Latest Jimmy Hoffa Search Under Jersey City Bridge Comes Up Empty: FBI

JERSEY CITY, NJ — The latest search for Jimmy Hoffa turned up nothing after federal officials dug up a Jersey City landfill last month, the FBI said Thursday.

Officials first dug under the Pulaski Skyway near Jersey City late last year after rumors spread he was in a metal drum in that area. Officials then searched the landfill area again last month. But like so many previous searches, officials said that they found nothing of interest either last October or this past June.

"Nothing of evidentiary value was discovered during that search," said Detroit Field Office spokesperson and Special Agent Mara R. Schneider, according to the New York Times on Thursday. "While we do not currently anticipate any additional activity at the site, the F.B.I. will continue to pursue any viable lead in our efforts to locate Mr. Hoffa."

According to various accounts, in 2008, a dying Frank Cappola, who had worked at the former PJP Landfill in Jersey City in 1975, told son Paul that he had been given Hoffa's remains to bury there. At the time, Frank, whose family owned the landfill, believed the property was under surveillance, so he soon moved the remains just off the property.

Hoffa was a powerful leader of the Teamsters union when he was last seen leaving the Machus Red Fox restaurant in 1975 after meeting with mobsters. Federal officials have long believed mobsters killed Hoffa because he was trying to regain power of the union, which he had lost while serving a prison sentence for jury tampering.

Theories have said he is buried under an endzone in Giants Stadium or near a Detroit highway. At least seven spots have been searched.

Patch Editor Caren Lissner contributed to this story