Photo: Twinsburg Police Department
Northeast Ohio authorities have finally identified human remains after nearly four decades. The Twinsburg Police Department announced on Tuesday (December 14) that Frank “Frankie” Little Jr., a guitarist and songwriter for the O’Jays, is the man whose remains were discovered on February 18, 1982.
Twinsburg Police credited the DNA Doe Project’s genealogical research with bringing answers in the nearly 40-year-old cold case. The DNA Doe Project provided names of potential living relatives in October 2021, and those relatives were able to provide Little’s name, according to the police department. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab analyzed a DNA sample provided by a close relative, and Dr. Lisa Kohler of the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Little’s identity. Kohler has also riled his manner of death a homicide.
Although officials are still seeking answers around Little’s disappearance and death, they can confirm that Little’s partial remains were discovered in a garbage bag behind a business that is no longer in operation. Police say the remains appeared to be an African American man between age 20 and 35, standing at about 5’6’’ and with a curvature of the spine.
Here’s what authorities know about Little, according to the Twinsburg Police Department:
“Frank was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. In the mid-1960s, Frank was a guitarist and song writer for the band the O’Jays. He served in the US Army for two years, which included a deployment to Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Frank had a daughter who passed away in 2012, and he has a son who has not yet been located or identified. Frank was last known to reside in the area of E 105th and Superior Ave. in Cleveland, and it is believed he was last alive in the mid-1970s. Not much is known about his disappearance and death. Our sympathies to the family during this difficult time.”