All language subtitles for Historys.Greatest.Mysteries.S03E02.720p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.chr00t

[dramatic music]

- Tonight,
one of the most notorious

missing person cases
of all time,

a powerful union activist
vanishes without a trace.

45 years later,
the search for him continues.

♪ ♪

- He's really well-known
across the country.

Where is his body?

- Now,
we uncover the top theories

surrounding
his shocking disappearance.

- Law enforcement suspects

that guys use the incinerator

to dispose of bodies.

- Is it possible the CIA
took out all three

to keep things quiet?

♪ ♪

- Can new evidence and
the investigations behind it

finally bring us
closer to the truth?

♪ ♪

- I am the only person
alive today

that knows where the remains
of Jimmy Hoffa is.

♪ ♪

- Our investigative team
is excited, that's for sure.

They got high hopes
they're gonna find him.

- Where is Jimmy Hoffa?

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

- Detroit, Michigan, 1975,

the center of both
the U.S. auto industry

and of organized labor.

It's also the last known
location

of renowned former Teamster
president, Jimmy Hoffa.

- Jimmy Hoffa is a legend

within the labor movement.

- He is a true champion
of workers' rights.

He's known
all over the country.

- Hoffa's been involved
with labor unions

since running his first strike
as a teenager.

- By the age of 14,

he had to go to work
to help support his family,

loading
and unloading strawberries,

working under
these terrible conditions.

And he finally kinda has enough

and he organizes
his fellow workers.

They decide they're gonna
stop loading and unloading

these strawberries and just
let them sit out there

and bake in the hot sun.

Management's watching their
strawberries kind of molder

on the dock, they cave.

I think this is where
Hoffa really sees

the power of the people,
the power of organizing.

He was successful
in his very first time out

at 14 years old,
and people noticed.

♪ ♪

- By 1957, he's risen
to president of the Teamsters,

but his climb
comes with challenges.

- A rival union
appears in Detroit,

competing for the same workers
as the Teamsters,

and they gain so much ground
that, eventually,

Hoffa turns to the Mafia
for help.

- Specifically,

New York's powerful
Genovese crime family.

- By forming this alliance
with the Mafia,

the Teamsters,
they win their battle.

But it comes at a price.

The Mafia guys that
he forms an alliance with,

they're expecting access

to the Teamsters'
pension fund in return.

- The Teamsters' pension fund

is like a blank check
for the Mafia,

their own personal bank.

Hoffa has a 14-year run
with the Teamsters,

working hand in hand
with the Mafia the whole time.

But that deal
is eventually his undoing.

Hoffa is indicted
for a number of charges

related to mob involvement
with the Teamsters.

Hoffa goes to prison,

and he's out of the union
but the mob remains.

♪ ♪

- In December 1971,

President Nixon
commutes Hoffa's sentence

with one stipulation,

he can't manage any labor
organization until 1980.

- By 1973,

Hoffa's already plotting

to regain the presidency
of the Teamsters.

- There's just one
stumbling block.

While in prison,

Hoffa has run afoul
of the Genovese family.

And on July 30, 1975,

he waits in the parking lot

of the Machus Red Fox
restaurant,

hoping to make amends.

- He's there for a meeting

with associates
of the Genovese crime family.

He wants to talk to them
about returning

to run the Teamsters Union.

The Mafia has control
of the Teamsters these days,

and they really don't want
Jimmy Hoffa back in charge,

but they agree to the meeting.

Problem is, they're late.

♪ ♪

- Witnesses see Hoffa pacing

and making calls
on a nearby payphone.

After nearly an hour
of waiting,

a red sedan pulls up.

Hoffa gets in

and is never heard from again.

♪ ♪

At 7:00 a.m. the next day,

Hoffa's wife
calls her children

to say their father
never came home.

And by 7:20 a.m.,

Hoffa's assistant
finds his car,

unlocked in the restaurant
parking lot.

- As soon as Jimmy Hoffa
is reported missing,

the FBI gets involved.

They're going to investigate
the case.

- Agents start
at Hoffa's office.

- His office
appointment book says

"TG, 2:00 p.m., Red Fox."

"Red Fox" obviously refers to
the Machus Red Fox restaurant.

"TG" refers to Tony Giacalone,

known as Tony Jack.

- Tony Giacalone
is a high-ranking member

of the Detroit Mafia.

And in many ways,

Giacalone is Hoffa's liaison
to the underworld.

In order for Hoffa
to once again

become president
of the Teamsters,

he has to work things out
with guys like Tony Giacalone.

So they set up a sit-down,

try to work things out.

♪ ♪

- But when the FBI
questions eyewitnesses,

they learn that Giacalone
never showed up.

So who's in the car
that picks up Jimmy Hoffa?

- Not long before 3:00,

there are eyewitnesses
who see a maroon car,

either a Lincoln or Mercury,
pull up.

It's unclear exactly
who was in the car.

According
to the eye witnesses,

he gets in of his own accord.

So there's no struggle,
doesn't seem like

it was a kidnapping
or an abduction.

This is the last time
that anyone sees Jimmy Hoffa,

at least publicly.

- They know who he was supposed
to be meeting with,

and so they start questioning
and wiretapping

known Mafia associates.

♪ ♪

- Starting with
Tony Giacalone.

- Investigators have no idea
where Tony Jack is,

but they start digging
and they realize

they do know
where he was two days prior.

They find out
he was meeting with

two very suspicious people

who might provide a clue
as to Hoffa's whereabouts.

- Their names,
Raffaele Quasarano

and Peter Vitale.

- Federal law enforcement

are keeping guys
like Quasarano and Vitale

under surveillance.

They're high-ranking members
of the Detroit Mafia.

They're involved
in labor racketeering,

drug trafficking, gambling,
loan sharking,

the usual crimes associated
with members of the Mafia.

- They also have another
business that raises eyebrows.

- They own a commercial
incinerator

in their business
Central Sanitation.

♪ ♪

- Law enforcement suspects

that guys like
Vitale and Quasarano

use the incinerator
to dispose of bodies.

♪ ♪

- Central Sanitation,
in Hamtramck, Michigan,

is just 20 miles from
the Machus Red Fox restaurant.

It's close enough
to give the FBI a theory.

♪ ♪

- So the fact that
they meet with Tony Giacalone

in the days leading up to
the disappearance

is very significant and has led
some theorists to speculate

that they were talking about
preparing the incinerator

to dispose
of Jimmy Hoffa specifically.

♪ ♪

- But why would the Mafia
order such a brutal hit?

Could Hoffa's disappearance
be tied to a beef

that started years earlier
in prison?

- While he's in there,
he publicly fights with

a crime boss
from the Genovese crime family

named Anthony Provenzano.

"Tony Pro" they call him.

Like many mobsters,
Tony Pro's family

is collecting a union pension.

But when Tony goes to prison,

his benefits are cut off.

Meanwhile,
Jimmy Hoffa's family

is still getting
his pension benefits.

- Tony Provenzano
confronts Jimmy Hoffa,

says, "Why should you be
entitled to these benefits

and not my family?"

Jimmy Hoffa snaps backs,

"It's because of people
like you

that I'm in here
in the first place."

- The Genovese crime family
control the Teamsters,

and they don't
like Jimmy Hoffa.

And they really don't want
Hoffa back in charge.

They want him gone.

- So the FBI believes
he was killed,

and then his body transported

to Central Sanitation

and incinerated.

- The FBI hurries
to prove their case,

but unfortunately,
the Genovese crime family

seems to be one step ahead.

- Within a few months
of Hoffa's disappearance,

Central Sanitation
catches fire in an arson.

Few months after that,
the whole place is torn down.

So any hope of recovering
evidence disappears.

And that's as far as
the incinerator theory can get.

- But that doesn't
stop speculation

about other possibilities.

- People still want to know

where did he end up,
where did they put him?

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- Many experts believe
Jimmy Hoffa is killed

by members of the Mafia
on July 30, 1975.

The big questions are,
"Who did it?

And where is his body?"

Then in 1989,

a former mob associate says
he knows the answer.

♪ ♪

- A hitman
named Donald Frankos

comes out with
a pretty explosive story

in "Playboy Magazine."

- Frankos confirms
the FBI's belief

that Hoffa was murdered
in a fight

with the Genovese family
over control of the Teamsters.

And he also claims to know
who pulled the trigger.

- According to Frankos,
Jimmy Hoffa was murdered

by a gang known as the Westies

on the orders
of "Fat Tony" Salerno.

♪ ♪

- According to the FBI,

the Westies and their founder,
Jimmy Coonan, are responsible

for as many as 100 murders
from 1968 to 1986.

- They're one
of the main hit squads

on the mob's payroll.

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 Madison Square Garden

and Javits Center.

- Frankos claims he's in tight
with the Westies.

As a matter of fact,
they wanted him

to be the triggerman on Hoffa.

But he's in prison at the time
and he can't do it.

- But he says
Jimmy Coonan himself

told him how it all went down.

- Wind back to that red car.

- As we know,
a little before 3:00,

Hoffa is picked up
by a red Mercury Marquis

at the Machus Red Fox.

He thinks he's gonna go meet
with Tony Jack.

But when he's driven
to the meeting spot,

it's Jimmy Coonan and
the Westies that are waiting.

So the Westies put two bullets
in Hoffa's head.

♪ ♪

But rather than dump
the body right away,

Frankos claims that
they had another plan.

- They don't just want to burn
the body or hide him away.

- Frankos says the Westies
store Hoffa's remains

for five months

until they can decide
what to do.

- 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.

But they do want
to let other criminals know,

even if you're famous
like Jimmy Hoffa,

we can always get you.

And in December of 1975,

they finally think they had
the perfect place.

♪ ♪

- At the time,
a new Giants Stadium

is under construction

in East Rutherford,
New Jersey,

an area known
as the Meadowlands.

- The Meadowlands were already
a notorious dumping ground

for mob victims.

In fact, while they were
constructing Giants Stadium,

the construction crew

kept running into
a lot of dumped bodies.

- 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,

they'd have to wait
for an investigation,

and it was slowing
the whole thing down.

So after the fifth body,

they just stopped calling.

And that's why timing
is perfect for the mob.

Not only have they stopped
looking for bodies,

but a big concrete pour
is scheduled.

And guess who's in charge
of the concrete trucks?

The Genovese family.

♪ ♪

- Frankos 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.

- Frankos even claimed to know

exactly where
they were gonna put Hoffa:

in the end zone,
Section 107 in the corner,

right where
they were scheduled

to pour 30 tons of concrete.

Frankos describes it like
a sick joke amongst the mob.

Whenever a touchdown is scored,

they toast and say,

"Hey, Jimmy,
that one's for you."

[crowd cheering]

While it wasn't common
knowledge amongst the public,

at least until
this interview came out,

it was well known throughout
the criminal underworld

where Jimmy Hoffa was.

They put him in the ground,

and he's right there
on TV every Sunday.

And that's why you don't mess
with the mob.

♪ ♪

- But when Giants Stadium
is demolished in August 2010,

the FBI doesn't bother
to conduct a dig.

- Demolition crews only
went down about four feet

and word has it that Hoffa's
way deeper than that.

I guess the FBI didn't put
enough trust in Donald Frankos

to excavate down that low.

♪ ♪

- Some suggest the theory
simply doesn't add up.

- I don't understand
why you would risk

putting a body in a vehicle

and transporting it
cross-country,

especially a body

with the notoriety
of Jimmy Hoffa.

It just doesn't make sense.

- Which leads
to a very different idea

on what happened to Hoffa,

from someone
who knew him well.

- There's no doubt in my mind

I know where
Mr. Hoffa's body is,

and it's not in New Jersey.

- Marvin Elkind
was Hoffa's driver

during his first term
as Teamsters president.

- The guy spent years
with Hoffa,

literally sitting two feet
in front of him.

He may be closer to Hoffa

than any other person
left alive today.

So if he says he's got a theory
on where he ended up,

I'd listen to him.

♪ ♪

- Elkind first meets Hoffa
in the late 1950s.

they used to come in a lot.

I stole bottles of booze
from the bar,

and I brought it to them.

And they were very big tippers.

I liked them a lot.
They were nice guys.

- One day,
a Genovese family big wig

offers him a new opportunity.

I said, "Why? I'm trying
so hard to do a good job."

He says, "As of Monday,

"you've got a new job.

You're gonna be the driver
for Jimmy Hoffa."

Now I didn't know Mr. Hoffa,

but I knew his reputation.

And when they said that,
I got scared.

♪ ♪

Mr. Hoffa was very tight
with the Mafia

and the go-between
was Fat Tony Salerno.

First time I met Mr. Hoffa,
I opened up the door

and I said,
"Good morning, Mr. Hoffa."

He said, "Are you Marvin?"
I go, "Yes, sir."

He says, "Very good start.
Excellent.

Remember,
it's 'Mr. Hoffa' or 'Sir.'"

Scared the hell out of me.

♪ ♪

- Hoffa conducts much of
his business from the car,

and Elkind hears everything.

- The guy is low
on the food chain.

He's kind of an errand boy.

But he's sitting there
in the front seat

right in front of Jimmy Hoffa,
day in and day out.

You can only just imagine the
kind of things that he heard.

♪ ♪

- When Elkind starts working,
Hoffa has two rules.

- Today, Elkind is ready
to break one of those rules.

♪ ♪

- In the 47 years
since his disappearance,

Jimmy Hoffa's whereabouts
remain a mystery.

Until his former driver
Marvin Elkind says he knows,

and that everyone has been
looking in the wrong place.

- There's no doubt in my mind

I know where
Mr. Hoffa's body is.

♪ ♪

- After Hoffa is picked up
by the red car,

what happens next?

- According to Elkind,

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.

♪ ♪

- The Renaissance Center
is mid-construction

at the time Hoffa disappears.

They put him in the planks

and poured the concrete
on top of him.

♪ ♪

- The next day,

practically every union
carpenter in Detroit

is there just building
right on top of him,

completely oblivious.

I mean, what a place
to put union hero Jimmy Hoffa.

The mob really does have a
sick sense of humor sometimes.

♪ ♪

- And according to Elkind,

it's that same sense of humor

that gives away
the mob's secret.

- Tony Pro, the Genovese boss

who had a prison feud
with Hoffa.

- He's walking past
the construction site,

where they're pouring concrete
footings every day.

- Tony Pro turned to everybody
and said,

"Guys, say good morning
to Mr. Jimmy Hoffa."

All the top brass
were laughing.

That was all the proof
I needed.

- Elkind says this all
could have been avoided

if Hoffa had
just listened to him.

♪ ♪

Marvin's kept in touch
with the Genovese family,

and he's heard
that Hoffa's a target.

- Marvin wants to have
a sit-down with Hoffa.

He wants to warn him that
certain people aren't happy.

He knows they're gonna
take him out.

- Shortly before
he goes missing,

Hoffa meets with Elkind.

I told Mr. Hoffa
what the word was.

Mr. Hoffa just told me,

"Marvin, my people
will never harm me."

♪ ♪

Mr. Hoffa went missing,

and immediately,
the concrete was poured.

Nobody has ever seen him again.

♪ ♪

- Hoffa thought
he was untouchable,

that he had an army
of thousands

of blue-collar workers
behind him.

But when the mob
wants you out of the way,

not even an army
can protect you

from a few capos with guns.

♪ ♪

- In 2016,

another witness steps forward

to back up Elkind's story.

- Former corrections officer
Michael Yarbrough

claims to have
actually witnessed

Hoffa's burial
at the Renaissance Center.

Yarbrough says
that at 3:20 p.m.,

half an hour or so
after Hoffa is picked up

at the Machus Red Fox
restaurant,

he's walking past
the construction site

and he hears a struggle.

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 gonna be built.

Apparently, a third guy

sees Yarbrough snooping
and runs up and says,

"Hey, you better keep moving
or you're gonna be next."

So he runs out of there

and he hides
until they're gone.

♪ ♪

- But once again,
without a body,

the Renaissance theory
remains impossible to prove.

- It's a major
supporting pillar

of one of the most iconic

and recognizable buildings
in Michigan.

They're never gonna dig
that thing up.

♪ ♪

- On December 9, 1982,

after a seven-year
investigation,

Jimmy Hoffa is declared
legally dead

by a Michigan judge.

But when the FBI
publicly releases a report

called the "Hoffex Memo,"

detailing the leads
they followed in the case,

one line jumps out,

"No evidence has been
developed to date

"which would prove
that James R. Hoffa

is either dead or alive."

After years of theories
on his death,

is it possible
that Hoffa is still alive?

♪ ♪

- Six months
into the investigation,

the FBI produces
this really important document

known as the Hoffex Memo.

- It's a veritable
"who's who" of Mafia names.

♪ ♪

It reads like
a Hollywood script

with every mobster
you've ever heard of involved.

Tony Pro, Tony Jack,

Fat Tony, the Irishman,

every mobster
you've ever heard of,

they're listed
in the Hoffex Memo.

- And while the memo
is full of names,

it's lacking in evidence.

- 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.

- This memo lists so many
people and so many theories,

and in the end,
after each story, it says

we can't corroborate
any of this.

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 smokescreen.

- But why would the FBI
try to hide the truth

about Hoffa's disappearance?

- Why?

Because he's actually
a government informant.

- Around the time
of his death,

many speculate Jimmy Hoffa's
cooperating with the feds.

- 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.

The government has taken
Hoffa's ability to lead

and if he wants it back,

he's gonna have to make
a deal with the government.

Luckily, he's got
a lot of bargaining power.

- Over the years,
Hoffa has had a front row seat

to the inner workings
of the Mafia.

- Jimmy Hoffa knows
where the bodies are buried.

He knows they're involved
in Vegas,

that they're skimming money.

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.

- Clearly, he's in
a very dangerous position,

caught between the mob
and the U.S. government.

- And on July 30, 1975,

some theorists believe Hoffa
isn't killed.

He's rescued.

♪ ♪

- Let's go back to
the Machus Red Fox.

- We know that Hoffa's
Mafia associates stand him up,

they're not showing up
to the meeting.

He's upset.

- But the fact
that they're late

just might have saved his life.

- What if the car
that shows up

is not full of wise guys
and mobsters

but it's actually
the Justice Department?

- They've heard that
there's a hit out on Jimmy,

and they swoop in
to intercept him

before the mobsters
can get there.

♪ ♪

- If the FBI is trying
to hide Jimmy Hoffa,

the question is, where?

- One theory suggests that

actually Hoffa lives out
his final days

in Mexico or somewhere
on the beach

and lives happily ever after.

I have a very difficult time
accepting that theory.

- To me,
the Witness Protection theory

is laughable
for a lot of reasons,

but the main one is,
how the hell

do you hide Jimmy Hoffa?
I mean, look at him.

- He's one of the most
recognizable public figures,

political leaders.

But also, Jimmy Hoffa
loved the spotlight.

Does he strike you as someone
who would accept a deal

with the federal government

to spend the rest of his life
in hiding?

He wanted to be
on the front lines,

plus, people
would recognize him.

Just doesn't hold up.

- Which leads to an entirely
different theory

involving another top secret
government agency.

♪ ♪

- 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.

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.

- And the perfect leverage.

- The Senate is investigating
the CIA

and Hoffa knows about
one of the dirtiest deals

the CIA ever did.

It's called
Operation Mongoose.

- 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?

♪ ♪

- 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.

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,

stole all their money.

- The Mafia wants Castro
out of the way

so they can go back in

and start up their businesses
again in the vice rackets.

- The way the CIA
looked at it was

our enemy's enemy
is our friend.

[crowd cheering]

- A federal agent
reaches out to mobster

Johnny Roselli

and Sam Giancana,

another well-known mob
personality out of Chicago.

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.

- And some think that includes
getting rid of Jimmy Hoffa.

- Hoffa and Sam Giancana have
been doing business together

in the back of Hoffa's car
for years.

He's heard all the stories.
The question is,

is he so desperate
to run the Teamsters again

that he would tell
these stories

to the Senate
Investigation Committee?

- According to this
theory's supporters,

Hoffa and his Mafia associates
are all planning to talk.

- Giancana, Roselli, and Hoffa
were all subpoenaed

to provide testimony in front
of this Senate hearing.

- But none of them make it
to Washington.

- Sam Giancana
was murdered in May.

Hoffa was supposed to testify
in August of '75.

He was murdered
on July 30, 1975.

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.

- Is it possible
the CIA took out all three

to keep things quiet?

♪ ♪

- While we may never know
the answer,

one thing is clear,

any hope of finding
Hoffa alive is now gone.

- Jimmy Hoffa would be
108 years old today.

So if we find
any remnants of him,

it's gonna be his bones.

You're not gonna roll into
a Burger King

in Kalamazoo, Michigan,

and find him having
a Whopper with Elvis

and Jim Morrison.

That's--
that's not gonna happen.

- But one man thinks he knows

exactly where Hoffa's body is.

And it's not
where anyone expects.

♪ ♪

- Within days of Jimmy Hoffa's
disappearance,

multiple underworld tipsters

claim to know his whereabouts,

including Trenton State
Penitentiary inmate

Ralph Picardo.

♪ ♪

- This incredible story
starts August 4th, 1975.

That was only five days
after Hoffa's disappearance.

♪ ♪

- Picardo is doing 20 years
for manslaughter

when his accountant showed up
with the Andretta brothers,

Stephen and Thomas.

These guys worked for

the Genovese family crime boss
Tony Pro,

who everyone agrees
had problems with Jimmy Hoffa.

- Stephen Andretta
tells Picardo

what happened to Hoffa
a few days before.

He said he knew
the whole thing.

A few months later,
Picardo decided

he'd turn state's evidence.

- Now Picardo might be

just looking
for a lighter sentence,

but he reveals the whole story
as told by Andretta.

♪ ♪

- It begins, once again,
in the parking lot

of the Machus Red Fox
on July 30th.

- Picardo tells the FBI

a familiar story
in the beginning.

He said Hoffa was picked up
in the restaurant parking lot.

- In the car are Sally Bugs,
Thomas Andretta,

and Vito Giacalone,

that's Tony's little brother.

- Hoffa thought he was gonna be
meeting with Tony Jack,

so he wouldn't be
too concerned about

these extra people in the car.

And they take him to this
so-called meeting spot.

There, Sally Bugs shoots him
twice in the head.

- 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.

- And according to Picardo,

Tony Pro wants Hoffa's body
nearby as a reminder.

♪ ♪

- To understand
what happens next,

you got to understand
the mob mentality.

You'd think, in most cases,

you have a body,
you wanna get rid of it

as quick and as fast
as possible.

But sometimes, these guys
wanna make a statement.

Tony Pro hates Hoffa.

He would have mounted his head
on the wall of his den

if he could have.

Wise guys don't let
this kind of thing go.

- Tony Pro also has an easy
means of transportation

and an ideal place
to hide a body.

- The Genovese family
controls a trucking company

called Gateway Transportation.

According to Picardo's story,

Hoffa's body is stuffed
into a 55-gallon oil drum

and put onto a Gateway
Transportation truck.

Off he goes,
600 miles to Jersey City.

In Jersey City,

when Tony Pro has a body
he wants to get rid of,

he's got a favorite spot.

♪ ♪

- At the time
of Hoffa's disappearance,

Genovese soldiers
Phil "Brother" Moscato

and Paul Cappola

own a 53-acre waste dump
under the Pulaski Skyway.

- Moscato, Cappola,
and the Andretta brothers

have been involved in
burying bodies at this dump

for many years.

The FBI has been investigating
these people

and bodies in this dump
for the past three years

before Hoffa even disappeared.

- So when the FBI hears this
from Ralph Picardo,

they pay attention.

- Picardo would have
no way of knowing that

this dump was already
under investigation.

But the details,
they all line up.

- The FBI asks Picardo
for the location

of the burial site
within the dump.

- Whether or not Picardo knows,

he won't reveal the location.

The odds against finding
a body in this place are huge.

It'd be like finding a needle
in the haystack.

- Unfortunately, without
a more specific place to look,

their search comes up empty.

- On December 4, 1975,

the feds make
a last-ditch effort.

They put the Andretta brothers
in front of a grand jury,

but they plead the Fifth.

- After just five months,

the Jersey dump theory
hits a roadblock for 41 years.

But in 2016,

a deathbed confession
resurrects it.

♪ ♪

- 47 years after
he disappeared,

could Jimmy Hoffa's body
finally be found

in a New Jersey dump?

- The place is mob-owned,

and they've got a jailhouse
informant named Ralph Picardo,

who says that he's there.

But they search in 1975
and simply can't find a body.

It's tough. I mean,
they faced incredible odds,

a 53-acre property

with not even a little clue
about where to look.

- This place is a landfill
and a toxic waste dump.

It was too dangerous
to dig in many places.

Maybe that's why the mob likes
to hide bodies in this dump.

♪ ♪

- 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.

- Phillip Moscato Jr.,

who's the son
of the Moscato Dump owner

comes forward and claims
he knows exactly where to look.

- Moscato says his father,
Phillip Sr.,

made a deathbed confession.

♪ ♪

- The day I met my father
in the hospital,

it was the day before
he went home on hospice.

He said, "Listen.
Some things I got to tell you."

♪ ♪

And he proceeded to tell me

the location
where Jimmy Hoffa's buried.

He was brought there
in a drum on a truck

and put in the ground.

That's what I was told.

- Could an oil drum like this

contain the remains
of Jimmy Hoffa?

- 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.

To complete the job,

Moscato dumps 12 more oil drums
on top of Hoffa

and fills the whole thing in.

♪ ♪

- Moscato digs deeper
into his father's story.

- I started trying to put
the story together in my head.

Like, how could this
be possible?

And over my research of the
years, putting this together,

it all started
to make sense to me.

♪ ♪

- The full property
of the dump

doesn't even exist anymore.

It's been divided
and used for other things.

But there's a patch of land
right under Pulaski Skyway,

it's kind of shaped
like a baseball diamond,

and that's where
Phillip tells us

that his father
buried Jimmy Hoffa.

♪ ♪

- In 2020,

a search firm conducts
further investigations

at the site.

- Investigators had just did
a ground-penetrating radar,

I believe they call it.

- 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.

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.

And the first thing you see
is a large, curved piece

that looks just like
an oil drum.

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.

- Could this be the final
resting place of Jimmy Hoffa?

[somber music]

Moscato hopes to have
an answer soon.

- 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.

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.

The Hoffa family needs
to bring home their dad,

bring home their husband,
their grandfather,

bring him home to the people
that he belongs to,

that he should have been
through all these years with.

♪ ♪

- If Phillip is correct,

the Jimmy Hoffa mystery
may be closer than ever

to being solved.

The FBI has conducted a site
survey at the Moscato Dump

and may soon begin
a full-scale excavation.

And there is a chance that it
could finally put Jimmy Hoffa

and all the many theories
on his disappearance to rest.

I'm Laurence Fishburne.

Thank you for watching
"History's Greatest Mysteries."

♪ ♪