't
know that was real. But that sign we see in
the movie that's on the box that they have in
there where the.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Doll is kept.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It says warning was it absolutely do not open.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Correct, that's real.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Yes, So he starts these tours and by the way,
everywhere he's been, it's sold out within moments. When when
people find out that Annabelle, the actual Annibal Bell that
spawned all of the movies we have watched, is.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Coming to their town.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Some people are upset about it, and we'll get into that,
but it sells out immediately because people are fascinated. And
he begins the tour by explaining to the folks who
came what he's done to protect them from the Doll.
And in this last tour on Gettysburg, he began by
joking because he had seen what was going on online
when the Doll went to New Orleans back in May.
(04:02):
Apparently there were some major events that happened the day
she left, including a historic plantation that burned down. Remember
those ten inmates that escaped the New Orleans prison. People
were pointing to annabel and saying she caused these things
to happen. So Dan Rivera this weekend was joking, Hey,
by the way, annabel did not burn down that plantation
(04:24):
and we did not free those prisoners. So he was
joking about the viral online tiktoks that had taken place
where people were actually concerned and blaming Annabel for problems.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know, that tells you something the level of unease
that people he tried to calm a crowd down that
was there to see the doll. But that tells you
it's become such a part of culture. And we all
have a fascination with the paranormal, and this is one
that has been researched and researched and researched by two
people who are believed to be pioneers of the paranormal,
(04:58):
ad and Lorraine Warren. If anybody is going to be
believed as legit when it comes to this stuff, they
have at least built a reputation over fifty years of
doing this stuff. And then you give the movies have
made it wildly popular. So people are scared as damned.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
All And in terms of the legitimizing of this couple,
you know, some people this may not hold that much weight,
but Ed Warren is the only non priest who was
allowed by the Catholic Church or was recognized by the
Catholic Church as a demonologist, that is true, and was
brought in to look at certain cases of possession. And
(05:36):
I think we've all heard about the Amityville Horror. Well
they were involved with that as well, so the Haunting
in Connecticut, the Haunting, the Conjuring franchise. Some of these
movies we've seen stemmed from cases that they actually investigated
and wrote about and gave speeches about.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
So I think without question now certainly with the movies
this is there. I guess Amiteville Horror was probably the
most famous case with this particular artifact. This one doll
has to be the thing that we recognize with him
so often, so I didn't realize they tour around with
the thing. So here we are he ends up. We
might not know for a month or so because they
have to do a whole full autopsy there in that county,
(06:16):
So this mystery might continue.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And even if they come out and.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Say, well he had cardiac arrest or whatever.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Happened, that's not gonna call anyone's curiosity whatsoever, because yes,
that actually would make it seem even more possible, right
that Annabel had something to do with it, because people
keep pointing to I mean, if you guys go online
and just google this, tiktoks social media, people are going
wild with this.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
But they have even pointed.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Out some of these folks who follow Annabel and follow
the series, say, hey, Lorraine and Ed Warren specifically said,
do not move this doll, do not travel with this doll,
do not touch this doll. So they were saying that
Dan Rivera and folks were actually doing exactly what the
ORNs warned them not to do, and so that makes
his death all the more creepier, all the more scarier.
(07:06):
And I don't think you're going to convince folks who
believe this type of thing and the powers that Annabel
may possess, They're always going to believe that she has
something to do with this.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
This is the perfect story for the times, isn't it.
It's one you can never actually get a definitive answer,
and even when an authority gives you one, you're still
never going to believe it. And with social media, now
this story will continue forever, and folks will point to
this and say the doll is in some way responsible.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
They are going to point to this and say the
supernatural exists, and here is exhibit A.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Now, I look, I have seen a lot enough over
the years to with something's out there.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Even if I didn't see it for myself. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
I would lead probably into that camp. I think it
was years ago. I want to say it was twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty. There was rumors that the doll had escaped,
and so we talk about crazy people were losing their minds,
wondering and actually blaming these people, saying, you're actually putting
the public at risk by having the doll outside of
the home. That is a little more level than just
(08:08):
paranoia about the paranormal. They actually are blaming these people.
Don't take this thing out. It's a dangerous item.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
Well, you know what, And even if it's possible.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I don't know what any of you, our listeners believe
or not, but if it's even possible, why tempt fade
I was actually taken aback by one TikTok person who
after her stop in New Orleans in May where the
plantation burned down and the inmates escape.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
This is pretty creepy.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Now that we know what happened on Sunday, or at
least we know that Dan Rivera died. This TikToker said,
she just burned down a plantation. Why are we doing this?
Gettysburg is her next stop. They were actually concerned about
Gettysburg after what they felt had happened in New Orleans.
I mean, and they were absolutely concerned and worried and
(08:58):
asking the tour to stop, ask the tour to end.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Okay, And you can say what you want about, well,
come on, necessarily, that's ridiculous to think that's responsible. That's fine,
But went it's this close right when there? That wasn't
That's an occurrence in a city the doll happened to
go to. This is the man who has been handling
the doll all weekend. Now I didn't see robes a definitive,
but I think a police report the doll was not
(09:23):
in the room.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Do I see that? Right? The doll wasn't in the room.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
They believe it was stored in a van or a
vehicle that was in the parking lot.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Was the last I saw? Did you see anything?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I did not see anything that said that if the
doll was in the room.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
A bigger headline.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
We would have absolutely absolutely seen that reported because that
would have been utmost importance. However, the doll was nearby, that's.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
What they say.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
But again he's been handling it all weekend. Look, the storyline,
at least throughout the movies. It was a part of
the Conjuring series, but they did their whole annabel series.
What three movies annabel annabel Creation, and annabel Comes Home.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
Correct.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
We will have you know that most of what you
see in Annabelle that first movie is actually not true.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
It's made up.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
It is made up. There's an opening scene that shows
Ed and Lorraine, or at least the actor is playing
them in a scene talking to some students. That stuff
is based in fact. But everything after that, I didn't
even necessarily realize it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Like the rest of the movie is all fiction.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
But the opening, the very first Conjuring, the one that
sucked me and so many people into the series because
it was so well done. The opening scene of the
First Conjuring. We rewatched it last night after we saw
this headline is all fairly accurate in terms of the
Annabelle story and how it began.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, the story how it began. We're gonna get into
that in just a moment. Do you know all this
started because a mom gave her daughter a doll as
a gift.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
And also we're talking about Dan Rivera.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
But believe it or not that is not the only
death that has been attributed to annabel sor Right, folks,
we're here talking about Dan Rivera, the paranormal investigator who
passed away suddenly, unexpectedly, and at this point it's unexplained
(11:18):
a hotel room by himself on tour with the real
life Annabelle Doll. And we haven't even said we talked
about this Annabell doll. It doesn't look like it does
in the movie.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
In fact, i'm sure many of you, even if you
didn't watch the movie, know what that Annabelle doll looks like.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
It's so scary.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Some people won't even watch the movie because the doll
is so creepy in this movie. The actual Annabelle Doll
actually looks very different. It's a larger than you would
normally expect raggedy ann doll. It's and that almost is
creepier in a way because it seems benign.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It seems sweet sweets and that are red hair that's
a little curly, or it's whiny or yarnie or whatever
it is.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Yes, but it's that old school raggedy ann doll that
was almost like a plush toy.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
It wasn't the porcelain.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Doll that you see in the movies, but still just
as if not more creepy because it isn't so intentionally creepy.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah, because the thing is actually smiling. It actually looks
completely innocuous. The other one does not.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Yeah, the other one looks evil.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh yeah, it looks like well, it.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Still has a weird fate and it's porcelain.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Yes, and it never chuk.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
No, I don't like it.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
But we talk about Dan Rivera, yes, and look that
speculation online and people can have their theories.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And all this.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
But Ed Warren himself spoke of someone I believe was
in the seventies. A young man came by on a
tour looking at the doll and was somewhat mocking the doll,
almost challenging the doll do something. And what happened to
that guy after he.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Left that tour He died in a motorcycle crash shortly
after he was told to leave the museum.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He was mocking the dolls much they asked him to leave.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
He left the museum and died in a motorcycle crash.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Obviously that can be a coincidence, But when you go
through the history of this doll. You will never see
something like that and say, wow, that was just an accident.
The doll itself, though, the history here is fascinating. Again,
some of the movies do get into it. There's an
opening scene of the Conjuring opening scene of Annabelle. Where
are those two actors we love who are playing Ed
and Lorraine? Are talking to three people sitting on a couch,
(13:28):
two of them, one of them is a nursing student,
one of them is her friend, and the other, who
is a guy who doesn't say anything, is also the
other on the couch. What you're seeing there is a
representation of actual, real people and something that actually happens.
So go back to the store. We told it was
nineteen seventy. A mom gives this doll to her daughter, Donna,
(13:50):
a nursing student.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
No big deal.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But when she takes it home with her friend, that's
when rose things immediately start to get a little weird.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yes, the friends started to notice the doll making small movements.
They said, the doll would just suddenly show up in
a room that they didn't leave it in.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Okay, that's super creepy.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And the little ones, they said just the head would
be turned a different way, or the leg would be crossed,
just subtle things. Thinking they were crazy for a second,
but they noticed it enough to where they knew they weren't.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Crazy, and they each of them individually noticed it, and
so it wasn't as if they saw it at the
same time. So they were literally comparing notes.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
And then speaking of.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Notes, they said that they found a note on parchment
paper that read help me, help us, and in the
movie if you are a fan, the Annabelle doll wrote
miss me with the question mark, so a slight variation
but similar to what the actual story is.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
They said that was totally weird. Yes, to side those
notes show up. The weirdest part, they said, was we
don't keep parchment paper in the house, so they had these. Yeah,
it's been weird enough. It was on notebook paper that
you kept in the house, but now the note parchisement
paper paper we don't have any, we've never kept and
it's showing up.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yeah, they used that tactic in several of the movies.
One of my favorite of the annabel series is annabel Creation.
Same thing, like little parchment pieces of paper left throughout
the house, almost like a hide and seek game or
a like a scavenger hunt, so to speek. But it's
so creepy, but that is supposed to have actually happened.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, and it this all now freaked them out enough
they decide to call in a medium.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
The medium is the one who.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Then robes helps us get the name Annabelle because the
medium was able to contact a spirit claimed it was
Annabel Higgins, a seven year old girl who died who
had lived on that property before.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Of course, years and years.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Later, apparently the doll liked the girls and was just
reaching out because it just wanted to hang out and
be loved.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So the girls, thinking that was.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
The case, gave the spirit permission to enter the doll.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
And that's when all hell broke lips.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Yes, because they eventually had to call in Ed and
Lorraine and they were like, yeah, the doll isn't possessed
by some sweet girl named Annabel Higgins who is seven
years old, who it made you believe it was. Actually
it's an inhuman demonic spirit trying to possess you. So
Ed and Lorraine were famous for saying this. This has
(16:21):
always creeped me out. Houses aren't haunted items aren't haunted.
People are haunted, and so perhaps they say demonic spirits
in order to get closer to entering you. The human
can enter an inanimate object and then jump into you.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
You know, all this paranormal stuff. That's one thing I
can understand. I'm like, okay, that makes sense. I mean,
I don't know if I'm silly for that and watch
too many movies, but the idea that a spirit is
not gonna occupy my couch, it's actually just hanging around waiting.
And one of the scariest moments for these women that.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Really took off.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And I put it in here in the exact quote
the way that Ed and Lorraine at least wrote on
their website and they described it their friend Lou that
was in the house. He was if you watched the movie,
you all go back and watch the opening to the contract.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
And the guy that's sitting there is the one we're
describing now and he says nothing. It just sits there
looking scared the whole time. Yeah, he nails it, because
the real character is named Lou. He was a friend
of theirs. And this now is how on their website,
and I put it here in quotes robes, you could
take it, you read it. But talking about when he
was awake and couldn't move, this is how they describe
(17:31):
what he experienced with the Annabelle doll.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
That's right, so lou claims. Quote, he was awake but
couldn't move. He looked around the room but couldn't discern
anything out of the ordinary.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
And then it happened.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Looking down towards his feet, he saw the doll Annabelle.
It began to slowly glide up his leg, move over.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
His chest, and then stopped.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Within seconds, the doll was strangling him. I'd be quiet
to be unable to speak out of fear in any way,
shape or form.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And again I am imagining the doll that was in
the movie. He saw the raggedy ann doll crawling up
towards him.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That is nuts.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
If that's a true story, can you imagine?
Speaker 4 (18:15):
No, No, it's my worst nightmare. That's absolutely my worst nightmare.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
So that was in the nineteen seventies. So, folks, that
same doll that you're hearing that guy describe what happened
to him is the same exact doll that's.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Being carried around on tour right now.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Woof is the same the same doll that that man
mocked at the museum who then later died in a
motorcycle accident.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Same doll we're talking about here. So how have they
been able to keep this spirit at bay all these years?
Where they describe what this nurse and her friends and
roommates experience was an infestation stage. So it was trying
to this is how they explained it. It was moving
the doll around by teleportation just to arouse human curiosity,
(19:03):
trying to get your attention, to pay attention to what's
going on over here, get you to make a move.
They made a move by bringing in the medium. That
was the absolute wrong thing to do. It was able
then the spirit to use the medium to communicate, and
if you can communicate, then you can manipulate. And he
was able to manipulate the girls into thinking that it
was a Benigne, little seven year old girl, and they
(19:26):
invited it in and all the trouble started. And that
is the story of where that Annabel doll is supposed
to be still today with some spirit attached to it
that's trying to get into.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
A human being, you know, And it's so scary, but
it's really interesting last weekend.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
The day before Rivera died.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
You know, I was telling you he was trying to
calm the crowd down, saying, hey, she wasn't responsible for
the New Orleans plantation burning, she wasn't responsible for the
inmate escape. Apparently, the day before the doll got there,
there was a nine to one to one outage in
Pennsylvania in Gettysburg, where emergency alerts were blaring across cell phones,
(20:08):
including inside the first showing of the doll. So the
beginning of the tour, everyone's phone started having some emergency
alert saying nine to one to one.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
Was out of service.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
And so he said, I know that was ironic, but
she didn't cause that either. There were just enough little
things that were happening that left people on edge. So
to have it culminate this last weekend's tour with the
death of Rivera, that is simply shocking. He did give
the audience, and we'll give this to you advice if
you think that somehow you have an.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
Evil spirit around you, or you end up near or
around Annabelle.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
He said that Lorraine Warren told him, and he told
them to protect yourself, close your eyes and envision yourself.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
In a halo of white light.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
That's kind of creepy of the person who is leading
the tour of a doll that supposedly inhuman and evil
that he gives you basically a tip to protect yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I'll take it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And you know what, I might find myself and feel
silly about it, but using.
Speaker 5 (21:13):
That tip, why not at some point it can't hurt.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
She was considered a clairvoyant. She was considered someone who
could sense auras and spirits around her. I'll take it.
This is a fascinating story. It is a tragic story
about the death of a man who's died suddenly, who
was out there carrying on work, who he thought he
was doing good work at least, who spread the word
and teach more about paranormal to prove that there is
(21:36):
evil out there, to prove the devil is all these things,
just to educate. He clearly was dedicated to doing this
and was keeping up the work of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
So what a legacy. So such a sad, sad, tragic story.
And there's debate and discussion like this around it. Some
of it's a little harsher and some of the jokes
that are out there and people being mean about who
they want the doll to go out. I've seen that
(21:56):
some of that shit, yes, but it just bottom lines
a track right now, and somebody lost somebody they loved.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
That's such an important point that shouldn't be lost in
a story like this. But you know, it remains to
be seen where Annabel will end up, if she'll go
back to where she was, if she'll continue on tour.
Of course, we'll keep our eye on the situation. But
it is a fascinating story, a tragic story, and just
want to thank you for taking the time to listen
(22:23):
to it and to us. And with that, I'm Amy
robot on behalf of my partner TJ.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Holmes.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Stay safe, everybody,
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Zima
Chris Harrison
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