What Happened to Jimmy Hoffa?

Thirty-three years ago, former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared — and he hasn't been heard from since.

A little background may help here.

In 1964, Hoffa was convicted on charges of attempting to bribe a grand juror and he was jailed on a 15-year sentence. In 1971, however, President Nixon commuted his sentence to time served — on one condition, that he refrain from labor union activities for 10 years.

Hoffa was planning legal action in a bid to regain his power when he disappeared before he was supposed to meet with a couple of organized crime figures in a restaurant parking lot in Michigan on the afternoon of July 30, 1975.

If anyone ever heard from him again, that tidbit of news has been kept under wraps.

But there were plenty of rumors over the years about where his remains could be found.

For many years, the story I heard was that whoever it was who was responsible for his disappearance had buried his body in the end zone of Giants Stadium — which was under construction in East Rutherford, N.J., at the time.

This urban legend led to some interesting comments, such as the one from a Sports Illustrated writer that the possibility of Hoffa's remains being buried in one of the stadium's end zones "lends new meaning to the term 'coffin corner.'"

More (apparently) valid rumors prompted investigators to search other places in recent years, but Hoffa's remains have never been found and no one has ever been charged with his murder.

It's probably safe to assume that Hoffa is dead. He would be 95 years old if still alive.

In the years since his disappearance, his son, James P. Hoffa, has followed in his footsteps and is the current president of the Teamsters.

Hoffa's daughter, Barbara Ann Crancer, is an assistant circuit court judge in St. Louis.

Talk about poetic justice.