FBI Hopes to Find Jimmy Hoffa's Remains in Michigan Field (VIDEO)

Federal investigators believe that they may finally be bringing closure to the most infamous disappearance in American history as they begin to dig up a field in Oakland Township, Mich., in hopes of locating the body of former union leader Jimmy Hoffa, according to CBS News.

Jimmy Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975 from a parking lot of a restaurant in suburban Detroit where he was waiting to meet with two reputed mob leaders. Since then the FBI has viewed the open case as a black eye on the agency so it's not a surprise that 40 years later agents are still searching for Hoffa's body in order to close the case, according to CNN.

Extensive FBI interviews with a former Detroit Mafioso led investigators to believe that Hoffa's body may rest in the field that is now being uprooted. Tony Zerilli, 85, told WDIV-TV that Hoffa was buried in a shallow grave in a vacant field. Zerilli said that Hoffa was only supposed to be buried there for a short time before being moved to a grave in northern Michigan but he believes that the body was never moved, according to CBS News.

Author and mob expert Scott Bernstein spoke with WWJ Newsradio 950 about the case on Monday morning. Bernstein believes that the FBI is on a wild goose chase and that there is no body to be found, he believes that Hoffa's remains were placed in an incinerator.

"It's a giant black eye for the FBI," Bernstein said. "It's a piece of local folklore that will always...beg the attention that it gets. That said, you have to follow this lead because it's probably the most credible lead that the FBI's ever gotten...on this case."

L. Brooks Patterson, an Oakland County Executive who was a prosecutor at the time of Hoffa's appearance, told CBS News that he thinks there is very little chance the dig will recover anything.

"We sent out the backhoes and tore up property, tore down barns or what have you, and...I don't care how good the tip is in this instance," Patterson said. "I am really pretty much a pessimist on this one."

Records show that the land the investigators are searching was purchased by alleged mob boss Jack Tocco in 1972, three years prior to Hoffa's disappearance, according to ABC News.