Human Remains Found in Bag 40 Years Ago Identified as R&B Musician

Almost 40 years after partial human remains were found in a garbage bag in Twinsburg, Ohio, the person the remains belonged to was identified this week as musician Frank “Frankie” Little Jr., a guitarist for the R&B group The O’Jays, police said. The O’Jays were a popular group from Ohio, known for their biggest hits “Black Stabbers” and “Love Train.” Little performed with the band in the 1960s.

Little’s remains were found in a garbage bag behind a business on Cannon Road in Twinsburg on Feb. 18, 1982, the Twinsburg Police Department said in a statement. The remains were of an African American male 20 to 35 years old and stood about 5’6″. Little may have had adolescent kyphosis, a curvature of the spine. Although little is known about how he died, Dr. Lisa Kohler of the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide.

The breakthrough in the case came in October when the DNA Doe Project gave police a list of potential living relatives. One close relative gave a DNA sample, which the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab analyzed. Kohler then confirmed the remains belonged to Little. The remains were an incomplete set and police believed they were two to four years old at the time they were discovered. The case was cold for 20 years until Sgt. Greg Feketik reopened the case in 2009, hoping that DNA technology could be used to find out who the remains belonged to.

Little grew up in Cleveland is last known to be alive in the mid-1970s. He served in the U.S. Army and was deployed during the Vietnam War. He had a daughter who died in 2012 and a son who has not been located. His last known address was in Cleveland.

“It’s amazing,” Margaret O’Sullivan, Little’s cousin, told the Akron Business Journal. “We’re glad that we have closure now. We know he’s deceased.”Twinsburg Detective Eric Hendershott told News5Cleveland it was “definitely nice” to give Little’s family answers and some closure.”He had a life, and ultimately he ended up here in Twinsburg, with his life taken by another,” Hendershott said.

The O’Jays were founded in Canton, Ohio in the late 1950s. Little joined the group in the early 1960s as a guitarist and songwriter. He co-wrote “Do the Jerk,” “Pretty Words,” and “Oh, How You Hurt Me” with lead singer Eddie Levert, who is still a member of the group. Levert told News5Cleveland Little was still with the band when they moved to California, but soon felt went back to Cleveland and he lost track of him. “I never would have thought this would happen to him,” Lavert said. “I don’t know why anyone would do him like that.”

Anyone with information on Little’s case is urged to contact Hendershott at 330-405-5679 or ehendershott@twinsburg.oh.us.