The latest search for Jimmy Hoffa’s body has had the same result as previous searches: nothing. The FBI said Wednesday that it is calling off the excavation of a field in Oakland Township, Michigan after three days.
Detroit FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Foley III told the media this morning that they couldn’t find any evidence that the former Teamsters boss was buried in the overgrown field.
“After a diligent search … we did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa,” Foley said, reports The Detroit Free Press. “We’re very confident of our result here after two days plus of diligent effort, and at this point we’ll be closing down the excavation operation and returning the property over to the property owner in the condition in which it was found.”
CBS News reports that Hoffa has been the subject of FBI searches around the country since he disappeared in 1975. He was last seen at an Oakland County restaurant.
The newest search started Monday because of testimony from alleged Mafia captain Tony Zerilli, 85, who claimed that Hoffa was buried under a concrete slab under a barn in the Oakland Township field. Zerilli, through his lawyer, also claimed to authorities that Hoffa was buried alive.
“The one thing I learned yesterday that I was unaware of, it’s my understanding the FBI wanted to search the whole property and the court limited it to a very small area,” Zerilli’s lawyer, David Chasnick, said. “Anything’s possible.”
Hoffa has been a subject of fascination for decades and his life was even turned into a film with Jack Nicholson. Some theories about his body say that he was buried anywhere from under Giants Stadium in New Jersey to the Florida swamps.