In one of the most intensive searches for Jimmy Hoffa in decades, the FBI summoned archaeologists and anthropologists and brought in heavy equipment to scour a horse farm on Thursday for the body of the former labor leader who vanished in 1975.
Daniel Roberts, agent in charge of the Detroit FBI field office, would not disclose what led agents to the farm, but said: "This is probably a fairly credible lead. You can gather that from the number of people out here."
No trace of Hoffa has ever been found, and no one has ever been charged in the case. But investigators have long suspected that he was killed by the mob to keep him from reclaiming the presidency of the Teamsters Labor Union after he got out of prison for corruption.
The farm, just outside Detroit, used to be owned by a Teamsters official. And mob figures used to meet at a barn there before Hoffa's disappearance, authorities said.
Investigators began combing the area on Wednesday, and the search continued on Thursday and included the use of heavy construction equipment. Roberts said it would probably involve the removal of a barn.
Authorities also led cadaver dogs across the property, and the FBI called in anthropologists and archaeologists from Michigan State University.
Roberts said he expects the search to go on for at least a couple of weeks.
Hoffa was last seen on a night he was scheduled to have dinner at a restaurant about 32km from the farm. He was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain, both now dead.
Over the years, Hoffa's disappearance has spawned endless theories -- that he was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey; that he was ground up and thrown to the fish in a Florida swamp; that he was obliterated in a mob-owned fat rendering plant that has since burned down.
A law enforcement official in Washington said the latest search was based on information developed several years ago and verified more recently.
Among other things, there was a high level of suspicious activity on the farm the day Hoffa vanished, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A backhoe appeared that day near the barn organized crime members had used for meetings, and that location was never used again, the official said.
In 1967, Hoffa was sentenced to 13 years in prison for jury tampering and fraud.
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