Jimmy Hoffa–once a very powerful union leader before his imprisonment in 1967–has been missing since 1975, and since then the FBI and law enforcement have been working seemingly endlessly to try and unearth his body, with tips coming in from all over the world and with no statute of limitations. It seems every few years a new tipster will make claims as to where Hoffa’s body was buried, and officials have investigated them all, digging up bloody floorboards and excavating old barns to no avail. Even Geraldo Rivera thought he’d made a discovery and televised it, only to open up the supposed “tomb” to find nothing at all. With all the conspiracy theories and outlandish claims–such as the one involving Hoffa being buried beneath the Giants staduim–the search for any clues to Hoffa’s whereabouts is ongoing as officials try and weed out those which aren’t credible.
Now, a new tip has come in from a Detroit suburb, and police are calling the tipster “credible”. The person claims that Hoffa is buried beneath a home, and investigators say they will take a soil sample to test for human remains. If it comes up positive, they’ll excavate. A radar has already confirmed that something is buried down there; they just can’t tell what it is.
“It could be anybody down there, could be nobody. It could be a dog,” said Roseville, Michigan Police Chief James Berlin.
In other words, no one wants to get their hopes up. If an excavation is given the green light, it could take days to find anything, and even if what they find turn out to be human remains, they might not necessarily be those of Hoffa. The tipster hasn’t claimed that the body belongs to the missing man, but says a body was buried beneath that house around the time that Hoffa disappeared.
Both the informant and the owners of the home are being cooperative with police. If the search is successful, it will put an end to a 37-year old mystery.