Ex-mobster:Hoffa buried in Detroit area

DETROIT (AP) - A man convicted of crimes as a reputed Mafia captain has come forward with claims that missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa was buried in suburban Detroit.

Tony Zerilli was in prison when Hoffa disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975, but tells Detroit television station WDIV that he was informed about Hoffa's whereabouts after his release. The ailing 85-year-old took a WDIV reporter to a field in Rochester, north of Detroit. The station did not disclose the exact location Monday.

"The master plan was ... they were going to put him in a shallow grave here," Zerilli told the station. "Then, they were going to take him from here to Rogers City upstate. There was a hunting lodge and they were going to bury him in a shallow grave, then take him up there for final burial. Then, I understand, that it just fell through."

The FBI, which has led the search for Hoffa for decades, declined to comment Monday when asked if the claims were credible. Andrew Arena, former head of the FBI in Detroit, said Zerilli's remarks deserve serious consideration.

"Anthony Zerilli was reputed to be the underboss of the Detroit organized crime family, so he would have been in the know," Arena said.