A PRISON confession and old Mafia dump site could be the key to solving the decades-long mystery of crooked labor union boss Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, a veteran investigative journalist has said.
The case of Hoffa has remained unsolved for over 50 years since the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters vanished from a restaurant in Michigan on July 30, 1975.
Jimmy Hoffa was 62 years old when he disappeared on July 30, 1975 Credit: Getty
Hoffa’s car, was found abandoned in a shopping center lot outside the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, just north of Detroit, on July 30, 1975 Credit: Getty
Detroit Mafia capo Anthony ‘Tony Jack’ Giacalone, pictured in September 1975, was one of two mob members Hoffa was scheduled to meet at the Red Fox restaurant Credit: Alamy
Anthony ‘Tony Pro’ Provenzano, the head of a Teamsters association in Union City, New Jersey, and a capo in the Genovese crime family, was also supposed to meet Hoffa on the day he disappeared Credit: Getty
Hoffa, who was 62 years old at the time, was scheduled to meet with two mafia figures at the Machus Red Fox Restaurant, north of Detroit, that afternoon, but was believed to have been stood up.
He was last heard from when he called his wife to inform her that the meeting had been a bust and that he’d be home at 4pm for dinner.
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However, Hoffa never made it for dinner and his car was later found abandoned in the parking lot of the restaurant he’d called from.
What happened to Hoffa in those final moments has remained a mystery over the last 51 years since he was last seen.
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Dan Moldea, an author and independent investigative journalist, believes he’s solved the case and has pinpointed Hoffa’s final resting place to an infamous landfill in New Jersey once linked to the Genovese crime family.
Through hours of interviews with FBI officials, Teamsters members, and key Mafia figures from both the Genovese and Detroit factions, Moldea has pieced together the most detailed account of Hoffa’s final hours.
And it all began with a prison confession a week after Hoffa’s disappearance between two Genovese associates, Steve Andretta and Ralph Picardo, who was serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.
Andretta visited Picardo, the mobster turned FBI informant, in prison in early August 1975 and disclosed the details of Hoffa’s grim murder and where his body was taken.
Picardo then relayed Andretta’s alleged confession to the FBI, which Moldea claims he was later able to firm up in several interviews with Philip “Brother” Moscato, the co-owner of PJP landfill in Jersey City and Genovese associate, beginning in 2007.
Evidence and alleged confessions collected by Moldea suggest Hoffa was whacked shortly after he was stood up at the Red Fox Restaurant.
A mugshot of Genovese crime family associate turned FBI informant Ralph Picardo Credit: Getty
Genovese associate Stephen Andretta allegedly disclosed to Picardo details about Hoffa’s murder during a prison visit in early August 1975, a week after his disappearance Credit: Getty
That afternoon, Hoffa was scheduled to meet with Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacalone, a Detroit mobster, and Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, the head of a Teamsters association in Union City, New Jersey, and a capo in the Genovese crime family.
For years, Hoffa was suspected of colluding with the mob and in 1967 was charged and convicted of jury tampering, landing him a four-year prison sentence.
The July 30 meeting was Hoffa’s latest effort in his attempt to regain his old title as the Teamsters president – a reinstatement the Mafia opposed.
Moldea claims that after being stood up, Hoffa was picked up by Vito “Billy Jack” Giacalone, the brother of Anthony Giacalone and another made man in the Detroit Mafia, and taken to the house of mob associate Lenny Schultz.
There Hoffa was allegedly killed by Salvatore “Sally Bugs” Briguglio, a capo with the Genovese crime family.
“Hoffa was murdered in Detroit, stuffed into a 55 gallon drum, loaded onto a gateway transportation truck, and shipped to New Jersey,” Moldea told The U.S. Jattvibe.
The steel drum allegedly containing Hoffa’s body was shipped to PJP landfill and received by Paul Cappola, the co-owner of the Jersey City dump site, and on the orders of Moscato, his business partner and Genovese associate, buried the remains.
But instead of burying the drum on the landfill site as instructed by Moscato, Cappola allegedly buried Hoffa adjacent to the dump, under the Pulaski Skyway.
“He takes a hole about 15 feet deep with a ramp. He created a ramp for himself because it’s so deep, he puts off his body at the bottom of this hole,” Moldea said.
“And then he puts 15 to 30 steel barrels on top of them, which are filled with toxic waste, adhesives specifically.
“[Cappola] then bulldozers the whole thing flat, [but] instead of burying a body where Moscato told him to bury it at the dump, he buried it off site, not on the dump, but in an alcove under the Pulaski Skyway, which is controlled by the state of New Jersey,” Moldea said.
“There should be nothing buried there. Nothing. It’s adjacent to the dump, but it’s not part of the dump. And there’s nothing buried there.”
Vito ‘Billy Jack’ Giacalone, the brother of Anthony Giacalone and another made man in the Detroit Mafia, allegedly picked up Jimmy Hoffa after he was stood up at the Red Fox restaurant Credit: Alamy
Salvatore ‘Sally Bugs’ Briguglio, a capo with the Genovese crime family, allegedly killed Jimmy Hoffa in Detroit Credit: Getty
Moldea claims he was able to determine why the mob transported Hoffa’s body more than 600 miles from Detroit to the Jersey City landfill.
Genovese capo Anthony Provenzano wanted Hoffa close-by as insurance for any potential deal with the FBI, Moldea said.
“There was a murder charge against Tony Provenzano and he was guilty of that murder,” Moldea told The U.S. Jattvibe.
“They needed something to bargain with. And so the bargaining chip became Hoffa’s body. They needed it close by. They needed it accessible.”
Through interviews with Cappola’s sons, Frank and Paul Jr., Moldea said he was able to tour the PJP landfill site in October 2019 and was shown the exact location Hoffa’s remains were buried.
Moldea described the site as the size of a little league infield and with the help of forensic engineers investigated the alcove on two separate visits.
During two visits to the site in November 2021 and April 2022, the group used sophisticated ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to scan the area, both scans identified an underground anomaly, Moldea said.
“You could see the scans where there appears to be a bunch of barrels and then there’s one barrel at the very bottom,” he told The U.S. Jattvibe.
Moldea shared the findings with the FBI, who executed two search warrants at the location in late 2021 and in June 2022.
The FBI’s initial search with subterranean radar technology yielded no trace of Hoffa’s remains.
When the federal agency returned in June 2022, Moldea claims the FBI botched the excavation due to a mix of bad weather and searching in the wrong location.
“The one place that was detected by ground penetrating radar was not looked at, was not even examined,” Moldea said.
“They didn’t even stick a shovel in anything. Nothing. It was pristine ground.”
The alcove site under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City, New Jersey, where investigative reporter Dan Moldea claims Jimmy Hoffa’s body is buried Credit: AP
Paul Cappola, the co-owner of PJP landfill in Jersey City, allegedly confessed to his sons to burying Hoffa at the direction of his business partner and Genovese associate Philip ‘Brother’ Moscato Credit: FOX Nation
The FBI officially ruled that the excavations yielded nothing of evidentiary value related to Hoffa’s body or any other human remains.
Moldea said he’s sent letters to the FBI, including director Kash Patel, about conducting another excavation at the alcove, but his requests have largely been ignored.
“We’ve been trying to get the FBI to dig in that spot since. [But] unfortunately, there has been repair work going on on the bridge and that alcove has been completely and totally worked on,” he added.
“‘I’ve sent open letters to both Kash Patel and Pam Bondi, when she was AG, saying this is an easy one for you guys.
“Just go down. You don’t even have to make a big deal about it. Just go down and with the ground penetrating radar we’ll show you exactly where it is.
“But we can’t seem to get these people to do the right thing.”
Moldea said he was advised against conducting an independent excavation by environmentalists due to the toxic filled steel drums on top of what he believes are Hoffa’s remains.
“The reason why we can’t go up there and just do it ourselves is that there’s 15 to 30 steel drums filled with toxic waste on top of Hoffa that’s been there for 51 years under pressure,” he said.
“That’s what we’ve been advised by environmental people, that if you crack that ground under all that pressure.
“There could be an explosion, there could be a plume of gas that comes out of the ground because those steel drums probably have cracked open, and there must be a lot of pressure there.
“So we need an environmental specialist team to come in and do this excavation.”
Moldea continued, “You know, I’m 76 years old. I want this to be my swan song. I want this to be my final act, and I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.
“I’m hoping the FBI decide to do something, do the right thing and pick up the phone and call me and say, ‘Dan, you’ve been right. Congratulations. Come on up.’”
Hoffa was legally declared dead in December 1982.
The FBI’s investigation into Hoffa’s disappearance remains open.
