When eighteen-year-old recent high school graduate Tiffany Valiante was struck and killed by a train in July 2015, the news came as a shock to friends and family, who couldn’t fathom why the teenager had been out walking the tracks that night. Their shock and confusion quickly turned to outrage and disbelief when, less than twenty-four hours later, Tiffany’s death was ruled a suicide by the New Jersey Transit Police, who were tasked with investigating the incident. As far as everyone knew, Tiffany was a happy, outgoing girl with a bright future and a sports scholarship to Mercy College in the fall—they couldn’t think of a single reason why she would have wanted to end her life.
Despite the official conclusions about her death, the Valiante family have never believed Tiffany intentionally stepped in front of the train that night, and in the months and years that have passed since her death, many other people have come to a similar conclusion. In fact, they’re confident the evidence and numerous unanswered questions suggest Tiffany had not gone into the woods voluntarily and that her death is at best suspicious, and at worst a murder.
Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring Me The Axe Podcast for research and writing support!
References
Conklin, Eric. 2023. “Family of Tiffany Valiante marks 8 years since teen’s death with 2nd docuseries in the works.” Press of Atlantic City, July 24.
Daily Beast. 2022. “Was high school grad being chased before grisly train death?” Daily Beast, July 16.
D’Amato Law. 2017. ““It’s just not the Tiffany I knew,” said Allison Walker, head women’s volleyball coach at Stockton University who coached Valiante in the East Coast Crush Volleyball Club, a junior travel volleyball team. “The time of night really didn’t sit right with me.” D’Amato Law. July 17. Accessed August 20, 2024. https://damatolawfirm.com/in-the-news/who-killed-tiffany-valiante-questions-persist-as-family-marks-the-third-anniversary-of-her-mysterious-death/.
—. 2022. Mishandling Key Evidence In 2015 Tiffany Valiante Suspicious Death Case Impeded Independent Forensic DNA Analysis, Reports Renowned Lab. March 29. Accessed August 20, 2024. https://damatolawfirm.com/in-the-news/mishandling-key-evidence-in-2015-tiffany-valiante-suspicious-death-case/.
DeAngelis, Martin. 2016. “Death of teen not suicide, suit says.” Press of Atlantic City, July 20: 3.
DiFilippo, Dana, and Joe Hernandez. 2017. Family of N.J. teen killed by train disputes suicide ruling, sues to prove kidnap-murder plot. July 19. Accessed August 19, 2024. https://whyy.org/articles/family-of-nj-teen-killed-by-train-disputes-suicide-ruling-sues-to-prove-kidnap-murder-plot/.
Houseman, H. Louise. 2017. Investigative report submitted by H. Louise Hoiusman, Senior Medical Investigator. Investigative Report, Egg Harbor, NJ: D’Amato Law.
Huba, Nicholas. 2015. “Suicides shock, sadden teens.” Press of Atlantic City, July 19: 1.
Jason, Dr. Donald. 2018. Re: Death of Tiffany Valiante. Forensic evaluation, Egg Harbor, NJ: D’Amato Law.
Low, Claire. 2018. “A walk thgrough hell.” Press of Atlantic City, December 16: 1.
Morgan, Kate. 2022. Tiffany Valiante’s last night. November. Accessed August 15, 2024. https://sjmagazine.net/featured/tiffany-valiantes-last-night.
Stephen F. Valiante and Diane F. Valiante v. Does et al. 2017. ATL-L-1411-17 (Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, July 18).
Sterling, Stephen, and S.P. Sullivan. 2017. Death and dysfunction: HGow N.J. fails the dead, betrays the living and is a national disgrace. December 14. Accessed August 19, 2024. https://death.nj.com/.
Connect with Wondery
http://wondery.com/shows
http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia
http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia
http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia
#wondery #morbid #podcast #truecrime #truestory
source
First comment let’s go!
😢❤ Thanks for the video and story!
Negligent or complicit?
This is so heartbreaking. I really feel for this family.
I had such a hard time finishing this episode because of my frustrations with how this was mishandled. Ugh. My heart aches for everyone
why is it lowkey feeling like someone threatened that student engineer into giving false claims about that impact & its even weirder that the evidence was mishandled not once, but TWICE? yea its some sketchy shit going on smh. i hope this all gets resolved for the family’s sake, this is a devastating case.
I wonder if an officer involved in the investigation had a son in that fraternity 🤔
Oh my gosh. Listened to the end of this during work and now on my lunch and cannot find the bit where you guys said to go listen to a podcast??? What was the name of that?!! Someone help!
Railroads have big money. They for sure covered something up & had help from local authorities. That’s my theory 🙁
What is the podcast you mentioned ?! I havent heard of that one yet !
This is one of the better dives into the case Others have stated a it if the reported info were facts Listening with friends and have to comment on the bemusement shared at the idea of athletic scholarships (volley ball football )to get into universities I think America is the only place to equate sports with a cede mic ability?!
Is there a video with this aswell
Dang that was a great ep!
I’d be checking financials between the railroad company and these people at the government agencies obstructing the investigation
I'm in the middle of this podcast right now and am so pissed at how things were handled. I'm hoping people lost their jobs!
Can we talk about how BRILLIANT she was to keep her bracelet? She was going to study criminal justice, she knew she needed something to be recognizable. Whether she was still wearing it or hid it in her underwear, it was SO INCREDIBLY SMART!
Insane Episode! TY!
Please cover the murder of John okeefe
I think the student conductor saw something and was threaten. The people linked have connections to law enforcement maybe son or grandson
Did anyone find the podcast they're recommending? Noble??!! Or Nobel??! Either way I can't find it. Please help😅
This is the most interesting and fucking frustrating episode by far! Wtf…this poor girl and her family! I would look at the frat house and who has family in the police dept. They were covering something up on purpose! There can't actually be that many fucktards in one town…can there? Thanks for keeping me hooked on true crime!
8:51 heavy on the teenagers do stupid stuff for no reason sometimes. When I was 15, my mom was in the shower and I randomly decided to take her car for a spin around the block? Like WHY? Wasn’t going anywhere, was absolutely going to get caught, no license 😭