LOCATION,
LOCATION,
LOCATION
HISTORY OF ORGANIZED CRIME
ACTIVITY IN THE UPPER PENINSULA
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan was known as a hide-out place for criminals in the past. The history of famous
Gangster JOHN DILLINGER "Hiding out" in Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA is one example of this trend.
GO TO 15:26 mark IN THE VIDEO
The John "Jack" Hamilton Mystery
The right-hand man of John Dillinger's gang was John " Jack " Hamilton. This man Hamilton was wanted by the FBI (along with Dillinger) for Murder and Obstruction of Justice (Apprehension Order NO. 1220-351). He was convicted and sentenced to 25 years for bank robbery in March of 1927. He was incarcerated March 19, 1927, in Pendleton, Indiana (prison intake number 16844) at the Indiana State Reformatory. He escaped on September 26, 1933, from the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana and joined up with Dillinger on a crime spree involving multiple states, shoot outs, the murder of Sheriff Jesse Sarber, and bank heists. Hamilton's wanted notice shows his photo with a booking number of 11963. Dillinger fled with Hamilton to the Upper Peninsula where Hamilton's family resided in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. Hamilton's mother Sarah, Brother Foye, and a sister were living there at 1700 14th Street, and also1705 Chestnut Street (likely known as Oak Bluff). Hamilton also was connected to relatives in the Canadian "Soo" across the border. During his last crime spree with Dillinger, John Hamilton received a gunshot wound in one leg. As they were fleeing, staying one step ahead of the law, the wound became infected. Dillinger contacted a doctor he had known to get medical attention for Hamilton. But, it appears, this doctor did not cooperate. When they arrived up north in Sault Ste Marie their getaway car was recovered in the U.P during a raid by Chippewa County Sheriff J. Willard Welsh and signed over to Special Agents J.H. Rice and A.E. Lockerman from Chicago, IL on April 24th, 1934 (a Ford De Lux Sedan Tennessee plate 127-032). It is apparent that both wanted men traveled across the Upper Peninsula into Northern Wisconsin likely via the Soo Line Rail System and also by help from sympathizers of Dillinger and his gang. Much later on, a body was discovered beyond recognition in Oswego, IL on August 28, 1935. It was no secret Director J. Edgar Hoover wanted a closed case on both Dillinger and Hamilton. It did not come without some controversy. Even though, in life, Hamilton had distinct scars and tattoos plus partially missing digits on one hand, the body could not be identified. After looking at prison dental records it was determined the dental work looked like it belonged to John Hamilton. However! a prisoner informant who knew Hamilton reported the body was made to look that way and it really was the body of the uncooperative doctor. The informant who knew about the dental records said that Hamilton had recovered from his wound and faked his own death. More importantly Hamilton's brother Foye in the U.P. of Michigan seemed to have mysteriously come into a lot of money. None of John Hamilton's cache of stolen loot was ever recovered, yet his brother had instant wealth after Hamilton disappeared and was considered dead by Hoover's "G-Men". Brother Foye Hamilton purchased a private island in the St. Mary's River (known as Turtle Island). Foye Hamilton also purchased a nice home, and he was arrested for "falsely representing oneself as a federal officer" in connection to soliciting sales of old gold. Foye was charged with fraud and went to trial at the U.S. District Court in Marquette, MI. Later yet, other relatives of John Hamilton say they saw him alive numerous times and visited him as late as the 1950s. This is yet another mysterious case involving famous criminals connected to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There are more such reports concerning Al Capone and the rum runners of Les Cheneaux Islands.
Sources: Division of Investigation U. S. Department of Justice April 2, 1934 (later known as the FBI) Wanted Poster and Fingerprints
Numerous articles printed in The Evening News of Sault Ste Marie, MI from mid 1930s
Letters from Special Agents J.H. Rice and A. E. Lockerman to Chippewa County Sheriff J. Willard Welsh.
Letter from U. S. Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Melvin H. Purvis May 5th, 1934, 1900 Bankers Bldg. Chicago, IL.
Letters from Director J. Edgar Hoover to Chippewa County Sheriff J. Willard Welsh Sault Ste Marie, MI.
The Newark Evening News "War on Crime" September 14, 1936
Research collection from James Howie Sault Ste. Marie, MI (Grandson of Sheriff Welsh)
Dillinger Files from Finding Hoffa coproducer Steve Drummond.
Article by: Steve Drummond www.findinghoffa.com 7/30/2024
THE UPPER PENINSULA LINKED TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JIMMY HOFFA
This is a recent photo of Jimmy Hoffa's cabin near Iron River on Tepee Lake, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. Sources tell that the cabins and property are still owned by relatives in the Hoffa family. The FBI's Hoffex Memo mentions this property seen below on page 9 . Jimmy Hoffa was there in July of 1975 and suddenly returned home to Lake Orion unexpectedly. We believe the reason he returned home was due to reports he received concerning recent violent activity occurring in the Detroit Area connected to the Teamsters Union and organized crime activity. Photo by Steve Drummond
Page 9 of the FBI's Hoffex Memo
Lake 13 Hunt/Fish Club property was several miles from Jimmy Hoffa's cabin. It is where Hoffex Memo suspect Charles Chuckie O'Brien assisted in establishing a private lodge for members of the Teamsters Union to lease from Jimmy Hoffa and was mentioned in the McLellan Hearings. This property was purchased from profits Hoffa made from the Test Fleet/Hobren trucking company which was established for him as a "favor" by the owners and CEOs of a huge trucking company called Commercial Carriers after he settled a wildcat strike for them in1948 and 1949. This favor was deemed a violation of the Taft Hartley Act which Hoffa and others were indicted for. The Co-owner of Commercial Carriers at that time was Walter F. Carey who was also the president of the ATA American Trucking Association. Hoffa and Carey are connected in business relationships tied to Hoffa's court cases and eventual imprisonment.
Photo by Steve Drummond
PHOTOS FROM THE ISLAND
These photos corroborate our podcast episode: Location, Location, Location.
The above photo shows where the structure was, for unknown reasons, cut into by a sophisticated process of removal and replacement. The measurements of this area in question are 6 feet long by 2 feet wide. Under the surface is a foundation of large limestone boulders extending below the surface of the water.
The above photo contains decaying remnants of a steel drum and bands from a large barrel. These items were concealed on Walter F. Carey's Upper Peninsula property. In 1975 two protected witnesses informed the FBI that the body of Jimmy Hoffa was transported in a steel drum shipped by Gateway Transportation truck and disposed of in an unknown location. Another confidential FBI witness reported the body was possibly transported in a pickle barrel. Note the barrel bands and a steel drum are still present on the property.
The above photos are of the Upper Peninsula property owned by the previously mentioned Walter F. Carey in 1975.
Multiple witness's have verified on the night of July 30, 1975, a construction crew was in the process of pouring a large quantity of concrete at this site. The crew was unexpectedly ordered to leave this property and to come back the next day to complete their work. The following morning when they returned, all the concrete had been mysteriously poured. Some unknown people had come during the night and completed the job. No explanation has ever been provided for this nefarious event. To this day there is only one explanation for what happened, something was purposely concealed at this site in concrete the night Jimmy Hoffa disappeared.
Walter F. Carey and Jimmy Hoffa were also co-defendants in 1962 in another trial, "The People versus Automobile Transporters Welfare Fund" by the New York Supreme Court. They were defended by Hoffa's personal lawyer and Teamster's attorney, David Previant.
Many reports include that Hoffa's body was deposited under concrete in the waters of the Great Lakes region. To quote former Mafia Capo, Michael Franzese, Hoffa's body is "in a place that is very wet."
PHOTOS FROM THE HORSE FARM
These photos corroborate our podcast episode: "Deja Vu". This property known as the Hidden Dreams Horse Farm is located in Wixom, Michigan. In 1975 it was owned by Hoffa suspect and Teamster organizer Rolland McMaster along with his brother-in-law Stanton Barr. These men both owned vacation property and homes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Their wives were sisters from Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. Mr. Barr was the general manager of a Gateway Transportation Steel Division terminal. Several confidential FBI informants revealed that a Gateway Transportation truck from Stanton Barr's truck terminal was used to ship the body of Hoffa to an unknown destination for burial. In 2006, the FBI searched this horse farm after FBI informant Donovan Wells, who owned a TIME DC trucking terminal, had passed a polygraph. He and his wife witnessed corroborating events on the property the afternoon Hoffa vanished. Monica Wells reported that cars matching the description of those seen waiting in the parking lot of the Macus Red Fox restaurant arrived at a high rate of speed and drove in behind some buildings. After a brief stay, the cars were seen speeding away. There is a loading dock area directly behind the Horse Farm. We surmise Hoffa's body could have been taken out of one of the cars, placed in a drum, and immediately shipped North away from the cities and dense population. Then unloaded near a property connected to both parent trucking company CEOs namely John Murphy Gateway Transportation (a trustee on the Central States Pension Fund) and Walter F. Carey TIME DC who had (former business ties with Jimmy Hoffa involving another health and welfare fund). Hoffa's body may have been used to extort both men for motives connected to control of vast amounts of revenue involving the pension funds and defense contracts.
note: The top left photo taken in 2021: the banner depicting a Red Fox. Jimmy Hoffa was last seen after being picked up at the Machus "Red Fox" restaurant in nearby Bloomfield Hills Michigan. The owner of this restaurant Harris O Machus was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan too. Also, a backhoe, much like the ones used in the 2006 search, is present in the same photo.
JIMMY HOFFA'S HOUSES & PROPERTY
Above Photos: Jimmy Hoffa's hunting cabin and property located on Tepee Lake in in Iron County of Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Above Photos: Jimmy Hoffa's summer cottage: Lake Orion Township, Oakland County Michigan on Square Lake. He and his wife were spending much of their time here in 1975
Note: The clothes he is wearing in the photo would be similar if not the same as the clothing he wore the day he disappeared.
Above Photos: The Hoffa family home in Detroit Michigan