Video: 'What Never Added Up About Jimmy Hoffa's Disappearance'

(Wednesday, July 30, 1975, approximately 2:45 p.m. EDT) — Former Teamsters president James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa, one of the most powerful and controversial labor leaders in American history, was reported missing today after failing to return home from a meeting at a suburban Detroit restaurant.

Hoffa, 62, was last seen outside the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield Township around 2:45 p.m., according to local police. Witnesses say he was waiting to meet with two men, believed to have ties to organized crime, but what happened next remains unclear.

One witness reported seeing Hoffa getting into a car in the restaurant parking lot. He has not been seen or heard from since.

Hoffa rose to national prominence as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1957 to 1971, wielding immense influence over the American labor movement.

Known for his fierce advocacy for workers and his alleged ties to organized crime, Hoffa served time in federal prison for jury tampering and fraud before receiving a commutation from President Richard Nixon in 1971.

Since his release, he has sought to regain control of the Teamsters.

Though it is far too early to draw conclusions, speculation is already mounting that Hoffa may have been the target of a mob-related hit (Hoffa would never be found and was declared legally dead in 1982).