Longtime Las Vegas real estate professional dies in ‘heartbreaking tragedy’
A longtime Southern Nevada commercial real estate professional died in Dallas last week after a Lyft car she was riding in got hit by a train, according to her office and news coverage from Texas.
Melissa Campanella, an agent with NewMarket Advisors, was in Texas for a family event and was a passenger in the car that was struck, NewMarket founder Chuck Creigh told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday.
Campanella, a Henderson resident, died July 9. She was 50 years old.
In a message shared by Creigh, Campanella’s family said that she was “not only the light in every room but also the laughter on our hardest days. The love she shared with those in her life was infectious, unconditional, and endless. With her loss, we have all lost a piece of ourselves. Please keep our family in your prayers as we try to find our way through a world that feels dimmer without her in it.”
Creigh said that Campanella was one of the first agents at his company and that she has family members who work there as well.
He said Campanella was the nicest person you’d ever meet and a great person to work with.
“It’s just tragic,” he said.
‘Our hearts are with the loved ones’
WFAA-TV Channel 8 in Dallas reported that a Trinity Railway Express train hit an SUV at a rail crossing on July 9 and that ride-hailing service Lyft confirmed one of its drivers and a Lyft passenger were killed in the crash.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office identified the driver as Elio Jose Acosta Rojas and the passenger as Campanella, according to the TV station.
Preliminary reports indicated that the vehicle “made an abrupt turn into oncoming rail traffic and was struck by the train,” the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system told the Review-Journal. The agency said that two people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene and that the incident was under investigation.
Medical examiner records online list the manner of death for both Campanella and Acosta Rojas as an accident.
“Our hearts are with the loved ones of both the driver and the rider following this heartbreaking tragedy,” San Francisco-based Lyft said in a statement to the Review-Journal. “We are working to get in touch with their families to offer support during this incredibly difficult time.”
Real estate career
Campanella was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to Las Vegas to attend UNLV, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1997, according to her obituary posted online.
She started her real estate career in 2003, when she joined developer American Nevada Co. as a leasing assistant, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She joined developer Focus Property Group in 2004 as a leasing associate and then moved to NewMarket in 2006, where she worked in leasing and investment sales.
Campanella left the company in 2012, worked for a few other commercial real estate firms in the valley over the next five years, and returned to NewMarket in 2017, her profile shows.
She is survived by her husband, Antonio “Tony” Campanella; her stepson; her mother; and other relatives and extended family, the obituary said.
A celebration of life is scheduled for July 23 at St. Thomas More Catholic Community church in Henderson.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
