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Feds digging in Michigan field for Hoffa's remains

President of Teamsters Union Jimmy Hoffa makes a phone call.
President of Teamsters Union Jimmy Hoffa makes a phone call.Hank Walker / Time Life Pictures / Getty Images, file

The search for Jimmy Hoffa has stretched far and wide for nearly 40 years. Now, federal agents are digging in a field 30 miles north of Detroit in hopes of solving the mystery of his disappearance.

A team of agents descended on a field in northern Oakland Township, Mich., on Monday after a former Mafia underboss said Hoffa's remains were buried there, NBC affiliate WDIV reported.

Hoffa, a former president of the Teamsters labor union, was last seen in suburban Detroit in July 1975. He was declared legally dead on July 30, 1982. His body has never found.

But that may change in the next few days if Tony Zerilli is to be believed. Zerilli, who spoke publically about Hoffa in January, is considered one of a handful of people who may know what happened to Hoffa because his father, Joseph Zerilli, was the Detroit mob boss when Hoffa disappeared.

The property where authorities are searching Monday was formerly owned by Jack Tocco, Zerilli’s cousin. The FBI reportedly believes Hoffa was killed by organized crime because of a power struggle within the labor union.