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Geraldo Rivera uncovered ‘The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults’ on live television 40 years ago

Geraldo Rivera poses on the stairs heading down to the Lexington Hotel’s basement, where Al Capone supposedly kept a hidden vault. Forty years ago, millions of Americans tuned in to watch Rivera’s two-hour live television special revealing the contents of the “vault.” Steve Kagan / Getty Images
April 24, 2026

On April 21, 1986, television reporter Geraldo Rivera completed his final on-air shot in a live broadcast from the Chicago hotel where Prohibition-era Mob boss Al Capone supposedly had an underground vault. With 30 million viewers watching, the vault contained not much more than a couple of decades-old bottles and a cloud of dust. Afterward, sensing that critics would pounce, Rivera went on a bender, convinced his career was over. “He said he got tequila drunk across the street,” William Elliott Hazelgrove told The Mob Museum. Hazelgrove is the author of the newly released book, Capone’s Vault: The Real Story of the Biggest ...

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Stuffing murder victims in barrels a common practice since mid-19th century

In April 1858, workers at the Hudson Valley Railroad’s freight house smelled an awful stench coming from a wooden barrel…

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Body in the barrel at Lake Mead has makings of Mob hit

Coroner: Will take at least a year to identify the remains

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U.S., European agencies target Irish crime group led by boxing promoter

State Department offers $5 million reward to take down Daniel Kinahan

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History Channel takes on New York Mafia’s Five Families

On March 13, 2019, Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, a 53-year-old reputed Gambino crime family leader, was shot to death outside…

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‘Leave the gun.’ Did mobsters seriously do that?

One frequently asked question at The Mob Museum revolves around a legendary scene in The Godfather. It’s the one in…

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‘The Godfather’ celebrates 50 years as the ‘greatest family movie ever’

As The Godfather celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, the movie is regarded as one of the best ever made,…

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‘Ozark’ and upcoming Sylvester Stallone series draw attention to Missouri mobsters

With a Mob history dating back decades, Kansas City’s influence in the underworld has long extended beyond its Midwestern borders….

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