Jimmy Hoffa, president of the Teamster’s Union, disappeared without a trace on July 30, 1975. Jimmy Hoffa led the teamsters from 1957 to 1971. From the beginning, he had been instrumental in unionizing workers and had been the brains and guts behind its success. It was alleged that he had ties to organized crime. He admitted that liaisons with the Mob were needed, because they had the power to disrupt strikes, so deals had to be made with them. The federal investigators pursued him in the 1950’s & ‘60’s without much success at first, "charging that his empire thrived on violence, fraud and misuse of union money."

The Justice Department during the Kennedy Administration turned up the heat and made the charges stick finally convicting him in 1964. In 1967, after all his appeals were exhausted he was sent to federal prison at Lewisburg, PA., convicted on the testimony of a teamster, Edward Grady Putin who was awaiting trial for a variety of crimes, and had made a deal with the prosecution. Thus Hoffa was convicted of fund fraud, jury tampering and conspiracy, along with teamster Tony "pro" Provenzano, whom Hoffa blamed for drawing federal interest in the first place to his illegal activities.

Hoffa only served 4 years of his 13 year sentence, because President Nixon commuted his sentence, with the understanding that Hoffa wouldn’t resume his office until 1980, which would’ve been the end of his sentence. This deal supposedly was made between the White House and Union Vice-President Frank Fitzsimmons, who was now Hoffa’s rival for power in the Union.

On July 30th, 1975 things did not start off well for Hoffa, when New Jersey mob leader Tony "jack" Giacalone and Tony "pro" Provenzano, the same fellow Teamster that had been in prison with Hoffa stood him up at the luncheon meeting at Machus Red Fox restaurant in Michigan, that they were supposed to have, which indicates that Hoffa had fallen out of favor with some rather nasty people, in the mob and in his own Union. Several hours passed, and Hoffa called home to see if they left any messages. His last phone call was to his friend, Louis Linteau. Apparently a car load of men did finally pick him up, and he was last seen sitting in the back seat, with several men, leaning forward to talk to the driver. The F.B.I think that he never left that car alive. His blood and hair were found in the car he was last seen in.

When he failed to come back, the authorities swung into a full man hunt, questioning Union Mob friends, digging up various places, hammering walls and cement floors looking for his body, but to no avail. The F.B.I theorize that his body was run through a Mob-controlled fat-rendering plant that was later mysteriously destroyed by fire. In 1983, Hoffa was declared legally dead.

After talking to many people, it was discovered that Hoffa had many enemies. At the top of the list, suspects included Russell Bufalino, Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano & two Hoffa cronies, Thomas Andretta, Gabriel Briguglio and Salvador Briguglio, who was killed for talking to the F.B.I. There wasn’t enough evidence to charge any of these fellows, but they all wound up in prison for other crimes.

In 2001, DNA tests done by FBI experts have tied Hoffa to his friend’s car, an associate by the name of Charles O'Brien, and charges may still be made in his death.

One theory as to why he was bumped off, was that he had begun to "spill the beans" about the connections between the Union and organized crime, because he was livid about the deal Fitzsimmons had made with the White House.

Others think he was rubbed out because he was trying to regain his power in the Union, and certain individuals weren’t about to let him. Tony "pro" Provenzano had told him at one point, "get out of Union politics or else." The F.B.I. and many teamsters think that "Tony Pro" ordered Hoffa’s death, and the new Jersey Mafia did the deed and disposed of the body. "Tony Pro" had an air-tight alibi though.

Other individuals have linked his murder to various parts of the continuing corrupt relationship between the mob and the Union, whose pension funds have been blended in with illegal gains from gambling, prostitution and illegal drugs. It seems that the Mob found Hoffa’s replacement, Frank Fitzsimmons much easier to manipulate and deal with. Also, Frank Fitzsimmons was approved of by the White House, while Hoffa was not, and would have the Feds watching their operations closely, making illegal mob activities harder to carry out.

Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno stated in his book, "The Last Mafioso," that Hoffa wasn’t killed by the New Jersey Mob at all, but by the local Detroit Mafia bosses. He says that Tony Giacalone, a close friend of Hoffa set him up, and Tony Zerilli and Mike Polizi ordered him killed.

Others have claimed that he isn’t dead, just in hiding. One teamster stuck to his story when diligently questioned by the authorities that Hoffa had run off to Brazil with a black go-go dancer.

Data Resources include: Mysteries of the Unexplained, The Reader’s Digest Assoc; detnews.com; thepetdetective.com; who2.com; and carpenoctem.tv.