The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash you you're Ela and I'm Elena and this is [Music] morbid this is moreid what are you
laughing at [Music] we paused before recording this because Mikey was leaving the room and when he
said it's recording as said I'm waiting for you to leave no I said I'm waiting didn't I say I'm waiting for you to
close the door something like that but we were like waiting for you to get the [ __ ] out of here I'm waiting for you to
be out of my [ __ ] presence for me to start my show whoa we're in a place called space had a Diet Coke different
from a Baja Blast but same in its results where I just get crazy yeah I mean it was a busy weekend it was a busy
weekend and there's a busy couple weeks ahead of us I have like always like has been the case the last couple years I
don't know when this comes out so I don't know if you're going to get this and I will have already I think I'm
already at book things I think you've finished them okay uh what either either it's going great or it was great if so
if if you're listening early and AD free then we're at book things right now and
if you don't we have already been at book things it is uh Hey everybody who's listening to it as it's happening it's
going great we're having a lot of fun you guys rule who are there our outfits are phenomenal hey everybody that it's
already happened last week it went so well and thank you for being there and our outfits were phenomenal it's true
and you've seen them by now I'm really just in it for the cute fits time and space don't mean anything
they mean everything whoa contradictions quite the contrary yeah you can still buy the book though buy it
regardless of when you're listening to this you should buy the butcher game you can get it at the butcher game.com you
can get anywhere you get books by the time this is out it's probably going to be on a shelf somewhere and that's fun
go grab it that's really cool I'm also going to sign a bunch randomly just going to go around to different places
so I'll let you know when I do in different states even yeah it's going to be crazy yeah it's going to be this I
can't believe you're going on like a literal sort of book tour yeah I mean it's a it's a little teeny tiny one but
it's still a tour yeah okay it's a tour for me I can tell you that much but I'm excited I'm excited or I was
excited whenever you're listening who knows yeah um but you know what I'm I am eager to tell the story yeah of this
case because this case isn't solved really oh it has a determination okay uh to it but it is
controversial oh the determination and I'd like to give you all the information or as much information as I could find
okay and that Dave could find um and then you guys can make your own determinations but this family really
really would like this to be out there and they're really trying to get attention on it still and they have been
for a long time they've in the good fight so it's important that after you listen to this have your theories yeah
but just remember that like none of us know what happened here real people and that there's
truly there's truly evidence and lack of evidence for both theories so there's no
like it's not cut and dry in my opinion it is not cut and dry either way okay um
so it's just important to remember that that none of us have the evidence to say
either way so you know hopefully we will have it at some point that's that's the whole thing
is I hope that they get to reopen this whole thing and they actually get evidence that they've been looking for
either way just so this family can know what happened have answers yeah because it really is one of those things where
they just don't know what happen and that's and that's got to be really shitty I feel like a lot of people say
that's even worse than knowing yeah is not knowing that's the thing I feel like because then I don't know it's I don't
even close your I always say I don't know if that's the word yeah but just I don't know you just want to know you
know when it's your loved one so this is the mysterious death of Tiffany valiante
okay um it's definitely a mysterious death you're going to I think everybody's going to be scratching their
heads at the end of this the her name sounds familiar yeah so Tiffany Vante was born March 3rd
1997 um she was the youngest child born to step and Diane valiante um from a pretty early age Tiffany showed that she
was a true a yeah like really athletic she showed a real aptitude with softball in junior
high and then she ended up playing volleyball in high school nice and she was so good like so good she went is
hard yeah and it's it's so taxing on your body yeah like crazy she went to oakrest high school and she was one of
their star athletes wow like truly made an impression um and it was actually for
that reason for her skill in leadership abilities in volleyball in high school that she ended up earning a sports
scholarship to attend Mercy College in New York in the fall of 2015 wow good for her that's a big deal that's huge
they don't just hand those out no um when she went there she was planning to study criminal justice um but
unfortunately while she was so excited about her college career to begin her life was tragically cut short before she
even made it to New York no so she was never able to make it to College which is so sad uh on the afternoon of July
12th 2015 Tiffany went to a graduation party at the home of her cousin and this home
was right across the street from her own family house oh wow uh she you know spent the day hanging out she was
swimming hanging out with family around the pool and the party started to kind of wind down in the early evening so she
went back home across the street she showered she changed and she had plans for later in the night so she was going
to be doing that now as the graduation party was wrapping up Diane valiante who is Tiffany's mother yeah got a phone
call from one of Tiffany's friends and this phone call this friend said I have to speak to you right away so they were
like okay so they were like she was like meet me at the house so Diane and her husband Tiffany's dad said their
goodbyes to everybody at the party and they left and went home when they got there they saw that Tiffany's friend and
her mother will were pulled into the driveway and they both jumped out of the car and apparently immediately started
like getting upset and they were accusing Tiffany of taking her friend's debit card and using it without her
permission okay so they were like basically coming to like tell mother like this is what happened uh Diane said
that she remembers there was a lot of yelling so of course they grabbed Tiffany they were like what the hell's
going on she denied it and said I didn't do any of it so after the friend and the
mother ended up leaving cuz they were like we're going to let you guys handle this yeah Dian was like you know maybe
you know they were in Tiffany's car together maybe this friend just just like drop the debit card in the car or
something like let's go check your car and see if it's in some of the crevices or something that I can't even tell you
how many [ __ ] times that's happened to me yes but as they were doing that she did catch Tiffany trying to hide the
girl's credit card in her pocket okay so Diane was pissed because she was like you stole a girl's credit card what the
hell or Li and you lied to me that was like the big like you just made me look crazy here like what the hell which like
teen do this is really shitty teenage stuff but she was mad yeah um but she lectured her like basically like you
know you can't do this that's horrible blah blah um and she said Tiffany seemed very remorseful and explained it was
just like poor judgment like a moment of poor judgment I don't think she I don't
think she really gave a good explanation like even her mom was like that explanation seemed very like
half-hearted maybe there just wasn't one I feel like sometimes you do things when
you're a teenager compl impulsivity yeah it's like who knows who knows if the the
friend and her got into like a little spat argument right I'm not saying it's okay that she took her credit no
obviously not I'm just saying like Teenage stuff sometimes doesn't make any rational sense whatsoever so Diane went
back inside to get her husband cuz she was going to explain what had just happened yeah and they both went back
outside to talk to Tiffany and Tiffany was gone she was just in the driveway and now she's not Diane said she was out
by the car I walked inside to get my husband I only left her for 1 minute I walked back out and she wasn't there
what yeah so this was strange to her parents Diane and Steve they were like what they were like she wouldn't have
just left like she's not a kid who Stomps off in the night and goes and leaves that's just not what happened she
was like and this argument wasn't like explosive it's not like they were like she's screaming and yelling and all that
they were just she was like like what the hell like what's going on she's giving the explanation she like I don't
know if I buy that I'm going to go talk to your dad yeah it wasn't anything crazy that she would like go running off
into the wild blue yonder and even you think like she went to get the mother went to get the father and then they go
back outside and she's gone like you I just picture them walking to the end of the driveway and like looking down the
street and not seeing her anywhere she literally she was like Not only would she not have done that but I don't think
she could have done that like she was like that fast I don't know how she would have left the property in the time
it took me to get in and out like it was like shocking she was like I didn't stay
in there for a like I got her father and brought him outside like she would have
had to run right essentially um and again it was like an argument but it wasn't like this crazy heated argument
and Tiffany had um a phobia of the dark like she was literally like had that phobia she couldn't handle the dark yeah
and by the time they had returned from the party the sun had gone down completely it was dark mhm so she would
not be walking into the darkness by herself and we'll get more into that later because like there was like
coaches that knew this about her like everyone in her life knew that she could not be in the dark oh wow so they were
like all of them were like she would not have walked out into the darkness it just wouldn't be something she could
physically do like or emotionally do yeah so Diane and Stephen went back across the street to see if maybe she
returned to the graduation party like went there yeah I could see them like thinking that no one at her cousin's
house had seen Tiffany since she left the party earlier and then you just think that she like there's so much
family and friends in this one Consolidated area and she just fing banished well and so they called her
phone a bunch of times and nobody answered so they were like all right the only thing I can think of is that she
left out of anger but like even though that doesn't make sense that's literally the only thing I can think of yeah so
they called her sisters Jesse and Crystal and her uncle Michael Vante who was a former New Jersey straight Trooper
okay to help find her they all split up they drove all around the neighborhood looking for her they didn't see her at
all nowhere that doesn't make any sense and after 2 hours no sign of Tiffany so she had to have gotten in a car like
very quickly it's like possibly abducted that's literally so a little after 11:00
p.m. Stephen her father went back to the house and was walking up the driveway and he spotted something in a pile of
leaves at the edge of the Vante property and he he lean down to look and it was Tiffany cell phone oh my stomach just
flipped oh God Tiffany's cell phone in a pile of leaves at their home like right on the edge of their
property yeah and he said he panicked immediately like alarm right away he said Tiffany never went anywhere without
her cell phone no one does and Diane said she even brought a waterproof case so she could bring it into the shower
like you know so when they found that they were like [ __ ] like what does that mean like what is going on within the
half hour of finding that they reported her missing to the police now the family
continued searching for Tiffany for several more hours but they found no sign of her besides that cell phone and
as this is going on about four miles from their home officials from the New Jersey Transit Police had started uh
Gathering to investigate an accident on the Atlantic City rail line according to
the student engineer who was driving the train had been traveling to Atlantic City from Philadelphia at 80 mph and had
just reached mile marker 45 when a pedestrian quote dove in front of the train from an east to west direction oh
wow so at the time it was impossible to identify this person yeah the impact of the train had crushed her skull and
destroyed any identifying features and also what they could see they were confused by because this victim was
dressed only in underwear so they didn't have any identifying documentation like a
driver's license or a student ID like they it was just this person they couldn't identify in their underwear
like only underwear only underwear okay now because of this the individual was pronounced as a person that's all they
could pronounce them as oh my God and the remains were removed from the scene and taken to the medical examiner's
office and I say the remains cuz at this point they literally didn't know who this was like could not determine
whether it was a woman a man a child anything like they couldn't figure out any of this wow and the accident was
immediately believed to be a suicide okay so at the time the investigators didn't treat it like a crime
scene that's not good we we've seen this before when they go in with a preconceived notion [ __ ] goes ay and
that's when these kind of things go on for years why don't you just treat it like a crime until you are
100% shown otherwise yeah because you can't just rule that out right off that I mean people stage things to look like
suicides all the time and also what what a you know what a way to make sure this
person and the marks that you inflicted upon them are not identified right throw
them in front of a train they're not going to be able to tell anything that happened to them before that mhm like
it's it absolutely would be a thing so why are you not even considering that uhhuh and they're in their
underwear do you as strange a big strange so again they didn't treat it like a crime scene so things that would
have ordinarily and obviously been collected as evidence like uh broken pieces of a charm bracelet that were
scattered across the tracks were just left behind oh just the thought or handled carelessly the thought of that
is so sad just like a charm bracelet yeah oh I hate that oh it's awful now in the early hours of the morning as the
valiante family's concern is growing slowly growing into full-blown panic Michael Vante the uncle received a call
from a former coworker asking him to come down to the medical examiner's office oh no when this person was
discovered on the tracks New Jersey Transit officers contacted local police and they asked them are there any
missing persons reports that have happened recently that's when they heard that Tiffany valiante had been reported
missing so because of that investigators believe they were extending professional
courtesy by contacting Michael first yeah instead of grabbing Diane and Steven first yeah I kind of get that I
can understand that after speaking with Michael Vante and having him come down Transit Police quote determined that the
remains were Tiffany what yeah so Diane said I remember a car pulling in and my brother-in-law got out of the back seat
I heard him say Tiffany got hit by a train and my two kids were just screaming and my husband is screaming
and I'm like what did you just say to me cuz like what how could you even Pro she
was in the drive what are you talking about she was standing next to my car one minute she's gone and now she's got
hit by a train TR like what are you talking about incredible shock and again they had just been celebrating Tiffany's
graduation right like what the [ __ ] what do you mean so to make it all worse the
investigators who relayed the news were unable to give any real details about what had happened at the moment um Diane
said they just said she was hit by a train they didn't tell us anything else we thought she was in the car with
someone that the car got hit like they're like they don't even know that she got physically hit by a train her
person so the details the valiante family were seeking finally came the next morning but not from police or
Transit Authority investigators but from the local press great yeah the article described
how Tiffany was quote struck by a train after refusing to move when the conductor sounded its horn just to tell
you ahead of time that will be disproven yeah and also somebody said they like she dove in front of the train which
there's several stories wonder if she's thrown well there's several stories the student engineer tells and then
eventually is found to be lying great uh cuz the sounding the horn thing no I guess we'll see about that okay um the
authorities had labeled her death quote an apparent suicide and the News shocked
everybody including the vantes who couldn't understand why the [ __ ] the Press was reporting Tiffany's death as a
suicide within hours of it happening and Diane said my husband called the paper up to tell them that was wrong but cuz
of course they don't they're like this must be so hard to hear process anything yet and the Press is like goess what
yeah and so they called the transit police and they confirmed that less than 24 hours after Tiffany had died and
without any consideration of any alternative explanations it was just labeled to Suicide that was the end they
didn't investigate at all okay so the new came to Tiffany's friends as very bewildering as well they had never seen
any indication of depression or potential self harm which of course we know sometimes that happens so that's
not like a total perfect indication of what's going on with somebody a lot of I mean I think we just covered one
recently where you know somebody said they were acting totally fine the day before and like why why would why they
do that right I think it's just one of those things but you absolutely can like at least take them as like at their word
that like they she didn't show any indication right uh her friend said she had everything going for her and she did
because she received a volleyball scholarship to Mercy College in New York she'd already connected with her future
roommate there like they had already started bonding MH uh she'd made a long list of summer plans with friends and
family and what from what they could see she didn't have a personal history that
you would expect to see in a teen who has contemplated suicide yeah uh she didn't have a history of mental illness
she had a large support system of family and friends she did have tension with her parents she was a teenager name a
teenager that doesn't and like you know she didn't have like that it sounds like
you know they they were in a rough patch their relationship which again not an indication that like not a total perfect
like confirmation this is why it would happen um but Diane and Steven said they couldn't think of anything that would
explain a suicide either no which again we all know it's one of those things sometimes it does happen when no one can
see it but it does sound like in this case this sounds like definitely no indication like outwardly that this was
happening right and it sounds like shady [ __ ] is coming well that's and also what
you're going to see too is like people had different interpretations of what went on okay so it's like there's that
to consider as well but again there's really to me there's no concrete evidence of suicide here okay there's
circumstantial for sure right but there's also circumstantial evidence to at least entertain the idea that there
was Foul Play here yeah I think there's there's evidence to be set on both sides
and there's evidence against both sides and that's why everything should just be
investigated that's why I think it just needs to be like because it was mishandled and you'll see how much it
nobody can deny this was mishandled but again as Dr Michelle Scott who was a professor at Monmouth University told
reporters after the death she was basically saying what we were saying she said well everything may look fine on
the outside there could be an internal struggle going on that no one knows about and she mentioned times of
transition such as the end of high school or the end of the school year can trigger depression issues and sometimes
kids can act rationally absolutely true but again she wasn't going off into like
the wild blue yonder without a plan without some bonds forming like you know she she had a scholarship that's a big
deal she liked playing sports so she was going to be able to play more Sports at
a high higher level right she was going to a university she was excited about had plans to set criminal justice she
had already connected with that roommate like she was she was going forth you know yeah and again as like people will
mention like there was a strained relationship in the house and like things were a little tense okay sure
maybe like I'm not I wasn't there but she was going to be going to college yeah so if there was there was
going to college you know like yeah but again it's it's really hard to say to understand what people are going through
when you're not in their head MH now like I said even though it seemed like everything was fine she was at least
dealing with a little bit of that emotional upset like the strained relationships uh years later in a
deposition one of Tiffany's friends said she had recently come out to her parents
okay and while they say they were generally supportive of her the friend believed things may have been more
strained than usual in recent weeks okay um her uncle Michael also stated that there was at least some turmoil
happening you know in the house or in her life leading up to that nothing Earth shattering just she wasn't like
the happiest go luckiest in the weeks leading up to this CU she had some stuff going on yeah um in his statement to the
New Jersey State Police which he gave in the early morning hours after her death
he told the detective that Tiffany quote had gotten into some trouble the day before as well as well as the day of her
graduation party and her friend stated that she had quote cut herself and was extremely upset okay so she that is like
history of self harm yes but he also reported that Tiffany's relationship with her parents again was um kind of
had had some tension and that she quote was extremely dist distraught over some of the things that had happened I want
you to take all that but hold on to it okay because it's not exactly what it seems okay yeah so four
days after Tiffany's death investigators brought in blood hounds to track Tiffany
scent in an effort to find any additional details I mean again she was found in her underwear she didn't leave
in her underwear yeah and where I mean where's her clothing exactly so the hounds traced her path from the
valiant's driveway and May's Landing along the rocky overgrown wooded area along the train tracks and then the
trail ended in the remote area of woods where she ultimately died um and despite
having walked the entire route Tiffany supposedly took that night they were unable to locate any of her belongings
including her shoes her shorts anything well that doesn't make any sense and the
investigators felt that the dogs had confirmed their belief that she had become distraught and left the house
after fighting with her mother and eventually found herself standing at the tracks that's how they took it okay
again I'm a little confused especially with ph where is her clothes in the phobia of the darkness like walking in
the middle of the woods exactly in New in New Jersey yeah that's some densely wooded areas and it's like pitch black
yeah now based on the statement taken from Michael valiante and the description of the accident provided by
the student engineer driving the Train the medical examiner labeled the death of suicide and closed the case 5 days
later Diane and Steven had Tiffany's remains cremated oh which Diane did later say was the quote worst decision
of her life oh but she said at the time she quote just assume the investigators did what they were supposed to do I mean
yeah why wouldn't you assume that yeah we like to believe that know they're supposed to do what they what they do
but my goodness oh it made it made their lives a lot harder well I can't imagine
having to even make that decision of what to do with your child's remains you would never feel like you made the right
decision remains that are not in great condition right it's not like you're going to be
able to have an open casket funeral it's not like you're you know I'm sure that played in that might have played into it
you know I was wondering that myself yeah I don't want this isn't who she was kind of thing yeah so the vantes held a
memorial mass for Tiffany on July 20th and everyone assumed that you know that the case was closed we just grieve now
but the natural process of grieving kept getting interrupted did because so many
questions kept popping up and weird inconsistencies are popping up aside from their disbelief that Tiffany would
even have contemplated much less completed suicide there was a lot of strange aspects of the case that they
just couldn't figure out they were like this just isn't it's not all fitting into the pieces here the biggest one
being where the [ __ ] are her clothes exactly do those get found yes okay so for one when she disappeared from the
house that night we're talking about the clothes now she had been wearing a shirt
shorts new shoes and a headband but when she was struck by the train she was only
in her underwear and investigators eventually after more searching did find her shirt in the woods nearby but only
her shirt they found her shirt next to are you ready an axe with red markings oh what the
[ __ ] yep yep a an axe with red markings on it what I I'm not kidding you I have
Goosebumps all over my entire body right now like my legs have Goosebumps what the [ __ ] we're going to get back to that
so don't worry hold on to that one too and this is why you can't just take the suicide face value no and only her shirt
so where's her shoes shorts and headband we'll find those too what the [ __ ] so it
was wasn't just the missing evidence and what they believed was investigators complete unwillingness to consider
alternatives that gave the vantes some pause here it was also that the facts were not looking to support
investigators conclusions it looked like the other way around very much so according yeah according to her sister
Jesse the family found it impossible to believe that late on a summer night she would suddenly leave a family gathering
discard her cell phone walk from our family's home this is a quote in maze Landing more than 4 miles to a remote
thickly wooded section of railroad tracks and along the way remove her jean shorts headband and sneakers before
stepping onto the tracks and in front of a train traveling at 80 mph that doesn't
make any sense like when you really lay it out like that you're like so what like it's the clothes for me like I I
just feel like God forbid if she was going to end her life why would she undress first I people do
for sure things at the end of their life that are hard to explain that's why this
is so confusing yeah because you can really look at either side of this and you can say yeah you can't discount
suicide you can't but you also can't discount that there was Foul Play here because then you go to the axe with the
with the red markings on it next to her shirt you you have to see both sides of at least I can plainly see that there's
not significant evidence to say that this is totally a suicide yeah no but there's not significant evidence to say
the other side but there's significant evidence to question both of those things yes 100% And to open again and
really take a look but as we'll see mishandled now Not only was the behavior itself outside of character for Tiffany
whose toxicology report showed no signs of drug or alcohol in her system but the
time of day that she disappeared again made it more unbelievable like we've been saying her fear of the dark
according to Diane it was so severe that she was quote petrified of the dark and
would normally never Venture anywhere alone at night especially not the middle of the [ __ ] Woods exactly and other
family and friends also said that time of day was just they were like she had a crippling fear of the dark it wasn't
like I don't like the dark it was a crippling fear and um Allison Walker who coached Tiffany's Junior travel
volleyball team said it's just not the Tiffany I knew Tiffany was deathly Afraid of the Dark had to have the TV on
if the room was dark the thought of her choosing to walk through not just the dark alone but a dark wooded area alone
never in my wildest dreams would that happen no that's the thing and in the weeks following their daughter's death
Diane took to started going on like long walks just trying to clear her head of course you know grieving trying to
grieve any way she could right it was during one of these walks through the woods don't you dare even tell me that
she found her daughter's clothing and this is the thing it was she was it was the woods leading towards the tracks
because she would go on this like walk probably just to you know maybe try to get in her heads space too in Tiffany's
head space she spotted something under a tree set back about a dozen feet from the tracks when she got closer she found
Tiffany's shoes she said they were quote neatly lined up as though they've been placed
there carefully she also found her headband a large keychain like those usually affixed to rental car keys and a
sweatshirt she'd never seen before what the [ __ ] and the fact that investigators
searched this area yeah and didn't see that which means possibly two things one they didn't investigate well enough
because those things were always there or two Somebody went back and put them there exactly and either way [ __ ]
weird and the location was not along the Route the blood hounds had traced weeks
earlier and it was well over a mile from where Tiffany had been struck by the train so that makes no sense yeah that
would mean she'd have to take her headband and shoes off and whose keychain is that and whose sweatshirt
sweatshirt yep and yeah so when the med I'm sorry I'm dumbfounded yeah and it gets Wilder
how even so when the medical examiner performed his valuation of Tiffany's remains there was no mention of her feet
being super dirty or having SU ained any injuries which you would think they would if she was walking barefoot
through the [ __ ] would had to walk almost two almost two miles bare feet through the woods you're going to get
cut and that's over Rocky dirty terrain to get where she was at the train so Diane called her husband who called the
state police and directed them to the location to get the evidence smart of her to not even touch that and the
couple assumed the discovery of new evidence that completely contradicted the early conclusion of suicide would
finally lead to a full investig of what happened to their daughter I think anyone with any kind of gray
matter between their ears would probably feel the same are you ready to get really angry
yeah so they're like cool we're going to get an investigation now cuz what the [ __ ] whose [ __ ] is this like what's
going on before the evidence could be analyzed Transit detectives misplaced the keychain oh and they misplaced the axe
don't know where it went and they have never been found that is the most negligent [ __ ] there is
a possible this woman got this young woman got hit by a train she had her skull crushed by a train
supposedly and there's an axe found with red markings on it and before you can test that axe it gets
misplaced and then so the a that would that train would have covered up any Blow from an axe yeah 100% so the axe
went missing and the keychain and the keyy chain that she didn't know where that key chain was what about the
sweatshirt I have no idea what well they also ended up finding Tiffany's shirt on one along the
Route and it had just been put in a knotted plastic bag when it was collected like when they collected it
instead of putting it in an actual evidence container in that knotted plastic bag that The investigators just
threw it into had grown mold due to improper handling and was deemed completely untestable what's going on here yeah I
don't know how any I understand why people have ideas about what they think happened here because obviously but like
you got to at least question this stuff like what that's some shady [ __ ] going
on cuz even if you think it was a suicide it's like but what's going on here like what how do you how I don't
know how you misplace an axe that's what I don't that's a big problem for me that's a big problem for me I've lost a
lot of things in my life never 10 fingers up everybody right go never have I ever lost an ax I've never done that
and I'm willing to bet not many of you put a finger down well in the poor Vante family this is could have been vital
evidence of course and what a [ __ ] disappointment they found it and to hear that it was just mishandled and
lost like that would leave such a bad feeling in my gut and so while the evidence may have gone missing
statements taken from the student engineer about the night of Tiffany's death remains oh this [ __ ] and
as far as the vantes were concerned they're they only confirmed their suspicion that somebody something
somebody was hiding something yeah because in his initial statement to the Transit Police the student engineer told
the detective quote as he approached mile marker 45 The Pedestrian dove in front of the train now this would imply
that Tiffany jumped in front of the train which gave the train no time to stop yeah because she just dove in front
of it uhhuh but then in later interviews the student engineer described Tiffany as standing on the tracks those are two
very different things very different things also he told detectives he'd seen Tiffany quote jump or dive a distance of
15 to 20 ft from a standing position is that possible like either way those are three very
different things and he said those allinone sitting or at different times different times okay but when
investigators examined the area from which she supposedly jumped they found it was covered with trees and a builtup
stone Railway grade which would have made jumping very difficult uhhuh finally the student engineer said he
sounded the Train's horn multiple times before the impact but Tiffany didn't make any attempt to move but
investigators checked the Train's uh blackbox that it has uh-oh it showed that the horn had
not been used at all not at all he said several times and she didn't move not once why would you lie about
that it's like they didn't teach you in train school that there's a black box that if you say the horn sounded not
train school not when you say the horn sounded they can go check and see if the horn sounded like you're going to get
caught myad I actually didn't even know that like you should know that as a student engineer I feel like that's like
student engineer 101 is like here's a black box I feel train School am I right like train school so what's that about
did she dive in front of the train and you couldn't stop was she standing on the tracks and refused to move right or
was she standing and then Dove 15 to 20 ft and also did you Sound the Horn no you didn't cuz we've already checked so
what happened student engineer I don't what I'm so confused but the final pieces of compelling
evidence collected by the vantes and the weeks after Tiffany died were the most haunting I would say Oh no just moments
after Diane went inside to get her husband after she had the the argument with Tiffany yeah a hunter's trap camera
captured an image of Tiffany walking down the driveway phone in hand phone in hand and when Diane came out of the
house just seconds later her daughter was gone and there was no sign of her in either direction that camera caught her
walking to the end of the driveway with her phone and her mom came out a minute later and she was gone so it she had to
have gotten in a car right well it says when they retrieved the cell phone data from the carrier it showed that A call
came into to the phone about a half hour after Tiffany disappeared and it was answered which would she have died by
that point well later the phone was discovered at the edge of the valiente's property so she there's no how could
Tiffany have answered the phone right if the phone was several miles from where she was at that point the phone was back
at the Vante property when she was already at the train tracks how did someone answer the phone
unless that phone was put therea you wish they knew like who called so they could say like was it Tiffany that I
mean obviously it's not Tiffany that answered so who the like was it a man's voice was it a woman's voice it's such a
mystery like how did all of this and when you look it up the the camera like the photo is very haunting I yeah I bet
so because Tiffany's cause of death had been Li listed as a suicide and no one had been able to provide like solid
evidence to argue otherwise oh I just looked up that picture state and local authorities had no reason to reopen the
case according to them and further investigate which I don't know about that but right after a year of just
frustration grief and unanswered questions Diane and Steven valiante finally decided to take action in order
to compel the medical examiner's office to just change the cause of death right they just wanted it change from suicide
to undetermined that's all they were because if they did that then it would allow the case to be reopened but
because they were refusing to do anything they couldn't reopen it right so in July 2016 the valant reached out
to the damato law firm which was a local agency who agreed to take the case probone no actually and in a statement
to the Press Paul damato said we looked at all her medical records there wasn't any suggestion of any alcohol problems
drug problems or depression and he said the state's inquiries was flawed it was unprofessional uninformed and it relied
on equally superficial investigative efforts by New Jersey Transit the medical examiner's finding regarding
manner of death issued only 5 days after the incident should unquestionably be retracted and nullified I mean yeah now
usually for like civil law lawsuits are usually for financial compensation that's usually the endgame but the
vantes were not looking for a [ __ ] dime yeah they just wanted this change so they could reopen the case that's all
they were looking for here and also by filing the suit damato would cause to subpoena any records and evidence
related to the incident and for new interviews to be conducted for any investigators anything anybody that was
overlooked so this kind of helped like get it going without get it going kind of thing like it was like once you open
the lawsuit you kind of have to dig into the case a little bit um he said we believe there are people out there who
know something including several people who were not interviewed by New Jersey Transit so that's weird so the first
lawsuit which was filed against the medical examiner's office and then a few other state agencies that were first
involved in the initial investigation claimed a lot of things but one of the things it claimed was Tiffany valiante
did not take her life but that she was the victim of a conspiracy to inflict bodily harm violently abducted on the
night of July 12th 2015 and subsequently murdered the vantes believe that instead
of what they were like investigators were saying that she jumped out in front of the train as authorities were saying
she was kidnapped from the front yard murdered and her killer had hid his crime by hurling her in the path of an
oncoming locomotive I can see why people might think that which is UN it's believe
it is believable like this is not out of the realm of of possibility not at all and again if it's not out of the realm
of possibility and there are things that you can match up with this that's cause
enough for me to open it back up absolutely there is so a year later when the case still hadn't reached the court
damato amended the lawsuit removing the various state agencies and instead filing the claim against male Do's 1 to5
and female Do's 1 to5 their names are kind of like erroneous here so just a bunch of people like specific people uh
while the complaint itself remained like pretty much intact and it relied on the
same complaints and circumstantial evidence that the family had ra raised pre previously it also had some new
statements including testimony from Louise Housman who was a former medical investigator for the Atlantic County
Medical examiner's Office okay Housman was brought in to review all the information collected and she did mhm um
and anything that the family had collected in the two years since Tiffany's death and after carefully
considering the evidence she concluded quote there are enough unanswered questions false statements conflicting
accounts regarding this fatality an incomplete investigative information which leads me to the conclusion that
the death certificate should be amended from suicide to undetermined absolutely now while housman's evaluation pointed
to the evidence the inconsistencies you know other previously mentioned unusual aspects of
this whole case as reason enough to reopen the investigation she also noted that the medical examiner's assessment
of the circumstances of the death included quote inaccurate un unsubstantiated and false
information this false information and unsubstantiated information included various statements attributed to several
of Tiffany's friends and her uncle I was waiting for that to come back which were
used to justify the ter determination of suicide all those parties claimed they never made those statements or that they
were yeah what the [ __ ] or that they were taken and twisted uh what for example the case
File from New Jersey Transit which included several statements about Tiffany's supposedly distraught mental
state by her uncle Michael Vante he claims he never made them how are they just like yep I'm like
did you guys think that this it wasn't going to get out what you report and her uncle wasn't going to be like yeah I
didn't [ __ ] say that no they probably didn't care cuz look nothing's happen I don't know how people can be
such [ __ ] I really don't especially when it comes to like somebody's life and like this family losing their young
teenage daughter just going off to college like the prime of her entire life well and those those statements
about her self Haring that you were like that's the history of nope he never W and they also weren't support supported
by any physical evidence on her body are you kidding me that's a [ __ ] up thing to lie about yeah and in a
statement to the Press Houseman told a reporter within 36 hours the medical examiner determined this to be a suicide
without any information on her medical history without anybody talking to the family there was no investigative done
to this and she in in most cases or in some many cases when somebody takes their own life investigators will
conduct what's called a psycholog iCal autopsy okay uh they work with the family the individual's medical team you
know Mental Health Providers to determine what could have been the circumstances or reasons just part of
the process yeah and that did not happen here the medical examiner totally skipped this step and instead just
relied on his misunderstanding of statements from Tiffany's uncle and friends all of whom at the time were in
like a State of Shock at this moment had no idea what was going on and just didn't even say the things they are
claiming they didn't even say these things like there should have been some deeper digging at the very least this is
so [ __ ] shady yeah so in December news of the lawsuit had reached beyond the local press and this case was
featured in a massive expose on the state's medical examiner system and in the article which included a lot of
cases because they were really digging in for this the reporters point to a long list of really shocking
shortcomings and flat out failure on the part of the New Jersey medical examiner's office oh no uh body parts
going missing I'm sorry what quote decomposing bodies stacked two to a gurnie in countless unanswered questions
that make it so family members don't have any [ __ ] clue how their family died family member died so has this
office been shut down um so also just as like a quick side note because it's just reminded me of it if
you guys aren't watching listening to Noble this podcast she just recommended it to me today I'm going to start it on
my way called Noble go listen to it it's fascinating it's shocking it's horrifying uh and really well done it
immediately reminded me the same think of it so the report on the medical examiner office supported what dumato in
the vantes had come to believe that even if this is like limited resources or overworked staff the state was really
LAX on their investigating of Tiffany's death and in this situation they probably rushed to the conclusion just
to move the case from open to closed get it off their things I mean if they've got decomposing bodies in a room and
like decomposing bodies stack two to a gurnie missing body parts yeah someone being found on a train track and a
student engineer claiming that they dove in front of it get it off our desk they
probably just whoop that I'm just in a state of absolute bewilderment right now yeah so a few months after filing their
amended case with the Superior Court damato added additional supporting documentation including a statement from
Dr Donald Jason Dr Donald Jason was an independent forensic pathologist hired by the vantes to review the case Okay Dr
Jason remove reviewed the material related to the death and he said yeah he said the bias towards suicide negatively
affected the way in which the scene was processed by all members of the team both responding police and medical
examiner staff and he said this was contrary to the standard approach to investigation that dictates
investigators treat the location as a crime scene until it's determined to be otherwise right totally contradictory to
that and after reviewing the information Dr Jason concluded the story that the vi
victim jumped onto the tracks is suspicious the victim may have been sleeping or already dead when the when
struck by the train why did they say that because they were saying that's a possibility oh okay simply put as far as
Dr Jason could tell the medical was way too quick to label this death of suicide
without first ruling out other possibilities which they did not do they didn't rule out anything else he
actually said quote I've never seen another case mishandled like this WOW which is something and it's literally
like a young girl like and this this story going public and the Valiant you know putting pressure on this case it
put a lot of pressure on the medical examiner's office and they finally agreed to reevaluate the case good but
but what are they going to do and it's the same it's the same office think they're going shortcoming two
unfortunately her body has been cremated so it's not like you can even exume the
body and no but they can look back at all the the reports that they have and the pictures and the everything but it's
it's the same office you think they're going to come back and be like wow we really did [ __ ] this but like I hate
when they do that I'm like bring it some else can another office take it over like is that but you're right The
Cremation makes it so difficult because it's like you have to rely now on what this office documented right and of
course they found that the initial finding of suicide was appropriate and they we're not going to change it [ __ ]
that incorrect yeah so yeah so the problem with the civil suit that the vantes had against the state and the
amended suit is that like they they so they're alleging that crimes have been committed kidnapping and murder which we
know it could possibly be that but there's no solid evidence to support that and the theory wasn't really
expanded upon in these suits in a good way there is some evidence to support that like the phone
being there's evidence that's the thing like there is evidence right but it's like circumstantial it's like they can't
pinpoint it to any person person or any theory of like who this is or why this happened it's I'm so [ __ ] angry that
they lost quote unquote lost that axe well and that's the thing it's like and I'm not this is I'm not saying like they
don't have compelling evidence I'm saying the suit did not argue the evidence okay enough to make a
compelling argument for it so and it's like that's frustrating because like they do there could be a compelling
narrative here yeah um like the biggest one for me is she's found in only her underwear so to me that looks like there
was sexual assault here or something awful and especially with her clothes being scattered in different areas
within like a mile of the sight all over the place like and yeah but the in the impact of the train had caused
considerable damage which hid any you know premortem trauma so it's like you don't
have that to go on either and it's like if they still had the axe they could have tested the axe they could have
looked up pictures and matched it up with pictures seing what yeah I'm wondering too about that sweatshirt I'm
like was DNA testing done on that sweatshirt at all to see if any of Tiff DNA was on that or done maybe somebody
in the systems [ __ ] DNA also what's even more frustrating because again found in her underwear where's the rape
kit yeah never conducted a rape kit or even considered conducting a rape kit could they have in the condition that
her body was they could have absolutely why didn't and now they can't ever do that now they can't but the best diato
and the vantes could argue was that the location that the investigators discovered some of Tiffany's belongings
in along with the axe was also a known party spot with a local fraternity house that itself does not tell you anything
because I'm not labeling fraternities as like they're the problem but this particular one was under investigation
for past sexual assaults dude so that is suspicious uhhuh and also after Tiffany's death a local Wawa
employee told investigators he quote overheard a group of teenage boys talking about Tiffany having been
kidnapped at gunpoint humiliated forced to strip down to her underwear and driven to the train station by her
abductors oh but they L they said it was circum substantial and unsubstantiated can you try to
substanti that's the thing can you go [ __ ] interview some people that's pretty on the nose start asking people
in that area if they I mean somebody must have seen something and somebody oh if that's true somebody out there has a
guilty conscience and they better come forward and say some [ __ ] because if that actually happened somebody there
felt like that was wrong there's you can't tell me that everybody in that room was okay with that if that did
happen yeah so come on forward it's your time to shine and like we said the suicide theory is supported by equally
circumstantial evidence it's not like the suicide theory has the solid evidence and the other Theory doesn't
have any no there's evidence on both sides as like you know like it's just I don't even know I feel like for me at
least I feel like the other side the foul play side has play has way more AB it really does I agree cuz really the
only evidence for suicide in in my mind is she was in a little bit of trouble and perhaps there was turmoil at home
but nobody even really knows if there was turmoil at home because it sounds like people's statements were taken out
of context there was some there was some stuff at home the the mother and um Diane and Tiffany had to be ordered to
go to therapy together at one point so they're definitely was not like so there's turmoil at home it wasn't
rainbows and butterflies but like whose house is yeah but so there's turmoil at home she just got in trouble you know
like just finished high school I guess so that is like that's the thing there's like there is that that was it's not
like everything was um but different places but I feel like there's a way longer list on the
side of f play and that's why it's so hard and who knows I mean like you hope that that wa and play didn't make that
up but like that's a crazy [ __ ] statement it's wild and it fits perfectly but who knows like you never
know when certain details about the kid came out they leaked all that that's the
thing you can go back and forth on this but that is weird yeah and I feel like we've given you two of these in a row
actually I just thought of that where it's like you can go on either side and at least put some evidence on either
side I feel like with this one honestly there's like more well that's the thing I feel like with both of them I lean
more to one side but I can't can't completely decide conclusively say what way I lean completely I really hope both
of these cases get solved now I'm like so in these parent it's been almost 10 years and they don't have any it just
doesn't feel like suicide to me it really doesn't it doesn't feel like suicide to me no and if it is prove it
that's the thing like prove it you're not proving it you're not proving it I just feel like people it doesn't sound
like anyone was interviewed ever like was anyone spoken to other than like a couple friends in her un whose
statements were taken out of context or just completely fabricated yeah it just doesn't they to like the coaches and
stuff and like people who knew her who who all agreed she wouldn't have gone wandering into the dark that was one of
the biggest that's the thing things and then like why didn't anybody I'm who's to say maybe they did or maybe they
didn't but like did anybody go to that frat house and interview some frat brothers just I mean not because like
it's a frat house but because under investigation and then that WWA employees yeah
statement well the problem was too that investigators mishandled this case so badly that evidence was destroyed yeah
and completely completely [ __ ] lost yeah I don't know how you lose an axe I really don't I don't either but we see
that all the time that they'll be like oh yeah we lost it and it's like how the [ __ ] does that happen cuz it's always
something that would like probably prove one way or another and it's like huh well unfortunately the lawsuits were
pretty unsuccessful in getting the death certificates changed but in the years since Tiffany's death Diane and Steven
Vante have pressed on they want to find out the truth and in 2019 damato filed another lawsuit so he's still on it good
this time against New Jersey Transit and demanded that they share any physical evidence that they could that would help
determine what happened on the night of Tiffany's death I wonder if there still is any the process was super slow but
eventually they did get access to the physical evidence including so there is which I didn't even know about this
until the end of this case including a Blood Stained towel and a t-shirt so you would go wow I wonder
what's going to happen when they test that well they sent it to an independent lab for testing and the lab determined
that the items had been so mishandled that they were of no scientific probative value no I'm so mad right now according
according to the lab the items had been improperly stored in plastic containers which allowed for moisture inducing
bacterial contamination that made the evidence of no investigatory value who the [ __ ] is part of this chain of you
got be who the [ __ ] cuz this happens twice a big ding bull of stupid ding to be part of an investigatory team at a
[ __ ] scene of a death and not know how to properly store evidence where the [ __ ] were you on that day in the academy
because that's insane how how to store evidence so that it doesn't get eaten up by bacteria how
the [ __ ] do you not know that and also it already [ __ ] happened once so you would think that you would literally
especially on the same [ __ ] case you wouldn't make that mistake again all of the evidence for this case was
completely unusable and that's weird and that doesn't happen it's at least at the
very least it's fu supect and you should look back into this at the very [ __ ] least but then
it's like what do you do because there's no evidence I know like all of it's contaminated or [ __ ] lost well and in
2022 her uh Tiffany's case appeared on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries I saw that yeah um Diane restated her belief that
there was Foul Play here I think there was and the family also increased the reward for information leading
prosecution to $40,000 wow it's still uncollected to this day and the evidence the episode of
Unsolved Mysteries didn't didn't really bring in any new information but it did raise awareness of this case which is
important Steven her father said it opened a lot of people's eyes everybody heard this knit bit little piece here
little piece there but they never knew the whole story until they watched it meanwhile the vantes are continuing to
work with Paul damato which I was like this guy that guy in the hopes of finding new information that's going to
lead to any answer they just want a definitive answer I hope he helps them get it cuz he seems determined as [ __ ]
damato said I have a strong belief that something is going to break this year I truly do that's what he told in 2023 but
as of yet it has not broken but we are only in 2024 guys like if you know [ __ ]
anything I mean and again they just want to know they just want to know they believe she was met with Foul Play there
is evidence to believe that right there is circumstantial evidence for suicide I
can understand that yeah they just want to know and if there's evidence for Foul
Play which to me there's plenty why are we not investigating this further we just want to you just got to
know CU if if this is Foul Play Somebody got away with it or some buddies got away with it and why are we just letting
that happen and that's just going to make them more bold bold to do this again yeah wow this stressed me out I feel for
this family I bad for this family I feel for it all and it's also you're that's the community that you're living in and
you put your faith and you put your trust in law enforcement in the community that you're in and so
mishandled it was compl like I'd be so angry and I'm sure that I'm I can't imagine how angry they are I hope a lot
of people got slapped with a lot of uh demotion and firings after this cuz it's like probably not how do you mishandle
evidence like that how do you lose an axe how do you mishandle every bit of evidence like that like that's what I
don't get something's got to give here I yeah I hope that he was on to something when
he said like he think something was going to break in 2023 and it's just taken a little longer let put it out
there cuz you know guys let's sometimes we'll cover a case and something will happen it's this like weird thing that
we were talking about it recently Universe let's get it solved Universe let's go and we're not taking credit for
any of those anybody obviously not if you think if you think that go no it's just sometimes the universe works in
mysterious ways yeah The Vibes are out there let's I I want this family to know what the [ __ ] happened yes I just want
that for them so hopefully more knowledge of this case is Is What It Takes tell your friends about the case
ex sh this share that episode watch the Netflix know someone in New Jersey talk to them see see what they know you
know this is weird yeah so that's the mysterious death of Tiffany valiante and it's a sad one I had heard
of that but I did not know all of the details and I'm shocked I'm in a state of absolute shock right now I just
really I just want answers man I really do and her family deserves them want it so with that being said we hope you keep
listening and we hope you keep it weird but not so weird that if you have about this case you don't come forward because
guess what that's wrong and karma's going to get you so if you have information about the case you better
come forward you little poop hell yeah I just spit across the room it was gross [Music]
[Music] [Music]

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

Brief Summary

Tiffany Valiante's mysterious death raises questions of foul play amid mishandled evidence and a rushed suicide ruling.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante. Tiffany Valiante's tragic story unfolds, revealing a series of shocking events leading to her death.
A Sudden Disappearance. Tiffany vanishes after a minor argument with her mother, leaving her family in panic.
Tragic News. The Valiante family receives devastating news about Tiffany's fate, leading to confusion and disbelief.
The Missing Clothes Mystery. Tiffany was found in her underwear, raising questions about her disappearance.
The Axe Discovery. An axe with red markings was found near Tiffany's shirt, deepening the mystery.
Evidence Mishandled. Crucial evidence, including a keychain and axe, went missing during the investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

That's even worse than knowing, yeah, is not knowing.

Discussion about the pain of uncertainty.

4:22WatchSep 23, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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