Annabelle Doll Missing: Real-Life Horror Behind The Ragged Haunted Doll And The Warrens' Warning

Horror and Paranormal enthusiasts are well aware about the demonically possessed doll, Annabelle, a raggedy doll which was linked to some of the most bizarre and inhumane cases from the 1970s. The doll was captured and locked by the paranormal investigators, Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Rita Warren, with a warning that the doll should never be unlocked. 

While some believe that the stories surrounding the doll are just horror stories meant for Halloween nights and slumber parties, the history of the doll and everyone linked to it, has often made people cautious about it. However, after being locked in for over five decades, the news recently went rife that Annabelle is no longer in her box, which has left the internet in a buzz. 

The origin of the Ann Doll 

According to the New England Society For Psychic Research, the Ann Doll was purchased by a mother in 1970 from a hobby store. The doll was a birthday present for her daughter, Donna, who was preparing to graduate from college with a nursing degree. While the raggedy doll was an odd choice as a gift for a 28-year-old, what followed was further disturbing for Donna, her roommate, Angie, and their common friend, Lou. Angie was also a nurse and lived with Donna in a tiny apartment. When Donna brought the Ann doll home, she didn't give it much thought and placed her on her bed, but soon after, something extremely strange started happening.

At first, it was small movements, like a change in how the doll was placed. However, over time these changes became more noticeable. The doll would be in a completely different room. Angie and Donna would, at times, find the doll with its legs crossed and arms folded, and other times, it would be found upright, standing on its feet. Things changed when, several times, Donna left Ann Doll on her couch, only to find her back in bed with the bedroom door closed. These increased instances alerted the two young women, and what followed was beyond anything explainable.

The Ann Doll and the cryptic messages

As if the movements made by the Ann Doll didn't frighten the girls enough, Donna and Angie started finding messages on parchment paper that read, "Help Us" and "Help Lou". A month after the experience began, the notes left the two nurses unsettled. The notes feature the handwriting of a small child. However, it was not the messages that creeped them out; it was the way they were written. What further worried the girls was the fact that Donna and Angie never kept parchment paper at their place which raised concerns as to where the notes were coming from.

Meet Annabelle Higgins, the girl who allegedly possessed the doll

Donna and Angie were terrified of what the Ann Doll had been up to. The change in positions, rooms and notes could mess with anyone's psyche. So, one night, when they found the doll moved back to the bed, despite it being a regular occurrence, they felt as if something had changed. Upon inspecting the doll, they found a blood-like red substance on Ann's hands and chest. Scared and desperate for help, the girls decided to seek expert advice.

Their search led them to a medium that organised a seance to contact the spirit. This led Donna and Angie to be introduced to Annabelle Higgins, the spirit of a young girl who had resided on the property before the apartments were built. Annabelle recalled her life as a happy young girl whose lifeless body was found in the field upon which the complex was now built. Hearing the young child's plea for attention and considering her past, Donna and Angie gave her permission to inhibit the doll and stay with them. However, they soon found out that Annabelle, despite how sweet she seemed, had the most malicious intentions. 

The incident with Angie and Donna's friend Lou

Lou was Donna and Angie's close friend. However, he had never been fond of the Ann Doll and warned the young ladies to get rid of the evil doll. Against his pleas, the girls kept the Ann Doll, which later turned out to be one of the most horrid decisions they ever made. One night, Lou woke up in a state of panic, only to find out he was stuck in his own body and the Ann Doll at his foot. The haunted doll soon moved and strangled him, leaving him paralysed and gasping for air. Nonetheless, he woke up the next morning unharmed.

The night's instance has made Lou determined to get rid of the doll. However, as he planned a way to get rid of the doll, he heard someone in Donna's room. However, as he got up to check, he found the room empty, with only Annabelle on the floor in a corner. As he reached for the doll, he found himself unable to breathe, cut and bleeding. Seven distinct claw marks were found on his chest, all hot-like burns, yet again, they healed almost immediately. 

The Warrens' investigation

Donna had finally realised that the spirit of that young girl was inhuman and demonic. She contacted the Episcopal priest, Father Hegan, who contacted Father Cooke, who reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren. The duo soon contacted Donna, Lou and Angie and reached the conclusion that the doll was not possessed but was being used as a medium to possess one of the three occupants. The Warrens had Father Cooke perform an exorcism before taking the doll with them.

However, their journey back home was one filled with vicious hatred and danger, with the car swerving at every turn. The brakes and steering of their vehicle failed, but before they could meet a deadly end, Ed took out some holy water and doused the doll. The doll's activities continued for weeks before a special case was built for the doll, which has since remained locked. 

The accident and Warrens' warning 

To this day, Annabelle resides inside the case at the Occult Museum. However, the doll is alleged to be responsible for the death of a young man who came to the Museum with his girlfriend on a motorcycle to see the doll. The man mocked the Ann Doll and laughed, stating that if the doll could scratch, then he wanted to be scratched. While Ed Warren asked him to leave, it was already too late, the man died in an accident while returning from the museum. His girlfriend, who was hospitalised for over a year, later revealed that they were laughing about the Ann Doll when the motorcycle suddenly lost control. Since then, Ed, till the time he was alive, explicitly warned the visitors not to challenge evil.

Is Annabelle missing from the Occult Museum?

It was reported in 2025 that the Ann Doll had gone missing earlier in May 2025 during the Devils on the Run tour. Soon after, a fire at the adjacent Nottoway Plantation, which is now the Nottoway Resort in White Castle, heightened rumours that Annabelle's purported abduction was somehow related to the fire. However, on May 24, 2025, a TikTok by NESPR lead called the news fake and revealed the doll was safely locked away in the museum. 

One can only hope that the doll remains locked in the Occult Museum. What are your thoughts on Annabelle's back story? Let us know.

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