US police dig up yard in search for Teamsters’ boss Hoffa
Authorities from Oakland County obtained a search warrant on Tuesday and were looking for evidence including a briefcase in Hampton Township, prosecutor David Gorcyca said.
Authorities say a convicted murderer who helped police find the body of another long-vanished man earlier this year now claims deceased Teamsters’ boss Hoffa is buried in the yard.
The search warrant was executed on yesterday morning, but authorities ran into complications.
“We’re sceptical, but feel we need to check it out,” Oakland County sheriff Michael Bouchard said. Gorcyca declined to describe what may be in the briefcase or how it may be connected to Hoffa’s disappearance, saying a judge signed an order suppressing that information when he approved the search warrant.
Hoffa, 62, vanished on the afternoon of July 30, 1975, from a parking lot in a Detroit suburb in Oakland County. Hampton Township is located a few miles north-east of Bay City.
Investigators believe Hoffa was killed to prevent him from regaining the union presidency.
He took charge of the Teamsters in 1957 and earned the loyalty of his members with contracts that improved standards of living dramatically. Under Hoffa the Teamsters won their first national trucking contract.
