On Going Research

Fifty years of investigation point to 3 'plausible scenarios' as to what happened to James R. Hoffa:

Scenario #1. He was killed by members of organized crime, and his body was taken to a smelting facility owned and operated by a man who was associated with Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone. This man was not known by the authorities at the time in 1975. The business was located next to the harbor on the Detroit River. Hoffa left the Machus Red Fox in Joey Giacalone's Mercury with people he knew. It is possible he was transferred minutes later into a different car behind the Raleigh House Diner near South Field MI (which was not open that time of day). Joey Giacalone's car was later used for an alibi. The occupants in the car were reported to have included both Detroit and New Jersey suspects. Hoffa's body was completely destroyed in the smelter, along with the second car, leaving no trace or evidence of the incident. The source of this information was a person who passed a polygraph and worked closely with the owner of the smelter. FBI offices in four different states were involved in verifying the details from this informant. The owner of the smelter later died in Federal Prison after being convicted of an unrelated crime. The living informant has never recanted his statements. 

Scenario #2. Jimmy Hoffa was scheduled to meet at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield MI with Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano of Local 560 in Union City New Jersey. Anthony Giacalone, (who was temporarily living at his son's Joey's apartment in St. Claire Shores, MI), was also to attend. Joey Giacalone's Mercury was driven to the Machus Red Fox with passengers connected the LCN and Local 560. The driver of the car was Hoffa's "foster son" Charles Chuckie O'Brien. The Red Fox was only a rendezvous, and the meeting was to take place elsewhere. At some point on the way Hoffa became agitated as reported by eyewitnesses. The car pulled behind the Raleigh House Diner where he was subdued and then taken to a known private home where he was pressured to change his stance to run for the head of the IBT. During this time, he suffered a severe medical event and was incapacitated. The men at the meeting called it in to their bosses. They were told to take him to a farm North of Detroit. It was not owned by a suspect but controlled by one through extortion. It possibly involved other missing person cases. Hoffa's unconscious body was reportedly taken into a barn and lowered into a well. A slab was poured to seal the well. The information corelates well with known scenarios provided by LCN Detroit underboss Anthony Zerilli in 2013. It also follows former Detroit Chief of Detectives and head of the Michigan Organized Crime Strike Force, Vincent W. Piersante. This information has been shared with the FBI. Since this is an active investigation, we are unable to share any further details. 

Scenario #3. This involves Jimmy Hoffa to attend a pre-arranged meeting beginning at the Machus Red Fox restaurant with Detroit LCN Capo Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone and New Jersey LCN Capo/ (IBT Local 560 President) Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano. The scenario includes all aspects of a car owned by Giacalone's son Joey Giacalone.  This scenario recognizes the ability of the Detroit LCN's capacity to pull off most of what happened, but they had a need for additional New Jersey LCN (who are listed in many FBI Hoffex files) to cover for them. The Detroit men had been scrutinized by heavy surveillance tactics from several interagency branches of law enforcement leading up to Hoffa's disappearance. The Red Fox served as a rendezvous location for a "high-pressure" meeting to change Hoffa's intentions to pursue leadership of the IBT union. It would have been a prerequisite, depending on the outcome, for a near future "master plan" hit and disposal if necessary.  This meeting as suggested by Michigan's leading investigator Vincent W. Pieresante may not have been intended to result in Hoffa's death at that time but none the less it did. The Raleigh House was where the car was last seen by witnesses. From there Hoffa was taken to a property where he ended up dead. So, the pre-arranged elements of the plan were put into play and Hoffa's body was shipped out by a trucking company which had been ready to go if it was needed to do so. This trucking company was later identified by two suspects Stephen Andretta and Ralph Picardo who were members of Local 560 of New Jersey. The company and driver were connected to Michigan suspects Rolland McMaster, Stanton Barr and Donovan Wells (who passed a polygraph). The owner of this company was a trustee on the IBT Central States Pension Fund.  Hoffa's body stayed in Michigan. Elements of this plan were divulged by Detroit Mafia "Don" Joseph Zerilli to his son "under boss" Anthony Zerilli. The truck went North to a planned location to a prearranged site. This location was not owned by the LCN or any of the suspects. Instead, it was owned by a victim of extortion who held a huge influence on the entire trucking industry and was a part of Hoffa's past downfall and imprisonment. If the body was ever discovered it would be this property owner who would fall under suspicion and not any of the suspects involved. The scenario includes eyewitnesses to some of the events and evidence of a devised cover up by the former property owners.  Court records of the extortion itself along with video, and audio evidence exist. Some of these details were reported to the FBI in 2020 but follow up evidence was not requested or investigated. There are plans to deliver evidence with a list of witnesses to the Department of Justice and the FBI district field office in the near future. 

Our comments are based on our continued research. We have spoken to law enforcement officials and a polygraph expert. We interviewed Jo Thomas and communicated with Dan Moldea who were both reporters in 1975 and provided firsthand breaking news of the Hoffa disappearance. We have shared some "Hoffex" case details with Eric Shawn and with Bestselling author Steve Hamilton who based his book Riddle Island from his own experiences directly connected to our investigation. We were interviewed by journalists and published in major newspapers including the Detroit News. Recently we provided James P. Hoffa Jr. with some new information that he was able to check out and verify for himself.  Bill McIntosh interviewed us in 2025 on his Quorum Radio program (which can be accessed in the next segment) Our hopes continue steadfast to eventually see this case brought to a reasonable conclusion. 

                                                                                     Stay Tuned in 2026!