Jimmy Hoffa Remains Searched For in Suburban Detroit Field

Jimmy Hoffa's remains were at the center of a dig at a field located in the Detroit, Mich. suburb of Oakland Township. Federal authorities arrived at the field Monday reportedly in the hopes of solving a 38-year mystery of where the deceased labor leader body is buried.

An FBI spokesman confirmed with My Fox Detroit on Monday that agents were in the process of executing a sealed search warrant in northern Oakland Township, however they would not provide further details about the operation.

The dig appeared to stem from a tip offered up to authorities earlier in the year by Michigan mobster Tony Zerilli, who said Hoffa was buried in a shallow grave in northern Oakland Township, which is about 20 miles from the restaurant where Hoffa was last seen in July 1975, WJBK Fox 2 reported.

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Now 85 years old and suffering from a rapidly declining health, Zerilli said he wanted to set the record straight about his life and what happened to Hoffa, in an interview with NBC News.

"If I wasn’t away I don’t think it ever would’ve happened, that’s all I can tell you," Zerilli said regarding Hoffa's death, having been incarcerated at the time Hoffa went missing. "I would’ve done anything in the world to protect Jim Hoffa," Zerilli added.

Hoffa's disappearance in 1975 has long been attributed to the actions of the mafia, considering the former Teamster boss was set to testify before a United States Senate committee in regards to organized crime figures when he went missing.

The reputed mob boss told reporters that the mafia had initially planned to move Hoffa's body, but apparently the plan never materialized.

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It is unclear why Zerilli came forward when he did, though it is suspected that he was upset over the way in which he was treated by his cohorts in later years.

"I’m dead broke. I got no money," Zerilli told NBC 4 New York at the time. "My quality of life is zero."

Hoffa was legally declared dead in 1982. His son, James Hoffa, has followed in his father's footsteps and is the current general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

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