Will the Jimmy Hoffa rumor be buried with demolition of Giants Stadium?

NorthJersey ^ | 04/02/2010 | The Associated Press

[speciallybland]

The wisecracks are as ingrained in New Jersey lore as Bruce Springsteen's songs about fast cars.

Former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has attended every event at Giants Stadium since 1976, the story goes, buried in a final resting place somewhere under the west end zone. As former New York Giants punter Sean Landeta once joked, "It gives a whole new meaning to kicking into the coffin corner."

More than 20 years after a self-described mob hit man set the rumor mill in motion with an interview in Playboy magazine, the question lingers: Is the answer to one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century buried beneath the stadium — and about to be buried even deeper when the stadium is demolished this spring?

To one former law enforcement official who investigated the case in the 1980s, there is no mystery.

The FBI considered the Giants Stadium tale "a dead issue" by the time Playboy printed its interview with Donald "Tony The Greek" Frankos in late 1989, according to retired FBI agent Jim Kossler.

In this June 3, 1974 file photograph, teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa is shown in Washington. The Teamsters leader was last seen in July 1975 at a restaurant in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township in Michigan. "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," he said. "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."

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Another sefl-described mob hitman told a story of Hoffa being put into a large trash bag, weighted down and toss off the end of a sport-boat into one of the Great Lakes. His story was shown a fair amount of credibility.

[a fool in paradise]

I'm SHOCKED to hear of ties between organized labor and organized crime.

[a fool in paradise]

Or melted into bumpers in the auto industry...

[norraad]

"Here are your gambling winnings , sir."

[joe fonebone]

everybody knows he is part of the support column’s in the ren cen in downtown detroit ( now home of gm headquarters )

[A_Tradition_Continues]

Previously posted http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2485337/posts

[Locomotive Breath]

IIRC, the irreverent University of Virginia marching band once got into trouble in that stadium with a half-time formation that spelled out “HOFFA?” with an arrow pointing to the supposed burial location.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much.

"After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said."

Wow, never heard that one before. Sounds kind of rotten that they didn't even want the bodies after the fifth one. Were they all mob hits? Does anyone know the story on this?

[WayneS]

I thought they were moving him to the NEW stadium...

[ridesthemiles]

A great story line for CSI.....

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

[Springman]

He’s under I-696. It was being built when he was killed.

[SunkenCiv]

They’ll know they’ve got it when they find an old Red Fox take-out bag. Thanks grellis.

[tanknetter]

Wow, never heard that one before. Sounds kind of rotten that they didn't even want the bodies after the fifth one. Were they all mob hits? Does anyone know the story on this?

I had a b-school prof, with considerable experience in the area, once tell a class I was taking on dealing with unions that EVERY bridge on the NJ Turnpike is built upon the remains of people who ticked off the Teamsters ...