Derailing Vs. Getting on Board with Theories of Tiffany Valiante's Death

This post is about "Mystery at Mile Marker 45," the first episode in season 3 of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries, which tells the story of Tiffany Valiante, a recent high school graduate with a promising future, who was suspiciously struck by a train after disappearing from outside her New Jersey home in July 2015.

It is assumed one has already viewed the episode before reading my thoughts and opinions on this case. SPOILERS will be given!

 

Fact or Fiction? 

I have seen several people discussing supposed facts that were left out of the episode, alleging Tiffany had stolen from her parent's bank account in the past, that CPS visited regarding abuse by her mother in the months prior to her death, and supposedly an axe recovered as evidence near the scene was lost by investigators before testing. Although I did find her autopsy report with the little bit of searching I did, I only saw this rumored information on gossip websites or other people talking on threads how they read such things — which isn't very credible to me that there was the abuse, prior stealing, lost evidence, etc. I am not saying these things are not true, but I did not see for myself any confirmed evidence and would like the valid links for this information before assuming it as facts. Thus, my theories will look into what we learned during the Unsolved Mysteries episode. 

Immediate Afterthoughts

The detail I wondered most about after the episode was if it was public knowledge right off that Tiffany was only in her underwear when discovered and that her shorts were never retrieved. Did her parents talk about that when they found the shoes? Because if it wasn't a known thing in that community, I feel like what the worker at the gas station overheard the guys saying would definitely be credible because they said she was stripped down naked and humiliated. If it wasn't publicized that she was found in a similar state since the death was wrote off as suicide, how would those boys know that detail? The fact that they denied it during questioning doesn't mean anything really; of course they would! I thought if Tiffany had used the friend's credit card to buy clothes, it would be fitting torment, giving credibility to what was overheard. 

Source: Tiffany Valiante's Facebook profile

Suicide or Not?

It's doubtful it was planned if it was suicide because Tiffany was making plans for her future, the next day even. However, the trouble I have believing it would even be impulsive suicide would be the fact that whether she was being abused or was afraid of getting in trouble with the dad over the stealing, she had an end in sight, an out. She was going away to college with the volleyball scholarship, so I feel like if she had survived troubled times this far, it would not be the time to take your own life — unless it was something completely serious what she had used that friend's credit card for. But, regardless, she was an adult now, and if she hadn't ever exploded irrationally in prior times of grief, why would she now?

Even if we assume she did place herself on those tracks, I don't feel suicide was the appropriate manner of death. It may be more likely she had a mental breakdown and didn't know where she was or what she was doing. Or could she have been running for her life to escape someone and not have heard the train coming, running right onto the tracks?  I believe her death should have been classified as undetermined or at least accidental. I definitely agree a railroad law enforcement would not be trained for a homicide investigation, would be biased to believe it was suicide, and would want to close the case quickly for a variety of reasons not sinister.

Mental breakdown or suicide, it is still hard to believe she walked that far shoeless, and her feet did not indicate that. So even if Tiffany's death wasn't foul play, I wonder if someone drove her there or knows something more about what happened. If it is confirmed by time stamps on the deer camera that mom and dad came back outside within a minute, could she have gotten that far away on foot that they couldn't see or hear her? I would like to do some calculations of the time it would take an athlete to walk or run to that location of impact 4-5 miles away (passing by where the shoes and headband were found) and how much extra time there would have been.  

The last known photo of Tiffany, from her parent's deer cam

The Sad Case of Suicide

Unfortunately, whenever it looks like suicide, it seems too often it is written off without doing the appropriate tests and crime scene handling, like with Rey Riveria in the first season of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries reboot. Mikita Brottman, a resident of the building where Rey's body was found, mentioned in her book An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere that she remembers looking down through her window at the crime scene. The police were mishandling evidence, throwing Riveria's flipflops around to each other. Thus, as in the Valiante case, it's clear no official investigation would be done to prove it accurate.

I definitely think it's always hard for families to come to term with a loved one taking their life. So, not much weight can lie on her family saying she never would do that. But the same goes for her friends saying she was depressed and harming herself, because one, they could only be saying that in hindsight, and two, teenagers sound off to their friends, even exaggerate what they've done or are going to do (i.e., she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that night, clearly not the outfit of choice for those engaging in self-mutilation).

Source: Netflix

Only 1% of suicides are by train, and more men than women take their life that way, so the statistics do not favor that means of death for teenage Valiante. Although approximately 62.5% of suicides are impulsive, which hers would have been, the fact her shoes were found neatly lined up disagrees with the statistic that victims of suicide who undress tend to leave their clothes orderly when the suicide was planned, which we pretty much can safely confirm Tiffany's was not.

Therefore, I can understand her parents not accepting their daughter committed suicide when there are pieces that do not fit the puzzle. Why would she take her shoes off in the first place? For me, it's the fact her shoes were found far from the site of impact that puts a dent in suicide being the correct manner of death.

I think knowing what Tiffany used her friend's credit card for would be helpful insight here. Back to my aforementioned theory of if it was to buy the clothes and shoes she was wearing, it would be entirely possible she took them off in shame and walked barefoot to punish herself. But, since her feet do not confirm this, and there was no drugs in her system, it is just another unproven theory, especially with the public only able to speculate on what Valiante purchased fraudulently.

Friends Forever?

I am also very curious what the reaction was from the friend with the stolen credit card when she heard the news about Tiffany's death. 

• Did she regret fighting with Tiffany that night? 
• Did she blame herself? Or think it was just if Tiffany took her own life? 
• Did she believe Tiffany would do that or find it hard to accept, too? 
• Did she ever talk to Tiffany's mom after and express remorse? 
• Did Tiffany's mother tell the friend her daughter admitted it was true she had used the credit card after the friend left that night? 
• Did Tiffany's friend tell her mother what Tiffany bought with the card? Does Tiffany's family know and that detail was just not shared with the viewer?
  

Source: Tiffany Valiante Facebook

And where did that friend go that night after driving away from the Valiante house in anger? Since it was quickly ruled a suicide, there would be no reason to ask that friend, or anyone else, for an alibi. And too much time has now passed for any of that to be proven true even if the case was re-opened and ruled undetermined or homicide. People forget, camera footage is deleted. 

I would hope the private investigator her parents hired looked into her friends and the ex girlfriend, and it was just not mentioned in the show. And what about the new person Tiffany was seeing or texting with?

Building a Mystery

I certainly recognize we as sleuths look for mysteries. I saw someone's post questioning how did Tiffany's uncle identify her if her arms and legs were tore off and the family even found more pieces of her skull later? That got me imagining if she was being abused by her parents, what if the uncle helped her escape to a new life? Hence the fast cremation and knowing where to look for her that night. But of course, that's more a movie script than real life!

However, after reading her autopsy myself, I, too, have to question how he identified her. All four limbs were severed. Her eyes were gone and could not be analyzed. Her brain had seeped out of her skull. Did Tiffany's uncle recognize his niece in that state? Was it only by her jewelry? And would mom even know it was her underwear or what sports bra she had?

The Sad Truth

Unfortunately, there are so many questions that will probably never be answered for us, nor her family. I do wish the Valiante's peace and hope they can one day uncover the answers they are so desperately looking for. 

From the Valiante family