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Plainfield Victim, 25, Killed By Violent Storm Was Coming Home From Work, Campaign Says
Support is pouring in for the family of Bryan Ernesto Valladares, one of the three victims killed during Thursday’s violent thunderstorm in New Jersey/.
As of Saturday, July 5, more than $4,400 had been raised on a GoFundMe to help send the 25-year-old Plainfield man's body back to his home country of El Salvador and support his grieving family.
Bryan, described as a hard-working young man, was driving home from work around 6:56 p.m. on July 3 when a tree collapsed onto his vehicle, campaign organizer Yoselin Melendez wrote.
“Bryan, only 25 years old, tragically lost his life when a tree f…
MVC 'Bodyguard' Davidson Cruz Of Wallington Dies Days Before 24th Birthday
Davidson Elian Cruz, a Wallington husband, father, and Motor Vehicle Commission employee, died on Friday, June 27, 2025, just three days before his 24th birthday, according to his obituary on the Alvarez Funeraria website.
He was born June 30, 2001, in the Dominican Republic, the obituary says.
Davidson worked for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) as a Safety Specialist at the Lodi Road Test Operations team since April 2022, according to a GoFundMe campaign which appears to have been launched by coworkers.
"Davidson made a lasting impact during his time with the Commission," th…
NWS Confirms 80 MPH Winds In NJ Storm That Left 3 Dead
The National Weather Service says the severe storm that struck parts of Central Jersey Thursday, July 3, packed winds as strong as 80 miles per hour and caused widespread damage across multiple towns.
In a public information statement issued Friday afternoon, July 4, the NWS confirmed that the destruction — which caused three deaths — was caused by “straight-line winds and downbursts.”
The storm hit Somerset and Middlesex counties just after 6 p.m., tearing through North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Green Brook Township, Bound Brook, and Metuchen, the NWS said.
“Based on photos shared wit…
Three Killed In New Jersey As Storm Uproots Trees, Crushes Cars, Flattens Homes
A violent thunderstorm that ripped through New Jersey Thursday night, July 3, left three people dead — including a Middlesex woman, a 79-year-old man, and a 25-year-old Plainfield resident — and caused widespread destruction across Union and Somerset counties, officials said.
Storm photos in Edison below (scroll for fatal incidents).
Yesterday’s strong thunderstorm caused many wires, countless trees, branches and other debris to come down but... Posted by Mayor Sam Joshi on Friday, July 4, 2025
North Plainfield:
At around 6:30 p.m., a 44-year-old Middlesex woman was driving a 2018 …
NY Man Disappears On Couple's Trip To Turks And Caicos: Cops, Report
A 51-year-old tourist from New York has been reported missing in the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and Fox News.
Brian Tarrence, who recently moved from Monroe, NY to Manhattan, was last seen on June 25, after leaving his accommodations at the Paradise Inn in Grace Bay, Providenciales, according to island police and Fox.
“They seemed to be having a normal couple days, and he ended up walking out of his condo, which is in a very safe place and in the middle of Grace Bay Road,” the Tarrence family’s private investigator, Carl DeFazio, t…
