By Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — The results from a Michigan State University forensic anthropologist who is analyzing soil samples that will help determine whether the remains of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa could be buried in a residential area in the city won’t be available until early Tuesday.
“I know everyone is awaiting word on the results of the soil samples removed from the Florida Street home Friday,” Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said in a statement Monday. “Michigan State University has the samples and has begun the testing.”
The anthropologist will analyze 4-inch samples of mud and clay drilled from underneath a shed behind a one-story Roseville house Friday. The findings should be able to tell police whether human remains are present, Berlin said.
“There was nothing visible in the soil samples — fragments of bone or anything.” Berlin said today. “But the samples were very wet and muddy, so it was difficult to see what was actually in the tubes.”
A tip from a Michigan man who said a prior homeowner — whom he described as a bookmaker for the late Anthony Giacalone, a Detroit Mafia captain and suspect in Hoffa’s disappearance — led to the search. The tipster said the past homeowner was up all night pouring concrete the day Hoffa disappeared.
Police have said the timeline of those events with Hoffa’s disappearance doesn’t add up. Something may be buried in the area, authorities say, but they are skeptical it is Hoffa.
He vanished from a restaurant parking lot in Oakland County, Mich., in 1975, sparking one of the 20th century’s most enduring mysteries.
The homeowner who the tipster referenced didn’t own the home until three years later, police said.
“Unless he was renter, he wasn’t there to do this at the time Mr. Hoffa disappeared,” Berlin said.
This latest search has sparked interest from people across the country and around the world. Police received hundreds of calls in the last five days, including from people as far away as New Zealand.
Police will wait for Michigan State University results before determining the next move.
“If it does come back positive, we would have a meeting tomorrow with the FBI, Michigan State Police and Michigan State University to find out who’s going to do what and when,” Berlin said, noting it would start with a dig for remains to get DNA or dental records of some type.
“If they say ‘no’, that’s it, we’re done,” Berlin said. “(We) seal the holes up and go on with our lives.”
