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BIO SKETCH ON

THE

ADELL FAMILY

MARVIN

ADELL

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Picture taken in June 2021

Marvin Adell was an industrialist associated with the Hoffa s and with Charles “Chuckie” O’Brien during the investigations of the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance. In fact, O’Brien was living at the Marvin Adell home in Bloomfield, Michigan when Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975. Why was Chuckie O’Brien living with this industrialist? We know the car O’Brien was driving is the only source of physical forensic evidence surfacing from the official investigation of the Hoffa’s alleged kidnapping and murder.  O’Brien was driving a known mobsters car (belonging to Tony Giacalone’s son Joseph) on July 30, 1975 at the very site of where Jimmy Hoffa vanished. Eye witnesses reported seeing Hoffa get into this car just after it pulled into the Machus Red Fox Restaurant, also in Bloomfield, between the hours of 2 and 3 PM on that date. (see the FBI “Hoffex Memo”). 

 

We also found a source revealing some early suspicions law enforcement had on an “unnamed industrialist": His home was very close to the Machus Red Fox parking lot where Hoffa was last seen. In fact, it is reported this “industrialist and his wife were dining there that afternoon”. The industrialist was known to be a long time friend of Hoffa's but was not considered to be a suspect. However, his home was thought to be a possible place of suspicion. Does this fit? Is this referring to Marvin Adell?

Findinghoffa.com interviewed a person recently having also dined at the Machus Red Fox that same afternoon in the company of a couple of other men enjoying a late lunch. The FBI had interviewed as many customers as they could find by collecting receipts or getting names from the Red Fox staff. The person we talked with (now at 89 years of age) was not approached by the FBI, as he paid in cash and was living close by in Milford, Michigan. He told us anyone could have been out there and would not have been noticed at all, especially if they were sitting inside a car.  This place was very open and public. There was constant traffic passing by this establishment, as it shared space with a nearby shopping center and other businesses also within close proximity.

We have some information on Marvin Adell’s businesses which seems to have stemmed from the molding of plastics used in the manufacturing of car parts and vehicle interior components. Some of these products led to innovations with plastics later used in the dental/oral health industry and the prosthesis businesses through out North America. The Detroit based Adell family still lives in the South East Michigan area. Marvin appears as one of the younger boys in his family, according to the 1940 census. His older brother Franklin established the family business along with his brothers near the present day I-96 and Novi Road loop in Oakland County, Michigan. This place is South central to Jimmy Hoffa's summer residence on Square Lake, in Lake Orion township. It would not be more than a half hour drive from the Jack Tocco real estate that Detroit mob boss Anthony Zerilli told the FBI in 2013 was the probable site of Hoffa's burial. It is not far from the other McMaster/Barr horse farm in Wixom, Michigan searched in 2006.

 

In 1966 Franklin Adell built the "Novi Expo Center". Later on Franklin's son Kevin eased into the broadcasting industry that his parents began in the 1980s. Kevin Adell branched into both television and radio. While the old Novi Adell manufacturing site, used by Marvin and Franklin, in the days of the Jimmy Hoffa era, has been demolished, there were plans to convert the property into a water park. Kevin Adell makes it no secret that Jimmy Hoffa frequented the old Adell business site while it was still operational. There is an absolute connection here. The FBI was taking a look at this family, early on. But, apparently they drifted away from the idea when they became focused on other matters. We believe the change of venue was when Ralph Picardo started swinging things toward ‘New Jersey’. 

 

Another point of interest we find quite strange, but also of note, has to do with the history of the Hoffa narrative and Kevin Adell's radio broadcasting business. For the first time ever, a Detroit La Cosa Nostra (LCN) mob leader came forward with Hoffa information which led to what is known as the “Zerilli’ dig in 2013. One of his most experienced radio hosts gave little interest to the story. This well known broadcast journalist chose to dismiss any real significance as to the importance of the chance at solving a great American mystery. We find it difficult to ignore Jimmy Hoffa, a man described as being “second in power only to the United States Government and to the President himself”, by men like Robert F. Kennedy his brother U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  Jimmy Hoffa was feared because he had the singular ability, if he so chose, to shut down American trade and commerce by ordering possible nationwide strikes. We believe a renewed interest in the Hoffa narrative is taking place now, due to the release of the major motion picture by Martin Scorsese: “the Irishman”. We also are seeing other sources of information surfacing relevant to the Hoffa story. To Kevin Adell’s credit, he eventually fired the disenchanted talk radio host and replaced him with someone being a better fit.  

 

Not long after this, author and Hoffa historian Dan Moldea was invited to speak to students at George Washington University. He asked for a show of hands of those in the room that knew who Jimmy Hoffa was. Apparently no one did! Not only did this seem a disturbing trend to Moldea, it appears to findinghoffa.com, the passing of time has produced a backlash of negative reactions from certain media sources. Some broadcasts seem to curtail the impact of Hoffa’s iconic shaping of American labor unions. This is happening even while we still see Hoffa’s influence on our current way of life. 

 

At the time of this writing, we have one leading U. S. Presidential candidate connected to the Hoffa story through the confessions of a man named Frank Sheeran.  Author Charles Brandt recorded an interview with Sheeran including a scenario when Joe Biden first ran for public office.  Biden won the election through efforts brought on by Local 326 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union of Wilmington, Delaware. The Local 326 Teamster’s president deliberately blocked all the newspaper deliveries delaying potentially damaging information against Biden in order to insure a victory for him the following day. The President of local 326 at that time was Frank Sheeran. As already mentioned, it is Sheeran who is now being showcased in 2019 as the “Irishman” in a new film being released by producer Martin Scorsese. Yes, Frank Sheeran was also the same man confessing to Brandt that he himself shot and killed Jimmy Hoffa. Whether we like it or not, the history of Jimmy Hoffa is hard to ignore. It remains a relevant zeitgeist narrative of our current events and is difficult to dismiss.  

 

We will cover some of this later. As far as the involvement of government officials, including ideas of Richard Nixon’s participation with Hoffa, most of it has already been addressed by researchers, journalists, and by what we refer to as “hoffalogists” in their numerous publications and documentary films. But, we have even more information concerning the Adell family’s connections to the Jimmy Hoffa mystery. 

 

The Hoffa connection with the Adell family continues with a bizarre story involving the disappearance of Industrialist Robert Adell's son in 1974. This happened less than a year before Hoffa himself disappeared!  Jimmy Hoffa was approached by the Adell family to assist them in solving the kidnapping and missing person case to find young “Larry” Lawrence Adell. 

 

There were three senior Adell brothers connected to Jimmy Hoffa through their businesses located near Novi, Michigan. These brothers: Franklin, Robert, and Marvin, manufactured parts for the auto industry in the 70s. They were on friendly terms with Jimmy Hoffa up to the time of the disappearance of Larry Adell in 1974. We believe that relationship may have changed with some of them due to their discovery of Hoffa’s earlier history with one of the convicted kidnappers!  

 

Robert Adell had moved his businesses from the Detroit area to Southern California after going through a divorce.  Following his move to California, Robert's son Larry “allegedly” got mixed up with substance abuse. Larry is said to have begun associating with a drug dealer named Angelo Inciso. Shortly after these events, Larry Adell was reported missing in California by family members. Next, the Adells received a kidnapper's ransom demands. These demands were given to Robert Adell. 

 

It just so happens, one of the kidnappers was also a past associate of Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa and Inciso were both mutual participants in a criminal case in 1960 involving racketeering charges! Angelo Inciso had been found guilty of illegally siphoning money from labor union insurance funds that were tied with the IBT and Jimmy Hoffa 14 years prior to Larry Adell’s disappearance. Inciso was charged and convicted for the disappearance and murder of Larry Adell along with another accomplice.

 

So Hoffa really did know the victim’s family as well as the kidnapper.  This story took a dark turn against the Adell Industrialists when the two kidnappers were sentenced to life in prison. The guilty parties eventually led the FBI to the physical remains of Larry Adell four years later in 1978. By this time Hoffa had been missing for 3 of those years himself. The kidnappers reported Larry Adell’s death was an accident. A third witness for the defense inferred Larry may have assisted the two men in a plot to extort money from his father Robert Adell to make it only “appear” he was kidnapped. However, this later version of events surfaced only after Robert Adell allegedly filed a suit against that witness for the wrongful death of his son Larry. These events left a dark cloud over everyone involved. The Robert Adell family was devastated over the entire situation. It remains to be seen if possible motives materialized as a result. Because, not only did Jimmy Hoffa know the victim's family and one of the kidnappers, his surrogate  “foster son”, Chuckie O'Brien, was living with Marvin Adell, (Robert's brother), during this same time frame. We surmise the missing person case of Larry Adell would have been a frequent topic of discussion between O’Brien and the entire Adell family.  As all of this was playing out, Chuckie O'Brien himself became a major suspect in the case. The FBI believed O’Brien had direct participation in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. 

 

The whole series of events are difficult to ignore. A conflicting relationship had developed between Jimmy Hoffa and the Adells. We are interested to know if the FBI has anything they could release to the public explaining this intriguing relationship. There are now many voices calling out for them to release records, (not full of blacked out redaction), for public examination.  It has been over 4 decades and the public has a right to know what has been discovered by the Federal Government concerning this case. Why all the secrecy? Are some people still endangered by this information?

 

We also take note of another theme taking place along with the two other points of interest already mentioned. The Carlo Licata home (one of the suspected places Jimmy Hoffa was taken to be murdered) was located near both the Marvin Adell home and Machus Red Fox Restaurant.  This home is connected to Carlo Licata’s father Nicholas “Nick” Licata, himself being from Detroit. The kidnapper, Angelo Inciso had a history with the IBT and the LCN.  “Nick” Licata known as “The Old Man” was the Los Angeles West Coast LCN crime boss during the same time law enforcement was searching for Robert Adell’s son in California.  The Adells were very likely aware of some of these connections between their own families living in California and in Michigan. Hoffa appears to be a common denominator with all the different groups identified in this scenario. 

 

Jimmy Hoffa disappeared just months after Larry Adell disappeared.  Could this be a potential factor in the Hoffa case? These suspicions provide additional credibility to the idea that certain CEOs and Industrialists were closely connected to Jimmy Hoffa and possibly with his disappearance. The narrative also reveals there may have been others, besides the LCN, that could have had personal motives to participate in a conspiracy to get rid of Hoffa. It seems it would be a potential mistake to ignore any other related evidence in such a high profile unsolved case.  So, findinghoffa.com has tracked down additional leads.  We hope to present the results in our upcoming podcasts. At the time of this writing, we have yet to arrive at any iron clad conclusions, but we will continue to examine the validity of the mysterious connections between the Adell Industrialists and the Hoffa disappearance.  

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Produced by Steve Drummond 2019

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