While her family and friends were searching for her, Tiffany was tragically struck by a train approximately four miles away from where she was last seen. The investigators initially concluded that Tiffany had died by suicide, but her parents later became convinced that she had been murdered.
Tiffany Valiante’s parents are adamant that their daughter, despite having gone through a tough year, was not suicidal. They reject the claim made by New Jersey Transit that Tiffany had stepped onto the tracks to avoid accusations of negligence and assert that the investigation into her death was botched by the authorities.
The Beginning
On July 12, 2015, Tiffany Valiante, who was 18 years old at the time, and her parents attended a graduation party in their hometown of Mays Landing, New Jersey.
At approximately 9 pm, one of Tiffany’s friends informed her parents that Tiffany was using her debit card. The conversation between Tiffany’s parents and the friend lasted less than 10 minutes, during which Tiffany denied using the card.
While searching Tiffany’s car, Dianne, Tiffany’s mother, observed Tiffany slip the debit card into her back pocket. Dianne then went inside to find her husband, but when they returned to the car, Tiffany was nowhere to be found.
After Tiffany failed to return home a few hours later, her parents became concerned and started calling her. However, they soon discovered that her phone was at the bottom of the driveway. At 11:30 pm, they contacted the police, but unbeknownst to them, Tiffany had already been killed by an oncoming transit train 27 minutes earlier.
Tiffany Valiante had faced several personal struggles in the days, weeks, and months leading up to her death on July 12, 2015.
Tiffany’s relationship with her mother, Dianne, had deteriorated to the point where they had several clashes. In fact, child protective services had visited their home three times in 2014 due to these conflicts.
After her grandfather’s passing, Tiffany reportedly coped by smoking marijuana, stealing money, and skipping classes. She came out as gay in early 2015 and began dating women. Additionally, she had confided in friends about feelings of loneliness and was known to have engaged in self-harm.
Theories Behind Tiffany’s Death
Tiffany’s death was initially registered as a suicide on the day after she passed away. However, her parents dispute this conclusion, as they did not believe that Tiffany was suicidal and thought that she seemed happy.
Tiffany’s family did not accept the suicide ruling, and they found several clues that led them to suspect that she had been murdered. For instance, when Tiffany’s parents last saw her, she was fully clothed, but when she was found, she was only wearing her underwear and was barefoot. Additionally, two weeks after her death, Dianne discovered Tiffany’s missing trainers and headband neatly piled up more than a mile away from where she died on the tracks.
In an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries,” one of the investigators shared a theory based on the last image of Tiffany, which depicts her fully clothed and car headlights visible in the corner of the frame. According to the theory, Tiffany may have voluntarily entered the car with someone she knew or trusted before discarding her phone and subsequently being murdered.
Another theory put forward by a private investigator posits that Tiffany may have been killed before being placed on the train tracks. This theory is supported by the discovery of a significant amount of blood at the location where Tiffany was struck by the train.
Incomplete Investigations
According to a report by The Daily Beast, a significant portion of the evidence collected by investigators in Tiffany Valiante’s case had been improperly stored and contaminated. This includes Valiante’s shirt, which could have contained crucial DNA evidence.
Although there was a thorough investigation into Tiffany Valiante’s case, “Unsolved Mysteries” did not include certain details. One significant detail that was omitted is that the police had lost a potential murder weapon.
According to NJ.com, an axe with “red markings” was discovered near the location where Tiffany’s body was found. Tiffany’s family had hoped that forensic analysis of the axe would provide more information about her death, but the axe went missing while in storage before it could be tested.
Despite being officially listed as a suicide, Tiffany Valiante’s death continues to be a source of controversy and disbelief among her family and supporters. They reject the notion that Tiffany dropped her phone, walked four miles, and took her own life by throwing herself in front of a moving train.
Credits: Vocal Media