Human remains that were discovered in Ohio nearly 40 years ago have been identified as Frank "Frankie" Little Jr., the guitarist of the R&B band The O’Jays.
Through DNA from relatives, police were able to finally identify Little, whose partial remains were found in a garbage bag behind a now-closed business in Twinsburg on Feb. 18, 1982, according to WEWS. The manner of death has been ruled a homicide.
"It’s definitely nice that we can give some answers to the family and hopefully they have some sense of closure," said Twinsburg detective Eric Hendershott. "He had a life, and ultimately he ended up here in Twinsburg, with his life taken by another."
The O’Jays, which formed in Canton, Ohio, were arguably one of the biggest R&B acts in the 1960s and ’70s. The group dominated the charts with hit singles including "Love Train" and "Used Ta Be My Girl." Little played with them in the mid-’60s but according to band members who continue to perform as The O' Jays, he left soon after its formation, CNN noted. The group said they had not heard from him since he left the band.
The remains meanwhile lay unidentified for four decades, until police partnered up in October with the DNA Doe Project, which provided names of potential relatives. They were able to provide Little's name and DNA samples.
"I said yes. I have a cousin name Frankie Little is missing," Margaret O'Sullivan, one of Little's cousins from Cleveland, told WEWS. "We don't know what happened to him. We always wondered what happened."
Little's identity was confirmed by Dr. Lisa Kohler with the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office.
"It was clear that there was a match here, that we had finally been able to put a name to those remains," Kohler said. " feel comfortable saying he died from unknown injuries and that this is a homicide."
Hendershott said the next step is to determine who killed Little and why.
"We’re trying to figure out how he got there and who could have put him there," he said. "That’s what we don’t know."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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