'Annabelle' doll tour to continue after paranormal expert's sudden death

The tour featuring the "haunted" Annabelle doll will continue even after the sudden death of the paranormal expert who was leading it.

PEOPLE Magazine reported that the New England Society for Psychic Research said in a press release that the remaining events under the Devils on the Run tour will push through as they believe that its late senior lead investigator Dan Rivera "would have wanted the work to continue—bringing people together, sharing knowledge, and honoring the memory of Ed & Lorraine Warren," who founded NESPR.

"We will carry his spirit with us in everything we do," the organization is quoted as saying.

The purported haunted doll, which inspired entries in The Conjuring horror franchise, will go on with its scheduled appearances later this year in Maine in September as well as Illinois and Kentucky in October.

The NESPR confirmed that Rivera died on July 13. He was 54.

News outlet The Evening Sun reported that Rivera was in the middle of the said tour with NESPR members in Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. But past 8 p.m. of July 13, firefighters and medical personnel had been called to a hotel in Gettysburg for a report of CPR in progress on a male patient of Rivera's age.

According to the Adams County Coroner's Office, Rivera's death didn't look suspicious. He was also found alone in his room.

The cause of his death remains pending to date and could take several months, the office said.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Annabelle's origins date back to 1968. It's one of the most famous cases taken on by the Warrens.

The Warrens' careers and case files inspired The Conjuring (2013), which led to sequels The Conjuring 2 (2016) and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021). The franchise also includes prequels Annabelle (2014), Annabelle: Creation (2017), and Annabelle Comes Home (2019). It also has spiritual prequels in The Nun (2018) and The Nun II (2023).

The franchise, dubbed The Conjuring Universe, got a Guinness World Record for being the highest-grossing horror film series at the global box office, making over $2.2 billion across its eight entries as of Feb. 27, 2024.