Investigators used DNA and genealogy to identify the remains of an Ohio man whose body was found more than 40 years ago. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Frank “Frankie” Little Jr’s remains solved a lingering mystery that has plagued the soul music industry for decades.
Little was a songwriter and guitarist for The O’Jays in the 1960s.
Though investigators faced multiple failed attempts, extensive research was needed to discover Little’s identity.
“I’m very excited we were able to put a name to these remains and to get him back to his family and give his family that piece of closure,” said Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler, who assisted Twinsburg detectives with the investigation.
Kohler ruled the musician’s death as a homicide, citing blunt-force injuries and an attempt to hide his remains, which were found in February 1982.
Employees of a machine shop in Twinsburg, Ohio, discovered what turned out to be Little’s skull when they were disposing of shavings in the woods. They reported it to the police, who later found a garbage bag with more remains while searching the property, The Journal reported.
“When they saw the skull, they didn’t believe it was human,” Twinsburg detective Eric Hendershott said. “They showed it around.”
A forensic anthropologist estimated the remains had been there between two and four years.
“There wasn’t even clothing – just bones in a garbage bag,” Hendershott said.
The former guitarist’s family members were also pleased to learn what happened to him after all these years.
“It’s amazing,” said Margaret O’Sullivan, Little’s cousin, who lives in Cleveland. “We’re glad that we have closure now. We know he’s deceased.”
Despite making the shocking discovery, the Ohio native’s whereabouts were unknown for years. Little, who would be 78 if alive, was a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War. It’s believed that he was living in Cleveland around the mid-1970s when he disappeared.
The case remained unsolved until Hendershott contacted the DNA Doe Project in September 2019. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to genetic genealogy research to help families, law enforcement, and medical examiners identify John and Jane.
Hendershott was determined to solve the case and tapped the organization to construct a family tree that led to O’Sullivan as a relative. She told Hendershott that Little was missing for years.
The detective hopes to find Little’s son to find out if he has information regarding his father’s murder.
Little has a brother in Georgia who hasn’t been in touch with his nephew or knows his name. The musician also had a daughter who died in 2012.
The O’Jays originated in Canton, Ohio. They began their musical career in 1958 and had a series of successful chart-topping albums through the late 1960s and 1970s, led by lead singer Eddie Levert and Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. Little was not a founding member but played with the group in the mid-1960s. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, years after releasing hits “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “Give the People What They Want,” and “For The Love of Money.”
On Wednesday, Levert and Williams described Little as “sentimental, loving and passionate,” while the band members spoke with Fox News.
“He came with us when we first ventured out of Cleveland and traveled to Los Angeles, but he also was in love with a woman in Cleveland who he missed so much that he soon returned to Cleveland after a short amount of time,” the two men said. “That was in the mid-1960s, and we had not heard from him after then. Although this is a tragic ending, we wish his family and friends closure to what appears to be a very sad story.”
