Jimmy Hoffa remains elusive as lab results turn up negative

Roseville Police Officer Andrew Berger puts crime scene tape across the site where a tipster reported to police that the body of former Teamster’s union boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried September 27, 2012 in Roseville, Michigan. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

BY ELIZABETH BASTIAN, Managing Editor

Southeastern Michigan has been making national news this week, as one Roseville homeowner’s backyard has been turned into a crime scene excavation after a rumor surfaced that Jimmy Hoffa was buried there.

The investigation began when an outstate Michigan man claimed a previous owner of the property, a bookkeeper for the late Detroit Mob captain and suspect for Hoffa’s disappearance Anthony Giacalone, stayed up late into the night pouring concrete on the day Hoffa went missing in July of 1975.

After checking the credibility of the tip (which had been eschewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation), the Roseville Police Department called in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality last week to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) scan on the driveway. An anomaly showed up on the scan, leading to 4-inch samples of soil being taken from beneath the residential tool shed.

“It’s not him,” said Roseville Police Chief James Berlin, following an initial examination of the soil that showed no sign of human remains.

The excavation drew gawkers from the surrounding neighborhoods and metro area, as well as media crews from national channels such as The Today Show.

The current homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, has been very cooperative with authorities and enthusiastic about the search. Her live-in son, however, is happy the sampling is over.

“She just wants to relax now,” he said about his mother. “She’s been shaky. She’s tired. She hasn’t had much sleep.”

Said the tipster upon finding out about the negative test results, “Maybe they moved the body.”