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The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast

September 23, 2024 / 01:04:34

This episode covers the mysterious death of Tiffany Valiante, discussing the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the subsequent investigation. The hosts, Ash, Ela, and Elena, highlight key details about Tiffany's life, her athletic achievements, and the events leading up to her tragic death.

Tiffany Valiante was a promising athlete with a volleyball scholarship to Mercy College. On July 12, 2015, she attended a graduation party but went missing shortly after returning home. Her family became concerned when she disappeared after a minor argument with her mother regarding a friend's debit card.

After searching for hours, Tiffany's family found her cell phone near their home. Later that night, a train struck a pedestrian, who was later identified as Tiffany. The initial investigation labeled her death a suicide, but the family and friends expressed disbelief, citing Tiffany's lack of suicidal behavior and her fear of the dark.

As the hosts discuss the inconsistencies in the investigation, they reveal that Tiffany's clothing was found scattered in the woods, along with an axe with red markings. The mishandling of evidence by investigators raised further questions about the circumstances of her death.

The episode emphasizes the family's ongoing quest for answers and the need for a thorough re-examination of the case, highlighting the importance of public awareness in seeking justice for Tiffany Valiante.

TLDR

Tiffany Valiante's mysterious death raises questions of foul play versus suicide amid mishandled evidence and inconsistencies in the investigation.

Episode

1:04:34
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hey weirdos I'm Ash you you're Ela and I'm Elena and this is [Music] morbid this is moreid what are you
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laughing at [Music] we paused before recording this because Mikey was leaving the room and when he
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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
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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
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be out of my [ __ ] presence for me to start my show whoa we're in a place called space had a Diet Coke different
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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
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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
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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
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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
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if if you're listening early and AD free then we're at book things right now and
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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
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going great we're having a lot of fun you guys rule who are there our outfits are phenomenal hey everybody that it's
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already happened last week it went so well and thank you for being there and our outfits were phenomenal it's true
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and you've seen them by now I'm really just in it for the cute fits time and space don't mean anything
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they mean everything whoa contradictions quite the contrary yeah you can still buy the book though buy it
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regardless of when you're listening to this you should buy the butcher game you can get it at the butcher game.com you
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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
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go grab it that's really cool I'm also going to sign a bunch randomly just going to go around to different places
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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
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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
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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
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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
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case because this case isn't solved really oh it has a determination okay uh to it but it is
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controversial oh the determination and I'd like to give you all the information or as much information as I could find
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okay and that Dave could find um and then you guys can make your own determinations but this family really
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really would like this to be out there and they're really trying to get attention on it still and they have been
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for a long time they've in the good fight so it's important that after you listen to this have your theories yeah
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but just remember that like none of us know what happened here real people and that there's
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truly there's truly evidence and lack of evidence for both theories so there's no
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like it's not cut and dry in my opinion it is not cut and dry either way okay um
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so it's just important to remember that that none of us have the evidence to say
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either way so you know hopefully we will have it at some point that's that's the whole thing
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is I hope that they get to reopen this whole thing and they actually get evidence that they've been looking for
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either way just so this family can know what happened have answers yeah because it really is one of those things where
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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
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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
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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
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know when it's your loved one so this is the mysterious death of Tiffany valiante
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okay um it's definitely a mysterious death you're going to I think everybody's going to be scratching their
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heads at the end of this the her name sounds familiar yeah so Tiffany Vante was born March 3rd
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1997 um she was the youngest child born to step and Diane valiante um from a pretty early age Tiffany showed that she
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was a true a yeah like really athletic she showed a real aptitude with softball in junior
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high and then she ended up playing volleyball in high school nice and she was so good like so good she went is
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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
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their star athletes wow like truly made an impression um and it was actually for
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that reason for her skill in leadership abilities in volleyball in high school that she ended up earning a sports
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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
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they don't just hand those out no um when she went there she was planning to study criminal justice um but
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unfortunately while she was so excited about her college career to begin her life was tragically cut short before she
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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
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12th 2015 Tiffany went to a graduation party at the home of her cousin and this home
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was right across the street from her own family house oh wow uh she you know spent the day hanging out she was
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swimming hanging out with family around the pool and the party started to kind of wind down in the early evening so she
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went back home across the street she showered she changed and she had plans for later in the night so she was going
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to be doing that now as the graduation party was wrapping up Diane valiante who is Tiffany's mother yeah got a phone
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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
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like okay so they were like she was like meet me at the house so Diane and her husband Tiffany's dad said their
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goodbyes to everybody at the party and they left and went home when they got there they saw that Tiffany's friend and
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her mother will were pulled into the driveway and they both jumped out of the car and apparently immediately started
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like getting upset and they were accusing Tiffany of taking her friend's debit card and using it without her
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permission okay so they were like basically coming to like tell mother like this is what happened uh Diane said
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that she remembers there was a lot of yelling so of course they grabbed Tiffany they were like what the hell's
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going on she denied it and said I didn't do any of it so after the friend and the
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mother ended up leaving cuz they were like we're going to let you guys handle this yeah Dian was like you know maybe
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you know they were in Tiffany's car together maybe this friend just just like drop the debit card in the car or
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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
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how many [ __ ] times that's happened to me yes but as they were doing that she did catch Tiffany trying to hide the
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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
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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
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teen do this is really shitty teenage stuff but she was mad yeah um but she lectured her like basically like you
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know you can't do this that's horrible blah blah um and she said Tiffany seemed very remorseful and explained it was
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just like poor judgment like a moment of poor judgment I don't think she I don't
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think she really gave a good explanation like even her mom was like that explanation seemed very like
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half-hearted maybe there just wasn't one I feel like sometimes you do things when
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you're a teenager compl impulsivity yeah it's like who knows who knows if the the
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friend and her got into like a little spat argument right I'm not saying it's okay that she took her credit no
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obviously not I'm just saying like Teenage stuff sometimes doesn't make any rational sense whatsoever so Diane went
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back inside to get her husband cuz she was going to explain what had just happened yeah and they both went back
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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
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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
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what yeah so this was strange to her parents Diane and Steve they were like what they were like she wouldn't have
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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
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was like and this argument wasn't like explosive it's not like they were like she's screaming and yelling and all that
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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
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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
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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
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back outside and she's gone like you I just picture them walking to the end of the driveway and like looking down the
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street and not seeing her anywhere she literally she was like Not only would she not have done that but I don't think
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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
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it took me to get in and out like it was like shocking she was like I didn't stay
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in there for a like I got her father and brought him outside like she would have
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had to run right essentially um and again it was like an argument but it wasn't like this crazy heated argument
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and Tiffany had um a phobia of the dark like she was literally like had that phobia she couldn't handle the dark yeah
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and by the time they had returned from the party the sun had gone down completely it was dark mhm so she would
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not be walking into the darkness by herself and we'll get more into that later because like there was like
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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
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like all of them were like she would not have walked out into the darkness it just wouldn't be something she could
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physically do like or emotionally do yeah so Diane and Stephen went back across the street to see if maybe she
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returned to the graduation party like went there yeah I could see them like thinking that no one at her cousin's
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house had seen Tiffany since she left the party earlier and then you just think that she like there's so much
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family and friends in this one Consolidated area and she just fing banished well and so they called her
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phone a bunch of times and nobody answered so they were like all right the only thing I can think of is that she
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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
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they called her sisters Jesse and Crystal and her uncle Michael Vante who was a former New Jersey straight Trooper
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okay to help find her they all split up they drove all around the neighborhood looking for her they didn't see her at
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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
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very quickly it's like possibly abducted that's literally so a little after 11:00
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p.m. Stephen her father went back to the house and was walking up the driveway and he spotted something in a pile of
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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
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flipped oh God Tiffany's cell phone in a pile of leaves at their home like right on the edge of their
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property yeah and he said he panicked immediately like alarm right away he said Tiffany never went anywhere without
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her cell phone no one does and Diane said she even brought a waterproof case so she could bring it into the shower
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like you know so when they found that they were like [ __ ] like what does that mean like what is going on within the
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half hour of finding that they reported her missing to the police now the family
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continued searching for Tiffany for several more hours but they found no sign of her besides that cell phone and
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as this is going on about four miles from their home officials from the New Jersey Transit Police had started uh
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Gathering to investigate an accident on the Atlantic City rail line according to
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the student engineer who was driving the train had been traveling to Atlantic City from Philadelphia at 80 mph and had
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just reached mile marker 45 when a pedestrian quote dove in front of the train from an east to west direction oh
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wow so at the time it was impossible to identify this person yeah the impact of the train had crushed her skull and
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destroyed any identifying features and also what they could see they were confused by because this victim was
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dressed only in underwear so they didn't have any identifying documentation like a
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driver's license or a student ID like they it was just this person they couldn't identify in their underwear
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like only underwear only underwear okay now because of this the individual was pronounced as a person that's all they
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could pronounce them as oh my God and the remains were removed from the scene and taken to the medical examiner's
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office and I say the remains cuz at this point they literally didn't know who this was like could not determine
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whether it was a woman a man a child anything like they couldn't figure out any of this wow and the accident was
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immediately believed to be a suicide okay so at the time the investigators didn't treat it like a crime
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scene that's not good we we've seen this before when they go in with a preconceived notion [ __ ] goes ay and
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that's when these kind of things go on for years why don't you just treat it like a crime until you are
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100% shown otherwise yeah because you can't just rule that out right off that I mean people stage things to look like
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suicides all the time and also what what a you know what a way to make sure this
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person and the marks that you inflicted upon them are not identified right throw
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them in front of a train they're not going to be able to tell anything that happened to them before that mhm like
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it's it absolutely would be a thing so why are you not even considering that uhhuh and they're in their
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underwear do you as strange a big strange so again they didn't treat it like a crime scene so things that would
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have ordinarily and obviously been collected as evidence like uh broken pieces of a charm bracelet that were
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scattered across the tracks were just left behind oh just the thought or handled carelessly the thought of that
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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
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valiante family's concern is growing slowly growing into full-blown panic Michael Vante the uncle received a call
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from a former coworker asking him to come down to the medical examiner's office oh no when this person was
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discovered on the tracks New Jersey Transit officers contacted local police and they asked them are there any
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missing persons reports that have happened recently that's when they heard that Tiffany valiante had been reported
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missing so because of that investigators believe they were extending professional
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courtesy by contacting Michael first yeah instead of grabbing Diane and Steven first yeah I kind of get that I
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can understand that after speaking with Michael Vante and having him come down Transit Police quote determined that the
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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
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I heard him say Tiffany got hit by a train and my two kids were just screaming and my husband is screaming
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and I'm like what did you just say to me cuz like what how could you even Pro she
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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
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hit by a train TR like what are you talking about incredible shock and again they had just been celebrating Tiffany's
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graduation right like what the [ __ ] what do you mean so to make it all worse the
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investigators who relayed the news were unable to give any real details about what had happened at the moment um Diane
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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
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someone that the car got hit like they're like they don't even know that she got physically hit by a train her
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person so the details the valiante family were seeking finally came the next morning but not from police or
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Transit Authority investigators but from the local press great yeah the article described
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how Tiffany was quote struck by a train after refusing to move when the conductor sounded its horn just to tell
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you ahead of time that will be disproven yeah and also somebody said they like she dove in front of the train which
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there's several stories wonder if she's thrown well there's several stories the student engineer tells and then
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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
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authorities had labeled her death quote an apparent suicide and the News shocked
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everybody including the vantes who couldn't understand why the [ __ ] the Press was reporting Tiffany's death as a
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suicide within hours of it happening and Diane said my husband called the paper up to tell them that was wrong but cuz
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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
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yeah and so they called the transit police and they confirmed that less than 24 hours after Tiffany had died and
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without any consideration of any alternative explanations it was just labeled to Suicide that was the end they
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didn't investigate at all okay so the new came to Tiffany's friends as very bewildering as well they had never seen
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any indication of depression or potential self harm which of course we know sometimes that happens so that's
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not like a total perfect indication of what's going on with somebody a lot of I mean I think we just covered one
00:18:47
recently where you know somebody said they were acting totally fine the day before and like why why would why they
00:18:54
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
00:19:02
that like they she didn't show any indication right uh her friend said she had everything going for her and she did
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because she received a volleyball scholarship to Mercy College in New York she'd already connected with her future
00:19:14
roommate there like they had already started bonding MH uh she'd made a long list of summer plans with friends and
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family and what from what they could see she didn't have a personal history that
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you would expect to see in a teen who has contemplated suicide yeah uh she didn't have a history of mental illness
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she had a large support system of family and friends she did have tension with her parents she was a teenager name a
00:19:40
teenager that doesn't and like you know she didn't have like that it sounds like
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you know they they were in a rough patch their relationship which again not an indication that like not a total perfect
00:19:52
like confirmation this is why it would happen um but Diane and Steven said they couldn't think of anything that would
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explain a suicide either no which again we all know it's one of those things sometimes it does happen when no one can
00:20:05
see it but it does sound like in this case this sounds like definitely no indication like outwardly that this was
00:20:12
happening right and it sounds like shady [ __ ] is coming well that's and also what
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you're going to see too is like people had different interpretations of what went on okay so it's like there's that
00:20:23
to consider as well but again there's really to me there's no concrete evidence of suicide here okay there's
00:20:30
circumstantial for sure right but there's also circumstantial evidence to at least entertain the idea that there
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was Foul Play here yeah I think there's there's evidence to be set on both sides
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and there's evidence against both sides and that's why everything should just be
00:20:44
investigated that's why I think it just needs to be like because it was mishandled and you'll see how much it
00:20:50
nobody can deny this was mishandled but again as Dr Michelle Scott who was a professor at Monmouth University told
00:20:57
reporters after the death she was basically saying what we were saying she said well everything may look fine on
00:21:04
the outside there could be an internal struggle going on that no one knows about and she mentioned times of
00:21:10
transition such as the end of high school or the end of the school year can trigger depression issues and sometimes
00:21:16
kids can act rationally absolutely true but again she wasn't going off into like
00:21:22
the wild blue yonder without a plan without some bonds forming like you know she she had a scholarship that's a big
00:21:29
deal she liked playing sports so she was going to be able to play more Sports at
00:21:32
a high higher level right she was going to a university she was excited about had plans to set criminal justice she
00:21:38
had already connected with that roommate like she was she was going forth you know yeah and again as like people will
00:21:46
mention like there was a strained relationship in the house and like things were a little tense okay sure
00:21:52
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
00:21:59
going to college you know like yeah but again it's it's really hard to say to understand what people are going through
00:22:07
when you're not in their head MH now like I said even though it seemed like everything was fine she was at least
00:22:13
dealing with a little bit of that emotional upset like the strained relationships uh years later in a
00:22:18
deposition one of Tiffany's friends said she had recently come out to her parents
00:22:23
okay and while they say they were generally supportive of her the friend believed things may have been more
00:22:27
strained than usual in recent weeks okay um her uncle Michael also stated that there was at least some turmoil
00:22:36
happening you know in the house or in her life leading up to that nothing Earth shattering just she wasn't like
00:22:44
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
00:22:51
New Jersey State Police which he gave in the early morning hours after her death
00:22:56
he told the detective that Tiffany quote had gotten into some trouble the day before as well as well as the day of her
00:23:02
graduation party and her friend stated that she had quote cut herself and was extremely upset okay so she that is like
00:23:11
history of self harm yes but he also reported that Tiffany's relationship with her parents again was um kind of
00:23:19
had had some tension and that she quote was extremely dist distraught over some of the things that had happened I want
00:23:27
you to take all that but hold on to it okay because it's not exactly what it seems okay yeah so four
00:23:34
days after Tiffany's death investigators brought in blood hounds to track Tiffany
00:23:39
scent in an effort to find any additional details I mean again she was found in her underwear she didn't leave
00:23:45
in her underwear yeah and where I mean where's her clothing exactly so the hounds traced her path from the
00:23:51
valiant's driveway and May's Landing along the rocky overgrown wooded area along the train tracks and then the
00:23:58
trail ended in the remote area of woods where she ultimately died um and despite
00:24:04
having walked the entire route Tiffany supposedly took that night they were unable to locate any of her belongings
00:24:12
including her shoes her shorts anything well that doesn't make any sense and the
00:24:17
investigators felt that the dogs had confirmed their belief that she had become distraught and left the house
00:24:21
after fighting with her mother and eventually found herself standing at the tracks that's how they took it okay
00:24:27
again I'm a little confused especially with ph where is her clothes in the phobia of the darkness like walking in
00:24:33
the middle of the woods exactly in New in New Jersey yeah that's some densely wooded areas and it's like pitch black
00:24:42
yeah now based on the statement taken from Michael valiante and the description of the accident provided by
00:24:48
the student engineer driving the Train the medical examiner labeled the death of suicide and closed the case 5 days
00:24:56
later Diane and Steven had Tiffany's remains cremated oh which Diane did later say was the quote worst decision
00:25:03
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
00:25:09
yeah why wouldn't you assume that yeah we like to believe that know they're supposed to do what they what they do
00:25:17
but my goodness oh it made it made their lives a lot harder well I can't imagine
00:25:22
having to even make that decision of what to do with your child's remains you would never feel like you made the right
00:25:27
decision remains that are not in great condition right it's not like you're going to be
00:25:33
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
00:25:39
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
00:25:47
memorial mass for Tiffany on July 20th and everyone assumed that you know that the case was closed we just grieve now
00:25:55
but the natural process of grieving kept getting interrupted did because so many
00:25:59
questions kept popping up and weird inconsistencies are popping up aside from their disbelief that Tiffany would
00:26:07
even have contemplated much less completed suicide there was a lot of strange aspects of the case that they
00:26:13
just couldn't figure out they were like this just isn't it's not all fitting into the pieces here the biggest one
00:26:20
being where the [ __ ] are her clothes exactly do those get found yes okay so for one when she disappeared from the
00:26:28
house that night we're talking about the clothes now she had been wearing a shirt
00:26:32
shorts new shoes and a headband but when she was struck by the train she was only
00:26:37
in her underwear and investigators eventually after more searching did find her shirt in the woods nearby but only
00:26:46
her shirt they found her shirt next to are you ready an axe with red markings oh what the
00:26:56
[ __ ] yep yep a an axe with red markings on it what I I'm not kidding you I have
00:27:07
Goosebumps all over my entire body right now like my legs have Goosebumps what the [ __ ] we're going to get back to that
00:27:13
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
00:27:21
so where's her shoes shorts and headband we'll find those too what the [ __ ] so it
00:27:27
was wasn't just the missing evidence and what they believed was investigators complete unwillingness to consider
00:27:33
alternatives that gave the vantes some pause here it was also that the facts were not looking to support
00:27:41
investigators conclusions it looked like the other way around very much so according yeah according to her sister
00:27:48
Jesse the family found it impossible to believe that late on a summer night she would suddenly leave a family gathering
00:27:55
discard her cell phone walk from our family's home this is a quote in maze Landing more than 4 miles to a remote
00:28:03
thickly wooded section of railroad tracks and along the way remove her jean shorts headband and sneakers before
00:28:09
stepping onto the tracks and in front of a train traveling at 80 mph that doesn't
00:28:13
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
00:28:20
just feel like God forbid if she was going to end her life why would she undress first I people do
00:28:28
for sure things at the end of their life that are hard to explain that's why this
00:28:32
is so confusing yeah because you can really look at either side of this and you can say yeah you can't discount
00:28:43
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
00:28:50
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
00:28:58
not significant evidence to say that this is totally a suicide yeah no but there's not significant evidence to say
00:29:04
the other side but there's significant evidence to question both of those things yes 100% And to open again and
00:29:11
really take a look but as we'll see mishandled now Not only was the behavior itself outside of character for Tiffany
00:29:19
whose toxicology report showed no signs of drug or alcohol in her system but the
00:29:24
time of day that she disappeared again made it more unbelievable like we've been saying her fear of the dark
00:29:31
according to Diane it was so severe that she was quote petrified of the dark and
00:29:36
would normally never Venture anywhere alone at night especially not the middle of the [ __ ] Woods exactly and other
00:29:42
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
00:29:49
like I don't like the dark it was a crippling fear and um Allison Walker who coached Tiffany's Junior travel
00:29:56
volleyball team said it's just not the Tiffany I knew Tiffany was deathly Afraid of the Dark had to have the TV on
00:30:02
if the room was dark the thought of her choosing to walk through not just the dark alone but a dark wooded area alone
00:30:09
never in my wildest dreams would that happen no that's the thing and in the weeks following their daughter's death
00:30:15
Diane took to started going on like long walks just trying to clear her head of course you know grieving trying to
00:30:21
grieve any way she could right it was during one of these walks through the woods don't you dare even tell me that
00:30:28
she found her daughter's clothing and this is the thing it was she was it was the woods leading towards the tracks
00:30:33
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
00:30:40
head space she spotted something under a tree set back about a dozen feet from the tracks when she got closer she found
00:30:47
Tiffany's shoes she said they were quote neatly lined up as though they've been placed
00:30:53
there carefully she also found her headband a large keychain like those usually affixed to rental car keys and a
00:31:02
sweatshirt she'd never seen before what the [ __ ] and the fact that investigators
00:31:07
searched this area yeah and didn't see that which means possibly two things one they didn't investigate well enough
00:31:15
because those things were always there or two Somebody went back and put them there exactly and either way [ __ ]
00:31:22
weird and the location was not along the Route the blood hounds had traced weeks
00:31:27
earlier and it was well over a mile from where Tiffany had been struck by the train so that makes no sense yeah that
00:31:34
would mean she'd have to take her headband and shoes off and whose keychain is that and whose sweatshirt
00:31:40
sweatshirt yep and yeah so when the med I'm sorry I'm dumbfounded yeah and it gets Wilder
00:31:49
how even so when the medical examiner performed his valuation of Tiffany's remains there was no mention of her feet
00:31:55
being super dirty or having SU ained any injuries which you would think they would if she was walking barefoot
00:32:01
through the [ __ ] would had to walk almost two almost two miles bare feet through the woods you're going to get
00:32:07
cut and that's over Rocky dirty terrain to get where she was at the train so Diane called her husband who called the
00:32:14
state police and directed them to the location to get the evidence smart of her to not even touch that and the
00:32:20
couple assumed the discovery of new evidence that completely contradicted the early conclusion of suicide would
00:32:26
finally lead to a full investig of what happened to their daughter I think anyone with any kind of gray
00:32:32
matter between their ears would probably feel the same are you ready to get really angry
00:32:37
yeah so they're like cool we're going to get an investigation now cuz what the [ __ ] whose [ __ ] is this like what's
00:32:44
going on before the evidence could be analyzed Transit detectives misplaced the keychain oh and they misplaced the axe
00:32:53
don't know where it went and they have never been found that is the most negligent [ __ ] there is
00:33:02
a possible this woman got this young woman got hit by a train she had her skull crushed by a train
00:33:11
supposedly and there's an axe found with red markings on it and before you can test that axe it gets
00:33:18
misplaced and then so the a that would that train would have covered up any Blow from an axe yeah 100% so the axe
00:33:27
went missing and the keychain and the keyy chain that she didn't know where that key chain was what about the
00:33:31
sweatshirt I have no idea what well they also ended up finding Tiffany's shirt on one along the
00:33:40
Route and it had just been put in a knotted plastic bag when it was collected like when they collected it
00:33:48
instead of putting it in an actual evidence container in that knotted plastic bag that The investigators just
00:33:54
threw it into had grown mold due to improper handling and was deemed completely untestable what's going on here yeah I
00:34:04
don't know how any I understand why people have ideas about what they think happened here because obviously but like
00:34:11
you got to at least question this stuff like what that's some shady [ __ ] going
00:34:15
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
00:34:23
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
00:34:28
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
00:34:36
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
00:34:43
evidence of course and what a [ __ ] disappointment they found it and to hear that it was just mishandled and
00:34:51
lost like that would leave such a bad feeling in my gut and so while the evidence may have gone missing
00:34:57
statements taken from the student engineer about the night of Tiffany's death remains oh this [ __ ] and
00:35:02
as far as the vantes were concerned they're they only confirmed their suspicion that somebody something
00:35:08
somebody was hiding something yeah because in his initial statement to the Transit Police the student engineer told
00:35:14
the detective quote as he approached mile marker 45 The Pedestrian dove in front of the train now this would imply
00:35:22
that Tiffany jumped in front of the train which gave the train no time to stop yeah because she just dove in front
00:35:28
of it uhhuh but then in later interviews the student engineer described Tiffany as standing on the tracks those are two
00:35:36
very different things very different things also he told detectives he'd seen Tiffany quote jump or dive a distance of
00:35:43
15 to 20 ft from a standing position is that possible like either way those are three very
00:35:52
different things and he said those allinone sitting or at different times different times okay but when
00:35:57
investigators examined the area from which she supposedly jumped they found it was covered with trees and a builtup
00:36:04
stone Railway grade which would have made jumping very difficult uhhuh finally the student engineer said he
00:36:11
sounded the Train's horn multiple times before the impact but Tiffany didn't make any attempt to move but
00:36:18
investigators checked the Train's uh blackbox that it has uh-oh it showed that the horn had
00:36:25
not been used at all not at all he said several times and she didn't move not once why would you lie about
00:36:32
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
00:36:38
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
00:36:44
caught myad I actually didn't even know that like you should know that as a student engineer I feel like that's like
00:36:49
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
00:36:58
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
00:37:06
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
00:37:14
what happened student engineer I don't what I'm so confused but the final pieces of compelling
00:37:23
evidence collected by the vantes and the weeks after Tiffany died were the most haunting I would say Oh no just moments
00:37:32
after Diane went inside to get her husband after she had the the argument with Tiffany yeah a hunter's trap camera
00:37:39
captured an image of Tiffany walking down the driveway phone in hand phone in hand and when Diane came out of the
00:37:46
house just seconds later her daughter was gone and there was no sign of her in either direction that camera caught her
00:37:53
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
00:38:00
have gotten in a car right well it says when they retrieved the cell phone data from the carrier it showed that A call
00:38:06
came into to the phone about a half hour after Tiffany disappeared and it was answered which would she have died by
00:38:15
that point well later the phone was discovered at the edge of the valiente's property so she there's no how could
00:38:21
Tiffany have answered the phone right if the phone was several miles from where she was at that point the phone was back
00:38:30
at the Vante property when she was already at the train tracks how did someone answer the phone
00:38:38
unless that phone was put therea you wish they knew like who called so they could say like was it Tiffany that I
00:38:46
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
00:38:54
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
00:39:04
so because Tiffany's cause of death had been Li listed as a suicide and no one had been able to provide like solid
00:39:11
evidence to argue otherwise oh I just looked up that picture state and local authorities had no reason to reopen the
00:39:19
case according to them and further investigate which I don't know about that but right after a year of just
00:39:24
frustration grief and unanswered questions Diane and Steven valiante finally decided to take action in order
00:39:31
to compel the medical examiner's office to just change the cause of death right they just wanted it change from suicide
00:39:38
to undetermined that's all they were because if they did that then it would allow the case to be reopened but
00:39:44
because they were refusing to do anything they couldn't reopen it right so in July 2016 the valant reached out
00:39:52
to the damato law firm which was a local agency who agreed to take the case probone no actually and in a statement
00:39:59
to the Press Paul damato said we looked at all her medical records there wasn't any suggestion of any alcohol problems
00:40:06
drug problems or depression and he said the state's inquiries was flawed it was unprofessional uninformed and it relied
00:40:13
on equally superficial investigative efforts by New Jersey Transit the medical examiner's finding regarding
00:40:19
manner of death issued only 5 days after the incident should unquestionably be retracted and nullified I mean yeah now
00:40:28
usually for like civil law lawsuits are usually for financial compensation that's usually the endgame but the
00:40:34
vantes were not looking for a [ __ ] dime yeah they just wanted this change so they could reopen the case that's all
00:40:42
they were looking for here and also by filing the suit damato would cause to subpoena any records and evidence
00:40:49
related to the incident and for new interviews to be conducted for any investigators anything anybody that was
00:40:55
overlooked so this kind of helped like get it going without get it going kind of thing like it was like once you open
00:41:02
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
00:41:07
know something including several people who were not interviewed by New Jersey Transit so that's weird so the first
00:41:14
lawsuit which was filed against the medical examiner's office and then a few other state agencies that were first
00:41:20
involved in the initial investigation claimed a lot of things but one of the things it claimed was Tiffany valiante
00:41:26
did not take her life but that she was the victim of a conspiracy to inflict bodily harm violently abducted on the
00:41:33
night of July 12th 2015 and subsequently murdered the vantes believe that instead
00:41:39
of what they were like investigators were saying that she jumped out in front of the train as authorities were saying
00:41:45
she was kidnapped from the front yard murdered and her killer had hid his crime by hurling her in the path of an
00:41:51
oncoming locomotive I can see why people might think that which is UN it's believe
00:41:57
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
00:42:04
of possibility and there are things that you can match up with this that's cause
00:42:10
enough for me to open it back up absolutely there is so a year later when the case still hadn't reached the court
00:42:17
damato amended the lawsuit removing the various state agencies and instead filing the claim against male Do's 1 to5
00:42:25
and female Do's 1 to5 their names are kind of like erroneous here so just a bunch of people like specific people uh
00:42:34
while the complaint itself remained like pretty much intact and it relied on the
00:42:38
same complaints and circumstantial evidence that the family had ra raised pre previously it also had some new
00:42:44
statements including testimony from Louise Housman who was a former medical investigator for the Atlantic County
00:42:51
Medical examiner's Office okay Housman was brought in to review all the information collected and she did mhm um
00:42:58
and anything that the family had collected in the two years since Tiffany's death and after carefully
00:43:03
considering the evidence she concluded quote there are enough unanswered questions false statements conflicting
00:43:09
accounts regarding this fatality an incomplete investigative information which leads me to the conclusion that
00:43:15
the death certificate should be amended from suicide to undetermined absolutely now while housman's evaluation pointed
00:43:22
to the evidence the inconsistencies you know other previously mentioned unusual aspects of
00:43:28
this whole case as reason enough to reopen the investigation she also noted that the medical examiner's assessment
00:43:34
of the circumstances of the death included quote inaccurate un unsubstantiated and false
00:43:41
information this false information and unsubstantiated information included various statements attributed to several
00:43:48
of Tiffany's friends and her uncle I was waiting for that to come back which were
00:43:53
used to justify the ter determination of suicide all those parties claimed they never made those statements or that they
00:44:00
were yeah what the [ __ ] or that they were taken and twisted uh what for example the case
00:44:09
File from New Jersey Transit which included several statements about Tiffany's supposedly distraught mental
00:44:15
state by her uncle Michael Vante he claims he never made them how are they just like yep I'm like
00:44:24
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
00:44:28
didn't [ __ ] say that no they probably didn't care cuz look nothing's happen I don't know how people can be
00:44:36
such [ __ ] I really don't especially when it comes to like somebody's life and like this family losing their young
00:44:43
teenage daughter just going off to college like the prime of her entire life well and those those statements
00:44:49
about her self Haring that you were like that's the history of nope he never W and they also weren't support supported
00:44:56
by any physical evidence on her body are you kidding me that's a [ __ ] up thing to lie about yeah and in a
00:45:05
statement to the Press Houseman told a reporter within 36 hours the medical examiner determined this to be a suicide
00:45:11
without any information on her medical history without anybody talking to the family there was no investigative done
00:45:18
to this and she in in most cases or in some many cases when somebody takes their own life investigators will
00:45:25
conduct what's called a psycholog iCal autopsy okay uh they work with the family the individual's medical team you
00:45:31
know Mental Health Providers to determine what could have been the circumstances or reasons just part of
00:45:37
the process yeah and that did not happen here the medical examiner totally skipped this step and instead just
00:45:43
relied on his misunderstanding of statements from Tiffany's uncle and friends all of whom at the time were in
00:45:49
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
00:45:56
claiming they didn't even say these things like there should have been some deeper digging at the very least this is
00:46:03
so [ __ ] shady yeah so in December news of the lawsuit had reached beyond the local press and this case was
00:46:10
featured in a massive expose on the state's medical examiner system and in the article which included a lot of
00:46:18
cases because they were really digging in for this the reporters point to a long list of really shocking
00:46:24
shortcomings and flat out failure on the part of the New Jersey medical examiner's office oh no uh body parts
00:46:31
going missing I'm sorry what quote decomposing bodies stacked two to a gurnie in countless unanswered questions
00:46:40
that make it so family members don't have any [ __ ] clue how their family died family member died so has this
00:46:46
office been shut down um so also just as like a quick side note because it's just reminded me of it if
00:46:53
you guys aren't watching listening to Noble this podcast she just recommended it to me today I'm going to start it on
00:46:59
my way called Noble go listen to it it's fascinating it's shocking it's horrifying uh and really well done it
00:47:05
immediately reminded me the same think of it so the report on the medical examiner office supported what dumato in
00:47:10
the vantes had come to believe that even if this is like limited resources or overworked staff the state was really
00:47:20
LAX on their investigating of Tiffany's death and in this situation they probably rushed to the conclusion just
00:47:26
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
00:47:34
like decomposing bodies stack two to a gurnie missing body parts yeah someone being found on a train track and a
00:47:41
student engineer claiming that they dove in front of it get it off our desk they
00:47:47
probably just whoop that I'm just in a state of absolute bewilderment right now yeah so a few months after filing their
00:47:54
amended case with the Superior Court damato added additional supporting documentation including a statement from
00:48:00
Dr Donald Jason Dr Donald Jason was an independent forensic pathologist hired by the vantes to review the case Okay Dr
00:48:09
Jason remove reviewed the material related to the death and he said yeah he said the bias towards suicide negatively
00:48:17
affected the way in which the scene was processed by all members of the team both responding police and medical
00:48:23
examiner staff and he said this was contrary to the standard approach to investigation that dictates
00:48:30
investigators treat the location as a crime scene until it's determined to be otherwise right totally contradictory to
00:48:37
that and after reviewing the information Dr Jason concluded the story that the vi
00:48:42
victim jumped onto the tracks is suspicious the victim may have been sleeping or already dead when the when
00:48:48
struck by the train why did they say that because they were saying that's a possibility oh okay simply put as far as
00:48:55
Dr Jason could tell the medical was way too quick to label this death of suicide
00:49:00
without first ruling out other possibilities which they did not do they didn't rule out anything else he
00:49:07
actually said quote I've never seen another case mishandled like this WOW which is something and it's literally
00:49:15
like a young girl like and this this story going public and the Valiant you know putting pressure on this case it
00:49:25
put a lot of pressure on the medical examiner's office and they finally agreed to reevaluate the case good but
00:49:32
but what are they going to do and it's the same it's the same office think they're going shortcoming two
00:49:38
unfortunately her body has been cremated so it's not like you can even exume the
00:49:42
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
00:49:50
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
00:49:55
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
00:50:00
Cremation makes it so difficult because it's like you have to rely now on what this office documented right and of
00:50:08
course they found that the initial finding of suicide was appropriate and they we're not going to change it [ __ ]
00:50:13
that incorrect yeah so yeah so the problem with the civil suit that the vantes had against the state and the
00:50:23
amended suit is that like they they so they're alleging that crimes have been committed kidnapping and murder which we
00:50:31
know it could possibly be that but there's no solid evidence to support that and the theory wasn't really
00:50:40
expanded upon in these suits in a good way there is some evidence to support that like the phone
00:50:47
being there's evidence that's the thing like there is evidence right but it's like circumstantial it's like they can't
00:50:55
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
00:51:04
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
00:51:11
don't have compelling evidence I'm saying the suit did not argue the evidence okay enough to make a
00:51:18
compelling argument for it so and it's like that's frustrating because like they do there could be a compelling
00:51:25
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
00:51:33
was sexual assault here or something awful and especially with her clothes being scattered in different areas
00:51:39
within like a mile of the sight all over the place like and yeah but the in the impact of the train had caused
00:51:46
considerable damage which hid any you know premortem trauma so it's like you don't
00:51:55
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
00:52:01
looked up pictures and matched it up with pictures seing what yeah I'm wondering too about that sweatshirt I'm
00:52:06
like was DNA testing done on that sweatshirt at all to see if any of Tiff DNA was on that or done maybe somebody
00:52:12
in the systems [ __ ] DNA also what's even more frustrating because again found in her underwear where's the rape
00:52:18
kit yeah never conducted a rape kit or even considered conducting a rape kit could they have in the condition that
00:52:25
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
00:52:32
and the vantes could argue was that the location that the investigators discovered some of Tiffany's belongings
00:52:38
in along with the axe was also a known party spot with a local fraternity house that itself does not tell you anything
00:52:47
because I'm not labeling fraternities as like they're the problem but this particular one was under investigation
00:52:53
for past sexual assaults dude so that is suspicious uhhuh and also after Tiffany's death a local Wawa
00:53:04
employee told investigators he quote overheard a group of teenage boys talking about Tiffany having been
00:53:11
kidnapped at gunpoint humiliated forced to strip down to her underwear and driven to the train station by her
00:53:22
abductors oh but they L they said it was circum substantial and unsubstantiated can you try to
00:53:30
substanti that's the thing can you go [ __ ] interview some people that's pretty on the nose start asking people
00:53:37
in that area if they I mean somebody must have seen something and somebody oh if that's true somebody out there has a
00:53:44
guilty conscience and they better come forward and say some [ __ ] because if that actually happened somebody there
00:53:51
felt like that was wrong there's you can't tell me that everybody in that room was okay with that if that did
00:53:56
happen yeah so come on forward it's your time to shine and like we said the suicide theory is supported by equally
00:54:05
circumstantial evidence it's not like the suicide theory has the solid evidence and the other Theory doesn't
00:54:11
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
00:54:18
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
00:54:25
only evidence for suicide in in my mind is she was in a little bit of trouble and perhaps there was turmoil at home
00:54:34
but nobody even really knows if there was turmoil at home because it sounds like people's statements were taken out
00:54:39
of context there was some there was some stuff at home the the mother and um Diane and Tiffany had to be ordered to
00:54:47
go to therapy together at one point so they're definitely was not like so there's turmoil at home it wasn't
00:54:53
rainbows and butterflies but like whose house is yeah but so there's turmoil at home she just got in trouble you know
00:54:59
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
00:55:05
like everything was um but different places but I feel like there's a way longer list on the
00:55:12
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
00:55:20
up but like that's a crazy [ __ ] statement it's wild and it fits perfectly but who knows like you never
00:55:27
know when certain details about the kid came out they leaked all that that's the
00:55:30
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
00:55:37
actually I just thought of that where it's like you can go on either side and at least put some evidence on either
00:55:43
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
00:55:50
more to one side but I can't can't completely decide conclusively say what way I lean completely I really hope both
00:55:58
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
00:56:04
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
00:56:13
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
00:56:19
like anyone was interviewed ever like was anyone spoken to other than like a couple friends in her un whose
00:56:26
statements were taken out of context or just completely fabricated yeah it just doesn't they to like the coaches and
00:56:33
stuff and like people who knew her who who all agreed she wouldn't have gone wandering into the dark that was one of
00:56:38
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
00:56:44
didn't but like did anybody go to that frat house and interview some frat brothers just I mean not because like
00:56:51
it's a frat house but because under investigation and then that WWA employees yeah
00:56:57
statement well the problem was too that investigators mishandled this case so badly that evidence was destroyed yeah
00:57:07
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
00:57:14
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
00:57:19
something that would like probably prove one way or another and it's like huh well unfortunately the lawsuits were
00:57:26
pretty unsuccessful in getting the death certificates changed but in the years since Tiffany's death Diane and Steven
00:57:32
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
00:57:42
this time against New Jersey Transit and demanded that they share any physical evidence that they could that would help
00:57:48
determine what happened on the night of Tiffany's death I wonder if there still is any the process was super slow but
00:57:54
eventually they did get access to the physical evidence including so there is which I didn't even know about this
00:57:59
until the end of this case including a Blood Stained towel and a t-shirt so you would go wow I wonder
00:58:09
what's going to happen when they test that well they sent it to an independent lab for testing and the lab determined
00:58:16
that the items had been so mishandled that they were of no scientific probative value no I'm so mad right now according
00:58:27
according to the lab the items had been improperly stored in plastic containers which allowed for moisture inducing
00:58:34
bacterial contamination that made the evidence of no investigatory value who the [ __ ] is part of this chain of you
00:58:42
got be who the [ __ ] cuz this happens twice a big ding bull of stupid ding to be part of an investigatory team at a
00:58:52
[ __ ] scene of a death and not know how to properly store evidence where the [ __ ] were you on that day in the academy
00:59:01
because that's insane how how to store evidence so that it doesn't get eaten up by bacteria how
00:59:09
the [ __ ] do you not know that and also it already [ __ ] happened once so you would think that you would literally
00:59:14
especially on the same [ __ ] case you wouldn't make that mistake again all of the evidence for this case was
00:59:19
completely unusable and that's weird and that doesn't happen it's at least at the
00:59:24
very least it's fu supect and you should look back into this at the very [ __ ] least but then
00:59:31
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
00:59:37
2022 her uh Tiffany's case appeared on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries I saw that yeah um Diane restated her belief that
00:59:46
there was Foul Play here I think there was and the family also increased the reward for information leading
00:59:51
prosecution to $40,000 wow it's still uncollected to this day and the evidence the episode of
00:59:58
Unsolved Mysteries didn't didn't really bring in any new information but it did raise awareness of this case which is
01:00:06
important Steven her father said it opened a lot of people's eyes everybody heard this knit bit little piece here
01:00:12
little piece there but they never knew the whole story until they watched it meanwhile the vantes are continuing to
01:00:19
work with Paul damato which I was like this guy that guy in the hopes of finding new information that's going to
01:00:24
lead to any answer they just want a definitive answer I hope he helps them get it cuz he seems determined as [ __ ]
01:00:32
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
01:00:40
as of yet it has not broken but we are only in 2024 guys like if you know [ __ ]
01:00:48
anything I mean and again they just want to know they just want to know they believe she was met with Foul Play there
01:00:56
is evidence to believe that right there is circumstantial evidence for suicide I
01:01:01
can understand that yeah they just want to know and if there's evidence for Foul
01:01:07
Play which to me there's plenty why are we not investigating this further we just want to you just got to
01:01:15
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
01:01:22
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
01:01:32
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
01:01:39
you put your faith and you put your trust in law enforcement in the community that you're in and so
01:01:45
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
01:01:51
of people got slapped with a lot of uh demotion and firings after this cuz it's like probably not how do you mishandle
01:01:59
evidence like that how do you lose an axe how do you mishandle every bit of evidence like that like that's what I
01:02:05
don't get something's got to give here I yeah I hope that he was on to something when
01:02:11
he said like he think something was going to break in 2023 and it's just taken a little longer let put it out
01:02:15
there cuz you know guys let's sometimes we'll cover a case and something will happen it's this like weird thing that
01:02:23
we were talking about it recently Universe let's get it solved Universe let's go and we're not taking credit for
01:02:28
any of those anybody obviously not if you think if you think that go no it's just sometimes the universe works in
01:02:35
mysterious ways yeah The Vibes are out there let's I I want this family to know what the [ __ ] happened yes I just want
01:02:42
that for them so hopefully more knowledge of this case is Is What It Takes tell your friends about the case
01:02:51
ex sh this share that episode watch the Netflix know someone in New Jersey talk to them see see what they know you
01:02:58
know this is weird yeah so that's the mysterious death of Tiffany valiante and it's a sad one I had heard
01:03:05
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
01:03:12
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
01:03:21
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
01:03:27
guess what that's wrong and karma's going to get you so if you have information about the case you better
01:03:31
come forward you little poop hell yeah I just spit across the room it was gross [Music]
01:03:44
[Music] [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 80
    Most controversial

Episode Highlights

  • The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante
    Tiffany Valiante's life was tragically cut short before she even made it to college.
    “She was planning to study criminal justice, but her life was cut short.”
    @ 05m 49s
    September 23, 2024
  • A Family's Desperate Search
    After Tiffany goes missing, her family searches frantically for answers.
    “They called her sisters and uncle to help find her.”
    @ 11m 31s
    September 23, 2024
  • Tragic Discovery
    Tiffany's cell phone is found in a pile of leaves, raising alarms.
    “Tiffany never went anywhere without her cell phone.”
    @ 12m 01s
    September 23, 2024
  • The Missing Clothes Mystery
    Tiffany was found in her underwear, raising questions about her disappearance.
    “Where the [ __ ] are her clothes?”
    @ 26m 20s
    September 23, 2024
  • Discovery of New Evidence
    Diane found Tiffany's belongings in the woods, contradicting earlier investigations.
    “What the [ __ ]?”
    @ 31m 05s
    September 23, 2024
  • Conflicting Witness Accounts
    The student engineer's statements about Tiffany's actions before the train incident were inconsistent.
    “Did she dive in front of the train?”
    @ 35m 24s
    September 23, 2024
  • The Fight for Justice
    Diane and Steven Valiante take action to change their daughter's cause of death from suicide to undetermined, aiming to reopen the case.
    “They just wanted this change so they could reopen the case.”
    @ 39m 36s
    September 23, 2024
  • Flawed Investigations
    The medical examiner's findings are criticized as unprofessional and flawed, leading to calls for re-evaluation.
    “The state's inquiries were flawed, unprofessional, and uninformed.”
    @ 40m 09s
    September 23, 2024
  • Unanswered Questions
    Dr. Louise Housman concludes that there are enough unanswered questions to amend the death certificate.
    “There are enough unanswered questions... which leads me to the conclusion that the death certificate should be amended.”
    @ 43m 05s
    September 23, 2024
  • Mishandled Evidence
    Physical evidence related to Tiffany's case is found to be mishandled, rendering it useless for investigation.
    “The items had been improperly stored... making the evidence of no investigatory value.”
    @ 58m 27s
    September 23, 2024
  • Increased Reward for Information
    The family raised the reward to $40,000 for information leading to prosecution.
    “Wow, it's still uncollected to this day.”
    @ 59m 51s
    September 23, 2024
  • Tiffany Valiante's Mysterious Death
    The case remains unsolved, raising questions about evidence mishandling and foul play.
    “I just want answers, man. I really do.”
    @ 01h 03m 12s
    September 23, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • That's even worse than knowing, yeah, is not knowing.
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast
  • This is the worst decision of her life.
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast
  • Where the [ __ ] are her clothes?
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast
  • What the [ __ ]?
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast
  • It doesn't feel like suicide to me.
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast
  • Prove it, you're not proving it!
    The Mysterious Death of Tiffany Valiante | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • Book Tour Excitement02:35
  • Suicide Contemplation19:28
  • Strained Relationships21:46
  • Conflicting Statements35:14
  • Suspicious Circumstances41:26
  • Amended Lawsuit42:15
  • Investigative Failures46:06
  • Evidence Mishandling58:14

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown