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Questioned by FBI agents, O'Brien denied knowing what had happened to Hoffa, a claim that aroused the bitter skepticism of none other than his foster brother, James P. Hoffa. The two had never got along, their differences beginning with boyhood rivalries for Hoffa's affections. When O'Brien reappeared, young Hoffa insisted that he undergo a lie-detector exam, saying: "I demand, I demand, I demand that you take the test." But O'Brien's lawyer urged him not to undergo testing because the process was too "inaccurate."
At week's end the FBI and other law-enforcement officers were still sifting through the testimony of Chuckie O'Brien and the other fragmentary bits of evidence. They chased down and then dispelled rumors that Hoffa had withdrawn $1.2 million of his pension settlement just before his disappearance. Hoffa's family kept saying that he must still be alive, but the possibility that he had just vanished on his own or been abducted seemed increasingly remote with every passing day. Local 299 President Johnson discounted the kidnaping possibility. Said he: "I don't think that Jimmy Hoffa can be held in a house against his will."
Investigators were considering various ways of gaining access to a sprawling private hunting preserve northwest of Ann Arbor that is owned by Louis ("Big Louie") Ruggirello, a prosperous entrepreneur who has been imprisoned for cheating on his income taxes. Ruggirello often invites his friends in to hunt for deer and foxes and other game. The lawmen want to roam the grounds to hunt for the body of Jimmy Hoffa.