Teen's Suspicious Death In South Jersey Featured On Netflix Show

MAYS LANDING, NJ — Tiffany Valiante was, by all accounts, a normal teenage girl when she graduated from high school in 2015. At 18, she was ready to head to college on an athletic scholarship and planned to study criminal justice.

Then, in July, she was struck and killed by a NJ Transit train in Galloway. Investigators quickly ruled the death a suicide, but the Valiante family has fought that ever since.

Now, as Valiante's case is set to be featured on an upcoming season of Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries," the family is doubling their reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Valiante's "suspicious" disappearance and death to $40,000, according to the family's attorney, Paul D'Amato. The episode, "Mystery At Mile Marker 45," is set to premiere when the show returns on Oct. 18.

Read More: Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries' To Feature South Jersey Teen's Death

Her parents, Stephen and Dianne Valiante, said Tuesday that they have renewed confidence that their daughter's case will be reopened and whoever is responsible for her death will be held accountable.

"We know every day Tiffany is looking down on us, giving us the strength to help find those who snatched her and were responsible for her death just before she was to start her incredibly
promising college career," the parents said through D'Amato. "We know so many others that also believe Tiffany’s death was not suicide, that there was a rush to judgement to close the case, and that the real story of how and why she died has yet to be told. The combination of this new, deeply-researched, fact- based program, and the increased reward, might just be what’s necessary to help get Tiff’s case reopened."

The official story is that Valiante walked four miles to the train tracks without her phone, took off her jean shorts and sneakers and walked in front of a moving train. But the family thinks that she was killed. Read More: Could South Jersey Woman Have Been Kidnapped Before She Died?

"There is no history of alcohol. There is no history of depression. She was a happy-go-lucky person," D'Amato told Patch in 2017.

In March 2022, D'Amato released a report that concluded that evidence was so poorly handled by NJ Transit Police investigators that they were useless.

"Due to compromised or lost evidence, which included a bloody axe found at the scene, the nationally recognized forensic DNA lab’s report was incomplete and inconclusive," D'Amato said.

He said he joins the Valiante family and supporters who are fighting for #JusticeForTiffany. "Little known is that Stephen and Dianne had to re-mortgage their house, use their own savings to pay for DNA testing of evidence that was gathered but never examined after Tiffany’s death, which was quickly ruled a suicide before a robust probe could be conducted," D'Amato said.

D'Amato added that he hopes someone watches the "Unsolved Mysteries" episode who knows something and will tell law enforcement, leading to definitive answers.

"I share the parents’ belief that there are those who know what really happened to cause Tiff’s death, but they’ve yet to come forward," he said.

D'Amato repeated that Valiante's death was ruled a suicide "despite the lack of motive, without conducting a full autopsy, a rape-kit analysis, or proper DNA-evidence analysis, all for reasons still unknown seven-plus years after her mysterious death."

Since her death, the family has been fighting to reopen the case. A July 2022 Daily Beast article details the discrepancies found in the case, along with some evidence pointing towards the death being a suicide, including fights Valiante had with her mother and her recent coming out as gay.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to immediately contact law enforcement, including the state Office of Attorney General at 800-277-2427.