Which Labor leader went to dinner at a Detroit restaurant on July 30, 1975, and was never seen again?

On the afternoon of July 30, 1975, the former president of the powerful Teamsters union, James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa, arrived at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He was there for a supposed meeting with two influential mobsters, Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone and Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano. After waiting for some time, Hoffa called his wife from a payphone to complain he had been stood up. He was last seen in the restaurant's parking lot and was never heard from again, sparking one of the most enduring mysteries in American history.

Hoffa was a controversial and immensely powerful figure who had built the Teamsters into a national force, but his career was deeply intertwined with organized crime. He had served time in prison for jury tampering and fraud before being pardoned by President Richard Nixon in 1971. A condition of his release was that he could not participate in union activities until 1980, but Hoffa was actively fighting to regain control of the Teamsters at the time of his disappearance.

The prevailing theory is that the Mafia, which had grown comfortable with its influence over the union and its lucrative pension funds, saw Hoffa's comeback attempt as a threat. It is widely believed he was murdered by the Mob to prevent him from retaking power. Despite decades of FBI investigations, numerous deathbed confessions, and countless searches—including a famous dig at the former site of Giants Stadium—his body has never been found. He was declared legally dead in 1982.