Crime Library: Criminal Minds and Methods

The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa

But Where's the Body?

Authorities know who killed Jimmy Hoffa and they know why, but the question that remains is where? What did Hoffa's killers do with his body? Theories—both credible and ridiculous—abound, and some incarcerated felons seem to amuse themselves by cooking up scenarios for eager journalists salivating for the scoop of the century. Tons of earth have been moved in the search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. The following are just a few of the leads that didn't pan out:

55-gallon steel drums (AP)
55-gallon steel drums (AP)

  • According to Ralph Picardo, the convict who fingered the conspirators, Hoffa's body was put in a 55-gallon steel drum and carted away in a Gateway Transportation truck. Picardo said he didn't know where it was taken.

New York Giants Stadium
New York Giants Stadium

  • According to another jail bird, Hoffa's body was taken to New Jersey where it was mixed into the concrete that was used to construct the New York Giant's football stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
  • Hoffa was said to have been buried in a 100-acre gravel pit in Highland, Michigan, which was owned by his brother William.
  • Hoffa's body was encased in the foundation of a public works garage in Cadillac, Michigan.
  • His remains were buried at the bottom of a swimming pool behind a mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
  • The corpse was ground up and dumped in a Florida swamp.
  • Hoffa was crushed in an automobile compactor at Central Sanitation Services in Hamtramck, Michigan.
  • His body was buried in a field in Waterford Township, Michigan.
  • It was weighted down and dumped in Michigan's Au Sable River.
  • Hoffa's remains were disintegrated at a fat-rendering plant.
  • He was buried under the helipad at the Sheraton Savannah Resort Hotel, which at the time of his disappearance was owned by the Teamsters.
  • His body was put in a steel drum and buried on the grounds of Brother Moscato's garbage dump, a toxic waste site in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Jimmy Hoffa was declared legally dead in 1982, but his case remains open. Like a perpetual flame, a special agent at the FBI's Detroit field office is constantly assigned to it. The investigation has generated over 16,000 pages of documents gathered from interviews, wiretaps, and surveillance, but despite the government's best efforts to get to the bottom of Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance, what the mob did with the body remains a question mark.

 

Categories
We're Following
Slender Man stabbing, Waukesha, Wisconsin
Gilberto Valle 'Cannibal Cop'
Advertisement