The FBI has called it quits on the umpteenth search for Jimmy Hoffa’s remains, leaving empty-handed from a farm field in suburban Detroit after two and a half days of digging. The latest hunt for the ex–Teamsters boss’s remains was prompted by 86-year-old Tony Zerilli, a former Mafia man. For $4.99 online, Zerilli is selling a secondhand account of how Hoffa was supposedly dragged from a car, hit repeatedly with a shovel, and buried alive by a few of Zerilli’s associates. Zerilli’s lawyer has denied claims that his client was only looking to profit from the media attention and search for a man whose disappearance nearly 40 years ago continues to be the subject of evergreen fascination.
"Just before 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Detroit's FBI chief, Robert Foley III, announced that investigators had not found any evidence that Hoffa was buried in an overgrown Oakland Township farm field, where they were led to by a tipster with close ties to the mob.
"After a diligent search "1/8 we did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa," Foley said. "We're very confident of our result here after two days-plus of diligent effort."
He added: "Certainly, we're disappointed."
So was the tipster. Anthony Zerilli, 85, the son of reputed former Detroit mob boss Joseph Zerilli, told the FBI in January that Hoffa was struck with a shovel and then buried alive on the property, with a slab of concrete placed over the body. The 62-year-old Hoffa was kidnapped on the afternoon of July 30, 1975, from the parking lot of what was then the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township."
Zerilli is sticking with his story.
