1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,560 Tonight, one of the most notorious missing person cases of all time, a powerful union 2 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,080 activist vanishes without a trace. 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:20,120 Forty-five years later, the search for him continues. 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,160 He's really well known across the country. 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,040 Where is his body? 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:31,480 Now, we uncover the top theories surrounding his shocking disappearance. 7 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:38,120 Law enforcement suspects that guys use the incinerator to dispose of bodies. 8 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:44,760 Is it possible the CIA took out all three to keep things quiet? 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:52,560 Can new evidence and the investigations behind it finally bring us closer to the truth? 10 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:58,720 I am the only person alive today that knows where the remains of Jimmy Hoffa is. 11 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,400 Our investigative team is excited, that's for sure. 12 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,640 They got high hopes they're gonna find him. 13 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:07,880 Where is Jimmy Hoffa? 14 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:29,360 Detroit, Michigan, 1975. 15 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:35,120 The center of both the U.S. auto industry and of organized labor. 16 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:41,080 It's also the last known location of renowned former teamster president, Jimmy Hoffa. 17 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:46,720 Jimmy Hoffa is a legend within the labor movement. 18 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,640 He is a true champion of workers' rights. 19 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,240 He's known all over the country. 20 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:58,320 Hoffa's been involved with labor unions since running his first strike as a teenager. 21 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:04,080 By the age of 14, he had to go to work to help support his family. 22 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,880 Loading and unloading strawberries, working under these terrible conditions. 23 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,720 And he finally kind of has enough. 24 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,080 And he organizes his fellow workers. 25 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,960 They decide they're gonna stop loading and unloading these strawberries 26 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,920 and just let them sit out there and bake in the hot sun. 27 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:25,960 Management's washing their strawberries kind of molder on the dock. 28 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:27,040 They cave. 29 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:33,720 I think this is where Hoffa really sees the power of the people, the power of organizing. 30 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:40,720 He was successful in his very first time out at 14 years old, and people noticed. 31 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:48,400 By 1957, he's risen to president of the Teamsters, but his climb comes with challenges. 32 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:53,360 A rival union appears in Detroit competing for the same workers as the Teamsters, 33 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:59,480 and they gain so much ground that eventually, Hoffa turns to the mafia for help. 34 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:05,240 Specifically, New York's powerful Genovese crime family. 35 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,120 By forming this alliance with the mafia, the Teamsters, they win their battle. 36 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,120 But it comes at a price. 37 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,360 The mafia guys that he forms an alliance with, 38 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:19,840 they're expecting access to the Teamsters pension fund in return. 39 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:26,000 The Teamsters pension fund is like a blank check for the mafia, their own personal bank. 40 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,760 Hoffa has a 14-year run with the Teamsters, working hand-in-hand with the mafia the whole time, 41 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,320 but that deal is eventually his undoing. 42 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:41,600 Hoffa is indicted for a number of charges related to mob involvement with the Teamsters. 43 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:47,040 Hoffa goes to prison and he's out of the union, but the mob remains. 44 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:53,840 In December 1971, President Nixon commutes Hoffa's sentence with one stipulation. 45 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:59,080 He can't manage any labor organization until 1980. 46 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:05,680 By 1973, Hoffa's already plotting to regain the presidency of the Teamsters. 47 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,160 There's just one stumbling block. 48 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,920 While in prison, Hoffa has run afoul of the Genovese family. 49 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:20,040 And on July 30th, 1975, he waits in the parking lot of the Marcus Red Fox restaurant, 50 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,880 hoping to make amends. 51 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,000 He's there for a meeting with associates of the Genovese crime family. 52 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,640 He wants to talk to them about returning to run the Teamsters union. 53 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:39,560 The mafia has control of the Teamsters these days and they really don't want Jimmy Hoffa back in charge, 54 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,240 but they agree to the meeting. 55 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,560 Problem is, they're late. 56 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:50,200 Witnesses see Hoffa pacing and making calls on a nearby pay phone. 57 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,640 After nearly an hour of waiting, a red sedan pulls up. 58 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:59,880 Hoffa gets in and is never heard from again. 59 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:09,880 At 7 a.m. the next day, Hoffa's wife calls her children to say their father never came home. 60 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:18,880 And by 7 20 a.m., Hoffa's assistant finds his car unlocked in the restaurant parking lot. 61 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,880 As soon as Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing, the FBI gets involved. 62 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,880 They're going to investigate the case. 63 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,880 Agents start at Hoffa's office. 64 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:35,880 His office appointment book says TG 2 p.m. Red Fox. 65 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:41,880 Red Fox obviously refers to the Marcus Red Fox restaurant. 66 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:48,880 TG refers to Tony Jackaloni, known as Tony Jack. 67 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,880 Tony Jackaloni is a high-ranking member of the Detroit mafia. 68 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,880 And in many ways, Jackaloni is Hoffa's liaison to the underworld. 69 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,880 In order for Hoffa to once again become president of the Teamsters, 70 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,880 he has to work things out with guys like Tony Jackaloni. 71 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,880 So they set up a sit-down, try to work things out. 72 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:17,880 But when the FBI questions eyewitnesses, they learn that Jackaloni never showed up. 73 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,880 So who's in the car that picks up Jimmy Hoffa? 74 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,880 Not long before 3 o'clock, there are eyewitnesses who see a maroon car, 75 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,880 either a Lincoln or a Mercury, pull up. 76 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,880 It's unclear exactly who was in the car. 77 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,880 According to the eyewitnesses, he gets in of his own accord, 78 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,880 so there's no struggle, doesn't seem like it was a kidnapping or an abduction. 79 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,880 This is the last time that anyone sees Jimmy Hoffa, at least publicly. 80 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,880 They know who he was supposed to be meeting with, 81 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,880 and so they start questioning and wiretapping known mafia associates. 82 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,880 Starting with Tony Jackaloni. 83 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,880 Investigators have no idea where Tony Jack is, but they start digging, 84 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,880 and they realize they do know where he was two days prior. 85 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,880 They find out he was meeting with two very suspicious people 86 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,880 who might provide a clue as to Hoffa's whereabouts. 87 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,880 Their names, Rafaeli Quasarano and Peter Vitale. 88 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:21,880 Federal law enforcement are keeping guys like Quasarano and Vitale under surveillance. 89 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,880 They're high-ranking members of the Detroit Mafia. 90 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:30,880 They're involved in labor racketeering, drug trafficking, gambling, loan sharking. 91 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,880 The usual crimes associated with members of the mafia. 92 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,880 They also have another business that raises eyebrows. 93 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:45,880 They own a commercial incinerator in their business, Central Sanitation. 94 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:52,880 Law enforcement suspects that guys like Vitale and Quasarano 95 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,880 use the incinerator to dispose of bodies. 96 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:03,880 Central Sanitation in Hamtramik, Michigan, is just 20 miles from the Marcus Red Fox restaurant. 97 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,880 It's close enough to give the FBI a theory. 98 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:17,880 So the fact that they meet with Tony Giacalone in the days leading up to the disappearance is very significant, 99 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,880 and has led some theorists to speculate that they were talking about 100 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,880 preparing the incinerator to dispose of Jimmy Hoffa specifically. 101 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,880 But why would the mafia order such a brutal hit? 102 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:39,880 Could Hoffa's disappearance be tied to a beef that started years earlier in prison? 103 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:46,880 While he's in there, he publicly fights with a crime boss from the Genovese crime family 104 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,880 named Anthony Provenzano, Tony Pro, they call him. 105 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,880 Like many mobsters, Tony Pro's family is collecting a union pension. 106 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,880 But when Tony goes to prison, his benefits are cut off. 107 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:07,880 Meanwhile, Jimmy Hoffa's family is still getting his pension benefits. 108 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:14,880 Tony Provenzano confronts Jimmy Hoffa, says, why should you be entitled to these benefits and not my family? 109 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:20,880 Jimmy Hoffa snaps back. It's because of people like you that I'm in here in the first place. 110 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,880 The Genovese crime family control the teamsters, and they don't like Jimmy Hoffa. 111 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,880 And they really don't want Hoffa back in charge. They want him gone. 112 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:39,880 So the FBI believes he was killed, and then his body transported to Central Sanitation and incinerated. 113 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:47,880 The FBI hurries to prove their case, but unfortunately, the Genovese crime family seems to be one step ahead. 114 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:55,880 Within a few months of Hoffa's disappearance, Central Sanitation catches fire in an arson. 115 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,880 A few months after that, the whole place is torn down. 116 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:06,880 So any hope of recovering evidence disappears. And that's as far as the incinerator theory can get. 117 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,880 But that doesn't stop speculation about other possibilities. 118 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,880 People still want to know where did he end up? Where did they put him? 119 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,880 The Genovese crime family control the teamsters, and they don't want to be in the same place. 120 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:30,880 Many experts believe Jimmy Hoffa is killed by members of the mafia on July 30th, 1975. 121 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:36,880 The big questions are, who did it, and where is his body? 122 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,880 Then in 1989, a former mob associate says he knows the answer. 123 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:51,880 A hitman named Donald Franco comes out with a pretty explosive story in Playboy magazine. 124 00:10:52,880 --> 00:11:00,880 Franco's confirms the FBI's belief that Hoffa was murdered in a fight with the Genovese family over control of the teamsters. 125 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,880 And he also claims to know who pulled the trigger. 126 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:12,880 According to Franco's, Jimmy Hoffa was murdered by a gang known as the Westies on the orders of Fat Tony Salerno. 127 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:28,880 According to the FBI, the Westies and their founder, Jimmy Coonan, are responsible for as many as 100 murders from 1968 to 1986. 128 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,880 They're one of the main hit squads on the mob's payroll. 129 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:44,880 They're involved in racketeering, and they help the mob control a lot of the major construction projects in New York at the time, like Medicine Square Garden and Javits Center. 130 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:51,880 Franco claims he's in tight with the Westies. As a matter of fact, they wanted him to be the trigger man on Hoffa. 131 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,880 But he's in prison at the time, and he can't do it. 132 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,880 But he says Jimmy Coonan himself told him how it all went down. 133 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:08,880 As we know, in little before three, Hoffa is picked up by a red Mercury marquee at the Marcus Red Fox. 134 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:16,880 He thinks he's going to go meet with Tony Jack, but when he's driven to the meeting spot, it's Jimmy Coonan and the Westies that are waiting. 135 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:19,880 So the Westies put two bullets in Hoffa's head. 136 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:25,880 But rather than dump the body right away, Franco's claims that they had another plan. 137 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,880 They don't just want to burn the body or hide him away. 138 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:36,880 Franco says the Westies store Hoffa's remains for five months until they can decide what to do. 139 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:43,880 They don't want to attract undue attention, so it's not like they can string him up or just leave his body laying in the street. 140 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:48,880 But they do want to let other criminals know, even if you're famous like Jimmy Hoffa, we can always get you. 141 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,880 And in December of 1975, they finally think they had the perfect place. 142 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:06,880 At the time, a new giant stadium is under construction in East Rutherford, New Jersey, an area known as the Meadowlands. 143 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,880 The Meadowlands were already in the middle of the city. 144 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:15,880 The Meadowlands were already a notorious dumping ground for mob victims. 145 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:24,880 In fact, while they were constructing giant stadium, the construction crew kept running into a lot of dumped bodies. 146 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:32,880 Each time they found a body, they'd call the prosecutor's office and say, hey, we found another one, but then construction would have to stop. 147 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,880 They'd have to wait for an investigation and it was slowing the whole thing down. 148 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,880 So after the fifth body, they just stopped calling. 149 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,880 And that's why timing is perfect for the mob. 150 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,880 Not only have they stopped looking for bodies, but a big concrete pour is scheduled. 151 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,880 And guess who's in charge of the concrete trucks? The Genevieve C family. 152 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:04,880 Franco says that Hoffa's body is brought to New Jersey in an oil drum, just before the concrete arrives for the stadium's west end zone. 153 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:10,880 Franco's even claimed to know exactly where they were going to put Hoffa. 154 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:20,880 In the end zone, section 107 in the corner, right where they were scheduled to pour 30 tons of concrete, 155 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,880 Franco's describes it like a sick joke amongst the mob. 156 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,880 Whenever a touchdown is scored, they toast and say, hey Jimmy, that one's for you. 157 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:36,880 While it wasn't common knowledge amongst the public, at least until this interview came out, 158 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,880 it was well known throughout the criminal underworld where Jimmy Hoffa was. 159 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,880 They put him in the ground and he's right there on TV every Sunday. 160 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:50,880 And that's why you don't mess with the mob. 161 00:14:51,880 --> 00:15:02,880 But when Giant Stadium is demolished in August 2010, the FBI doesn't bother to conduct a dig. 162 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:10,880 Demolition crews only went down about four feet and word has it that Hoffa's way deeper than that. 163 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:16,880 I guess the FBI didn't put enough trust in Donald Franco's to excavate down that low. 164 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:26,880 Some suggest the theory simply doesn't add up. 165 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:34,880 I don't understand why you would risk putting a body in a vehicle and transporting it cross-country, 166 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:41,880 especially a body with the notoriety of Jimmy Hoffa. It just doesn't make sense. 167 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,880 Which leads to a very different idea on what happened to Hoffa from someone who knew him well. 168 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:53,880 There's no doubt in my mind I know where Mr. Hoffa's body is and it's not in New Jersey. 169 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,880 Marvin Elkend was Hoffa's driver during his first term as Teamster President. 170 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,880 The guy spent years with Hoffa, literally sitting two feet in front of him. 171 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,880 He may be closer to Hoffa than any other person left alive today. 172 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,880 So if he says he's got a theory on where he ended up, I'd listen to him. 173 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:17,880 Elkend first meets Hoffa in the late 1950s. 174 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,880 I worked at the Copacabana nightclub in New York. I was a busboy. 175 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:34,880 The Mafia guys, Frankie Carbo, Blinky Palermo, Tony Salerno and Tony Pro Provenzano, they used to come in a lot. 176 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,880 I stole bottles of booze from the bar and I brought it to them and they were very big difference. 177 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,880 I liked them a lot. They were nice guys. 178 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,880 One day, a Genovese family bigwig offers him a new opportunity. 179 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:57,880 I was busy working and that Tony called me and he said, Friday's your last day here. 180 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,880 I said, why? I'm trying so hard to do a good job. 181 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,880 He says, as of Monday, you've got a new job. You're going to be the driver for Jimmy Hoffa. 182 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:15,880 Now, I didn't know Mr. Hoffa. I knew his reputation and when they said that, I got scared. 183 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:23,880 Mr. Hoffa was very tight with the Mafia and the go-between was that Tony Salerno. 184 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:31,880 First time I met Mr. Hoffa, I opened up the door and I said, good morning, Mr. Hoffa. 185 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:40,880 He said, are you Marvin? I said, yes, sir. He said, very good start. Excellent. Remember, it's Mr. Hoffa or sir. 186 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:42,880 Scared the hell out of me. 187 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,880 Hoffa conducts much of his business from the car and Elkend hears everything. 188 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,880 The guy is low on the food chain. He's kind of an errand boy. 189 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,880 But he's sitting there in the front seat right in front of Jimmy Hoffa, day in and day out. 190 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,880 You can only just imagine the kind of things that he heard. 191 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,880 When Elkend starts working, Hoffa has two rules. 192 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:19,880 One rule, I never want you to be late. I don't want to be kept waiting. 193 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,880 The car new rule is, wait until you hear in this car, stays in this car. 194 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:31,880 If anything that you hear in this car gets out, you won't be around the next morning. 195 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,880 Do you understand me, Marvin? I said, yes, I do, sir. This is very good. 196 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,880 Today, Elkend is ready to break one of those rules. 197 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:51,880 In the 47 years since his disappearance, Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts remain a mystery. 198 00:18:52,880 --> 00:19:00,880 Until his former driver, Marvin Elkend says he knows and that everyone's been looking in the wrong place. 199 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,880 There's no doubt in my mind I know where Mr. Hoffa's body is. 200 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,880 After Hoffa's picked up by the red car, what happens next? 201 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:20,880 According to Elkend, he's shot to death at a nearby house, stuffed into the trunk of a car, and they've already decided exactly where to put him. 202 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:30,880 Mr. Hoffa is buried in the concrete of the Renaissance Center, which is in downtown Detroit, right across the road from the Omni Hotel. 203 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:41,880 The Renaissance Center is mid-construction at the time Hoffa disappears. 204 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:49,880 Under the cover of the night, in the trunk of a car, they drove Mr. Hoffa to the Renaissance. 205 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,880 They put him in the planks and poured the concrete on top of him. 206 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:03,880 The next day, practically every Union carpenter in Detroit is there just building right on top of him, completely oblivious. 207 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:11,880 I mean, what a place to put Union hero Jimmy Hoffa. The mob really does have a sick sense of humor sometimes. 208 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:18,880 And according to Elkend, it's that same sense of humor that gives away the mob's secret. 209 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:29,880 In 75, we had a big convention in Detroit, and the convention took place at the Renaissance. Tony Pro, while the Mazzano was there. 210 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,880 Tony Pro, the Genovese boss who had a prison feud with Hoffa. 211 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:41,880 He's walking past the construction site where they're pouring concrete footings every day. 212 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:48,880 Tony Pro turned to everybody and said, guys, say good morning to Mr. Jimmy Hoffa. 213 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,880 We looked at the fresh concrete, and we all knew exactly what he meant. 214 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,880 All the talk for actual laughing. That was all the poop I needed. 215 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:04,880 Elkend says this all could have been avoided if Hoffa had just listened to him. 216 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:12,880 Marvin's kept in touch with the Genovese family, and he's heard that Hoffa's a target. 217 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:21,880 Marvin wants to have a sit-down with Hoffa. He wants to warn him that certain people aren't happy. He knows they're going to take him out. 218 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,880 Shortly before he goes missing, Hoffa meets with Elkend. 219 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:33,880 Mr. Hoffa didn't realize that he was not the number one man anymore. 220 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:40,880 I said, Mr. Hoffa, they don't want you to be president. There was no question if he ran, he would get elected. 221 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,880 The mafia had to do something about it, and that's why they had him killed. 222 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:55,880 I told Mr. Hoffa what the word was. Mr. Hoffa's told me, Marvin, my people will never harm me. 223 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:04,880 Mr. Hoffa went missing, and immediately the concrete was poured. Nobody has ever seen him again. 224 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:12,880 Hoffa thought he was untouchable, that he had an army of thousands of blue collar workers behind him. 225 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:19,880 But when the mob wants you out of the way, not even an army can protect you from a few coppers with guns. 226 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,880 In 2016, another witness steps forward to back up Elkend's story. 227 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:31,880 Former corrections officer Michael Yarbrough claims to have actually witnessed Hoffa's burial at the Renaissance Center. 228 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:47,880 Yarbrough says that at 3.20 p.m., half an hour or so after Hoffa is picked up at the Maccas Red Fox restaurant, he's walking past the construction site and he hears a struggle. 229 00:22:48,880 --> 00:23:01,880 He looks and he sees a cement truck, a 1975 Maroon Mercury Marquis, and two guys pushing Jimmy Hoffa into a huge hole where a pillar is going to be built. 230 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:09,880 Apparently, a third guy sees Yarbrough snooping and runs up and says, hey, you better keep moving or you're going to be next. 231 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,880 So he runs out of there and he hides until they're gone. 232 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:20,880 But once again, without a body, the Renaissance theory remains impossible to prove. 233 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:29,880 It's a major supporting pillar of one of the most iconic and recognizable buildings in Michigan. They're never going to dig that thing up. 234 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:43,880 On December 9th, 1982, after a seven-year investigation, Jimmy Hoffa is declared legally dead by a Michigan judge. 235 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:52,880 But when the FBI publicly releases a report called the Hoffa X Memo detailing the leads they followed in the case, one line jumps out. 236 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:59,880 No evidence has been developed to date which would prove that James R. Hoffa is either dead or alive. 237 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:06,880 After years of theories on his death, is it possible that Hoffa is still alive? 238 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:17,880 Six months into the investigation, the FBI produces this really important document known as the Hoffa X Memo. 239 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,880 It's a veritable who's who of mafia names. 240 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,880 It reads like a Hollywood script with every mobster you've ever heard of involved. 241 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:40,880 Tony Pro, Tony Jack, Fat Tony, the Irishman, every mobster you've ever heard of, they're listed in the Hoffa X Memo. 242 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,880 And while the memo is full of names, it's lacking in evidence. 243 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:59,880 Eventually the investigation leads to a grand jury. They identify 95 people that they want to testify before the jury, but almost everyone takes the fifth. 244 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:07,880 This memo lists so many people and so many theories and in the end, after each story, it says we can't cooperate any of this. 245 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:14,880 Maybe it's this, but we can't prove it. Maybe it's that, we can't prove it. It just goes around and around in circles. It's like a smoke screen. 246 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,880 But why would the FBI try to hide the truth about Hoffa's disappearance? 247 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,880 Why? Because he's actually a government informant. 248 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:32,880 Around the time of his death, many speculate Jimmy Hoffa's cooperating with the feds. 249 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:45,880 Once again, it comes down to the Teamsters, the former source of all of Hoffa's power. He wants that power back, but Nixon's banned him from union leadership as part of the deal that gets him out of prison. 250 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:57,880 The government has taken Hoffa's ability to lead, and if he wants it back, he's going to have to make a deal with the government. Luckily, he's got a lot of bargaining power. 251 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:04,880 Over the years, Hoffa has had a front row seat to the inner workings of the mafia. 252 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:15,880 Jimmy Hoffa knows where the bodies are buried. He knows they're involved in Vegas, that they're skimming money. 253 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:27,880 He knows that they have these sweetheart pension deals and no-show jobs. He would be an invaluable asset and informant to the federal government. 254 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:34,880 Clearly, he's in a very dangerous position, caught between the mob and the U.S. government. 255 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:43,880 And on July 30th, 1975, some theorists believe Hoffa isn't killed. He's rescued. 256 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:47,880 Let's go back to the mockest Red Fox. 257 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:54,880 We know that Hoffa's mafia associates stand him up. They're not showing up to the meeting. He's upset. 258 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,880 But the fact that they're late just might have saved his life. 259 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:04,880 One of the car that shows up is not full of wise guys and mobsters, but it's actually the Justice Department. 260 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:12,880 They've heard that there's a hit-out on Jimmy, and they swoop in to intercept him before the mobsters can get there. 261 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:21,880 If the FBI is trying to hide Jimmy Hoffa, the question is, where? 262 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:33,880 One theory suggests that actually Hoffa lives out his final days in Mexico or somewhere on the beach and lives happily ever after. 263 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,880 I have a very difficult time accepting that theory. 264 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,880 To me, the witness protection theory is laughable for a lot of reasons. 265 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,880 But the main one is, how the hell do you hide Jimmy Hoffa? I mean, look at him. 266 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:52,880 He's one of the most recognizable public figures, political leaders, but also Jimmy Hoffa loved the spotlight. 267 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:59,880 Does he strike you as someone who would accept a deal with the federal government to spend the rest of his life in hiding? 268 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,880 He wanted to be on the front lines, plus people would recognize him. It just doesn't hold up. 269 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:11,880 Which leads to an entirely different theory involving another top secret government agency. 270 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:25,880 This theory starts the same as the last. He gets picked up by the feds because he intends to cooperate with the government, hopefully to get permission to lead the teamsters again. 271 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:38,880 And as it turns out, in 1975, right when Hoffa is looking to regain presidency of the union, there's a brand new Senate investigation ramping up and it gives him the perfect opportunity. 272 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:41,880 And the perfect leverage. 273 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:50,880 The Senate is investigating the CIA, and Hoffa knows about one of the dirtiest deals the CIA ever did. 274 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,880 It's called Operation Mongoose. 275 00:28:54,880 --> 00:29:05,880 Was Hoffa planning to testify against the CIA to get back in control of the teamsters? And if so, could that have gotten him killed? 276 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:21,880 Operation Mongoose was a collaboration between the CIA and the Italian mafia in America. It was an assassination plot to eliminate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. 277 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:35,880 The mafia had casinos, they had their money in banks in Cuba, and when Castro took power, he kicked them all out, arrested some of them, sold all their money. 278 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:42,880 The mafia wants Castro out of the way so they can go back in and start up their businesses again in the vice-ranking. 279 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:48,880 The way the CIA looked at it was, our enemy's enemy is our friend. 280 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:59,880 A federal agent reaches out to mobster Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, another well-known mob personality out of Chicago. 281 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:07,880 These guys agree to do the hit, as we know it was never completed, but the request was made and the CIA will do anything to keep that a secret. 282 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,880 And some think that includes getting rid of Jimmy Hoffa. 283 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:19,880 Hoffa and Sam Giancana have been doing business together in the back of Hoffa's car for years. He's heard all the stories. 284 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:27,880 The question is, is he so desperate to run the teamsters again that he would tell these stories to the Senate Investigation Committee? 285 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:34,880 According to this theory's supporters, Hoffa and his mafia associates are all planning to talk. 286 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:42,880 Giancana, Roselli and Hoffa were all subpoena to provide testimony in front of this Senate hearing. 287 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,880 But none of them make it to Washington. 288 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:55,880 Sam Giancana was murdered in May. Hoffa was supposed to testify in August of 1975. He was murdered on July 30th, 1975. 289 00:30:55,880 --> 00:31:05,880 And then Johnny Roselli was supposed to testify in August of 1976. And his body was found floating in Biscayne Bay in a 50-gallon drum. 290 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,880 Is it possible the CIA took out all three to keep things quiet? 291 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:21,880 While we may never know the answer, one thing is clear. Any hope of finding Hoffa alive is now gone. 292 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:27,880 Jimmy Hoffa would be 108 years old today, so if we find any remnants of him, it's going to be his bones. 293 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:38,880 You're not going to roll into a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan and find him having a whopper with Elvis and Jim Morrison. That's not going to happen. 294 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:46,880 But one man thinks he knows exactly where Hoffa's body is. And it's not where anyone expects. 295 00:31:52,880 --> 00:32:04,880 Within days of Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance, multiple underworld tipsters claim to know his whereabouts, including Trenton State Penitentiary inmate Ralph Picardo. 296 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:16,880 This incredible story starts August 4th, 1975. That was only five days after Hoffa's disappearance. 297 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:25,880 Picardo's doing 20 years for manslaughter when his accountant showed up with the Andretta brothers, Stephen and Thomas. 298 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:33,880 These guys worked for the Genovese family, Crime Boss Tony Pro, who everyone agrees had problems with Jimmy Hoffa. 299 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:40,880 Stephen Andretta tells Picardo what happened to Hoffa a few days before. He said he knew the whole thing. 300 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,880 A few months later, Picardo decided he turned states evidence. 301 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:52,880 Now Picardo might be just looking for a lighter sentence, but he reveals the whole story as told by Andretta. 302 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:59,880 It begins once again in the parking lot of the Moccas Red Fox on July 30th. 303 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:06,880 Picardo tells the FBI a familiar story in the beginning. He said Hoffa was picked up in the restaurant parking lot. 304 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:15,880 In the car are Sally Buggs, Thomas Andretta and Vito Giacalone. That's Tony's little brother. 305 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:22,880 Hoffa thought he was going to be meeting with Tony Giac, so he wouldn't be too concerned about these extra people in the car. 306 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:29,880 And they take him to this so-called meeting spot. There, Sally Buggs shoots him twice in the head. 307 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:40,880 Picardo says that Genovese Crime Boss Tony Pro ordered the hit and directed the Andretta brothers to carry it out all the way from back in Jersey City. 308 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,880 And according to Picardo, Tony Pro wants Hoffa's body nearby as a reminder. 309 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,880 To understand what happens next, you got to understand the mob mentality. 310 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:59,880 You think in both cases you have a body, you want to get rid of it as quick and as fast as possible. 311 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,880 But sometimes these guys want to make a statement. Tony Pro hates Hoffa. 312 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,880 He would have mounted his head on a wall of his den if he could have. 313 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,880 Why these guys don't let this kind of thing go? 314 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:18,880 Tony Pro also has an easy means of transportation and an ideal place to hide a body. 315 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,880 The Genovese family controls a trucking company called Gateway Transportation. 316 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:33,880 According to Picardo's story, Hoffa's body is stuffed into a 55 gallon oil drum and put onto a Gateway Transportation truck. 317 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:38,880 Off he goes 600 miles to Jersey City. 318 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:46,880 In Jersey City, when Tony Pro has a body he wants to get rid of, he's got a favorite spot. 319 00:34:47,880 --> 00:35:03,880 At the time of Hoffa's disappearance, Genovese soldiers Phil, brother Moscato and Paul Capola own a 53 acre waste dump under the Pulaski Skyway. 320 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:10,880 Moscato, Capola and then Dreda brothers have been involved in burying bodies of this dump for many years. 321 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:17,880 The FBI has been investigating these people and bodies in this dump for the past three years before Hoffa even disappeared. 322 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,880 So when the FBI hears this from Ralph Picardo, they pay attention. 323 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:30,880 Picardo would have no way of knowing that this dump was already under investigation, but the details, they all line up. 324 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:36,880 The FBI asks Picardo for the location of the burial site within the dump. 325 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,880 Whether or not Picardo knows, he won't reveal the location. 326 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:45,880 The odds against finding the body in this place are huge. It'd be like finding the needle in the haystack. 327 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:52,880 Unfortunately, without a more specific place to look, their search comes up empty. 328 00:35:53,880 --> 00:36:01,880 On December the 4th, 1975, the feds make a last ditch effort. They put the Dreda brothers in front of a grand jury, but they believed the fit. 329 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:08,880 After just five months, the Jersey Dump Theory hits a roadblock for 41 years. 330 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:15,880 But in 2016, a deathbed confession resurrects it. 331 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:28,880 47 years after he disappeared, could Jimmy Hoffa's body finally be found in a new Jersey Dump? 332 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:36,880 The place is mob-owned and they've got a jailhouse informant named Ralph Picardo who says that he's there. 333 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,880 But they search in 1975 and simply can't find a body. 334 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:49,880 It's tough. I mean, they faced incredible odds of 53-acre property with not even a little clue about where to look. 335 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:55,880 This place is landfill and a toxic waste dump. It was too dangerous to dig in many places. 336 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,880 Maybe that's why the mob likes to hide bodies in this dump. 337 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:14,880 The FBI abandons the search in 1976, but 40 years later, a shocking revelation brings the Moscato Dump back to the attention of Hoffa theorists. 338 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:21,880 Philip Moscato Jr., who's the son of the Moscato Dump owner, comes forward and claims he knows exactly where to look. 339 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:28,880 Moscato says his father, Philip Sr., made a deathbed confession. 340 00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,880 The day I met my father in the hospital, it was the day before he went home on hospice. 341 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,880 He said, listen, some things you got to tell you. 342 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,880 And he proceeded to tell me the location where Jimmy Hoffa's buried. 343 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:48,880 He was brought there in a drum, on a truck, and put in the ground. That's what I was told. 344 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:54,880 Could an oil drum like this contain the remains of Jimmy Hoffa? 345 00:37:55,880 --> 00:38:04,880 It lines up with Ralph Picardo's story as well that the mob kills Hoffa in Detroit, puts him in a drum, and trucks him down to Jersey City to bury him in Moscato's dump. 346 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:13,880 To complete the job, Moscato dumps 12 more oil drums on top of Hoffa and fills the whole thing in. 347 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,880 Moscato digs deeper into his father's story. 348 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,880 I started trying to put the story together in my head, like, how could this be possible? 349 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:29,880 And over my research of the years, putting this together, it all started to make sense to me. 350 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:36,880 The full property of the dump doesn't even exist anymore. It's been divided and used for other things. 351 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,880 But there's a patch of land right under Pulaski's guideway. It's kind of shaped like a baseball diamond. 352 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,880 And that's where Philip tells us that his father buried Jimmy Hoffa. 353 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:54,880 In 2020, a search firm conducts further investigations at the site. 354 00:38:55,880 --> 00:39:00,880 Investigators had just did a ground-penetrating radar, I believe they call it. 355 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:07,880 It's a method of sending radar pulses into the earth. It's a great way to see what's under the surface before you dig. 356 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:14,880 Lo and behold, they find some metal. If you take the data from that session, you can make a 3D image of exactly what's down there. 357 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,880 And the first thing you see, there's a large curved piece that looks just like an oil drum. 358 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:27,880 And it's not just one, there are multiple barrels. And they're buried right on top of each other starting about four feet down. 359 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,880 Could this be the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa? 360 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:38,880 Moscato hopes to have an answer soon. 361 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:47,880 My belief from what I was told from my dad is that I am the only person alive today that knows where the remains of Jimmy Hoffa is. 362 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:55,880 We're getting close to revealing that. And I'm hoping in the near future we do reveal that and we can maybe give the Hoffa family some closure. 363 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:02,880 The Hoffa family needs to bring home their dad, bring home their husband, their grandfather. 364 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,880 Bring them home to the people that he belongs to, that he should have been through all these years with. 365 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:20,880 If Philip is correct, the Jimmy Hoffa mystery may be closer than ever to being solved. 366 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:27,880 The FBI has conducted a site survey at the Moscato dump and may soon begin a full-scale excavation. 367 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:34,880 And there's a chance that it could finally put Jimmy Hoffa and all the many theories on his disappearance to rest. 368 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:40,880 I'm Lawrence Fishburne. Thank you for watching History's Greatest Mysteries.