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From serious to scurrilous, some Jimmy Hoffa theories

  • FILE - This photo shows Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa in Washington on July 26, 1959. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    FILE - This photo shows Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa in Washington on July 26, 1959. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • *FILE- In a Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, police tape blocks a driveway where authorities drilled for soil samples in the floor of a shed at a Roseville, Mich. Police were told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath the driveway. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    *FILE- In a Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, police tape blocks a driveway where authorities drilled for soil samples in the floor of a shed at a Roseville, Mich. Police were told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath the driveway. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - In this 1964 photo, a reporter questions Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa outside the federal courthouse in Chattanooga, Tenn., during Hoffa's trial that ended in a jury tampering conviction. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    FILE - In this 1964 photo, a reporter questions Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa outside the federal courthouse in Chattanooga, Tenn., during Hoffa's trial that ended in a jury tampering conviction. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - In this Friday, May 28, 2004 file photo, television crews set up camp outside a house in northwest Detroit, where investigators looking into the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa ripped up floor boards. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    FILE - In this Friday, May 28, 2004 file photo, television crews set up camp outside a house in northwest Detroit, where investigators looking into the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa ripped up floor boards. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - In this May 24, 2006, file photo, workers, including Federal Bureau of Investigation evidence response team members, probe the ground near a demolished barn at a horse farm in Milford Township, Mich., where FBI agents investigating Jimmy Hoffa's 1975 disappearance. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    FILE - In this May 24, 2006, file photo, workers, including Federal Bureau of Investigation evidence response team members, probe the ground near a demolished barn at a horse farm in Milford Township, Mich., where FBI agents investigating Jimmy Hoffa's 1975 disappearance. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • File - Investigators look over the scene in Oakland Township, Mich., June 17, 2013, where officials search for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    File - Investigators look over the scene in Oakland Township, Mich., June 17, 2013, where officials search for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • FILE - Dumpsters are stored under the Pulaski Skyway on Nov. 19, 2021, on the site of a former landfill where a new FBI investigation is taking place as a possible location where union boss Jimmy Hoffa is buried in Jersey City, N.J. This is the latest development in a search that began when Hoffa disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File)
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    Hoffa Search Theories

    FILE - Dumpsters are stored under the Pulaski Skyway on Nov. 19, 2021, on the site of a former landfill where a new FBI investigation is taking place as a possible location where union boss Jimmy Hoffa is buried in Jersey City, N.J. This is the latest development in a search that began when Hoffa disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File)
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - This photo shows Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa in Washington on July 26, 1959. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/File)
*FILE- In a Sept. 28, 2012 file photo, police tape blocks a driveway where authorities drilled for soil samples in the floor of a shed at a Roseville, Mich. Police were told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath the driveway. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this 1964 photo, a reporter questions Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa outside the federal courthouse in Chattanooga, Tenn., during Hoffa's trial that ended in a jury tampering conviction. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. (Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP, File)
FILE - In this Friday, May 28, 2004 file photo, television crews set up camp outside a house in northwest Detroit, where investigators looking into the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa ripped up floor boards. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - In this May 24, 2006, file photo, workers, including Federal Bureau of Investigation evidence response team members, probe the ground near a demolished barn at a horse farm in Milford Township, Mich., where FBI agents investigating Jimmy Hoffa's 1975 disappearance. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
File - Investigators look over the scene in Oakland Township, Mich., June 17, 2013, where officials search for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. The FBI's recent confirmation that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - Dumpsters are stored under the Pulaski Skyway on Nov. 19, 2021, on the site of a former landfill where a new FBI investigation is taking place as a possible location where union boss Jimmy Hoffa is buried in Jersey City, N.J. This is the latest development in a search that began when Hoffa disappeared in 1975. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File)
ROGER SCHNEIDER
·5 min read

DETROIT (AP) — The FBI’s confirmation last week that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975.

A number of theories have emerged about Hoffa since he was reported missing, though many of them have been tied to book releases. From serious to scurrilous, here are some of the best:

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Theory: Hoffa was killed on the orders of alleged New Jersey mob figure Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano. His body was “ground up in little pieces, shipped to Florida and thrown into a swamp."

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Who put it forth: Self-described mafia murderer Charles Allen, who served prison time with Hoffa and participated in the federal witness-protection program, told the story to a U.S. Senate committee in 1982.

Outcome: The FBI never found enough evidence to support the claim and questions were raised about Allen trying to sell the story to make money.

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Theory: Probably the most infamous had Hoffa buried under Section 107 of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Who put it forth: Self-described hit man Donald “Tony the Greek” Frankos in a 1989 Playboy magazine interview.

Outcome: The FBI found nothing to support the claim and didn’t bother to show up when the stadium was demolished in 2010.

“When that information came to our attention we batted it around, but we were all convinced in the end that this guy was not reliable,” FBI agent Jim Kossler said then. “We were able to prove to our mind that what he was telling us couldn’t have happened because he either couldn’t have been there or he was in jail at the time.”

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Theory: Hoffa was abducted by ″either federal marshals or federal agents,″ driven to a nearby airport and dropped out of a plane, possibly into one of the Great Lakes that surround Michigan.

Who put it forth: Former Hoffa aide and strong-arm Joseph Franco in the 1987 book ″Hoffa’s Man.″

Outcome: Other than Franco’s word, there was nothing to support his claim.

A Chicago Tribune review of the book put it this way: “Former New York Times reporter Richard Hammer, who helped Franco with the book, candidly writes in the introduction that the stories have the ‘ring of truth.’ Maybe, but they also reek of something else.”

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Theory: Hoffa was killed by one-time ally Frank Sheeran at a Detroit house. Key parts of the narrative became the basis for the 2019 movie “The Irishman."

Who put it forth: Sheeran.

Outcome: Bloomfield Township police ripped up floorboards at the house in 2004, but the FBI crime lab concluded that blood found on them was not Hoffa’s.

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