Could South Jersey Woman Have Been Kidnapped Before She Died?

A new theory is being floated by the family of a New Jersey girl who was killed by a NJ Transit train two years ago.

Was Tiffany Valiante kidnapped?

This is just one possibility being raised by Valiante's family as they go to court again to compel the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office to reopen the investigation into her puzzling death, which was ruled a suicide two years ago.

Her family disputes Valiante took her own life and has filed a new lawsuit this week in Atlantic County Superior Court suggesting that kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence could have been involved.

"It gives a range of possibilities of what could have happened," said Steph Rosenfeld, who works with the law firm representing the family. The family's attorney, Paul D'Amato, is on vacation this week.

The official story is this: Tiffany Valiante, 18, walked four miles to the NJ Transit train tracks, took off her jean shorts and sneakers and walked in front of a moving train. But by all accounts, Valiante was "happy," getting ready to go to college that fall and armed with several volleyball scholarships.

The Mays Landing teen was also deathly afraid of the dark, and authorities claimed she got rid of her cell phone — something she never went without — before ending her life in Galloway Township on July 12, 2015.

Last year, the family filed a lawsuit to potentially reopen the case and subpoena files from NJ Transit and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, among others.

Paul D'Amato told Patch then that the family will seek to do whatever takes to change the authorities' determination that the teen committed suicide.

"There is no history of alcohol. There is no history of depression. She was a happy-go-lucky person," said D'Amato.

The lawsuit does not appear to offer any hard evidence for the potential murder or kidnapping scenarios, saying that "the precise identity" of potential suspects "is currently unknown."

But the lawsuit makes the point that any scenario makes more sense than Valiante taking her own life, noting a long list of possible inconsistent statements made by people who knew the teen, or who were potentially involved in the accident and investigation.

D'Amato has claimed the medical examiner had no scientific or medical basis to conclude that Valiante took her own life, charging that the inquiry was "flawed" and "unprofessional, uninformed."

D'Amato claims investigators failed to interview numerous material witnesses, conduct a proper site investigation as well as an examination of relevant physical evidence, including Valiante's cell phone history.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The 18-year-old had just graduated from Oakcrest High School in Mays Landing in 2015 and was awarded five volleyball scholarships, "happy" as ever about going to Mercy College that fall, according to D'Amato.

The day she died, Valiante was enjoying the pool at a graduation party and playing volleyball. Based on what friends and family said, the last ones who saw her, D'Amato said there were certainly no outwardly signs of distress.

That night, Valiante walked onto the tracks in Galloway Township and ignored the train engineer's signal before she was struck around 11:15 p.m., according to NJ Transit.

Friends and family found her cell phone on the front lawn of her home. Later, they saw flashing lights at the train tracks near where her uncle lives, the site where she died, according to D'Amato.

Days later, the family found Valiante's sneakers and headband on the side of the road. Those clothes were found about 2 miles away from the crash site.

"She would have had to walk 4 miles from her home," D'Amato said last year. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Photo courtesy of D'Amato law firm