General Discussion

LeftInTX

(25,123 posts) Thu Dec 16, 2021, 06:03 AM Dec 2021

Human remains found 40 years ago identified as member of The O'Jays R&B band

(CNN)Partial human remains found in a garbage bag nearly 40 years ago have been identified as belonging to Frank "Frankie" Little Jr, a member of the R&B band The O'Jays, according to police.

The Twinsburg Police Department in Ohio announced the news on Tuesday, saying DNA from relatives was used to help identify the remains found on February 18, 1982. Police said that not much is known about Little's disappearance and death.

Little was raised in Cleveland, according to the news release. In the mid-'60s, he was a guitarist and songwriter for The O'Jays. The band released a statement to CNN saying that he was part of the band in the early days and that they haven't heard from him since.

"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 that he missed so much that he soon returned back to Cleveland after a short amount of time," reads the statement.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/us/ojays-frank-frankie-little-jr-remains-identified-cold-case-trnd/index.html

A better article:
TWINSBURG, Ohio — Human remains discovered in Twinsburg in 1982 have now been identified as those of Frank “Frankie” Little, Jr., who was a guitarist and songwriter for the R&B band The O’Jays, as a result of genealogical research from the DNA Doe Project.

Little was born in Cleveland in 1943 and raised here. In the mid-1960s, he was a guitarist and songwriter for The O’Jays. He also served in the U.S. Army for two years, including a deployment to Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

“Frankie was a member of the band in the 1960s,” Hendershott said. “He played guitar with the band in the studio and on tours.”

Little was last known to reside in Cleveland, and it is believed he was last alive in the mid-1970s. Not much is known about his disappearance or death.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-summit/remains-found-in-1982-identified-as-guitarist-for-r-b-group-the-ojays

What I learned:
The O'Jays formed way back in 1958
Little was with the group in the early 60's
The group went to California.
Little didn't went to be in California and went home to be with his GF (The band probably lost touch with him shortly after)
Little went to Vietnam
He was last seen in the late 70s
His body was dumped what appears to be a rural area.

You wonder what he did with himself from the time he left the O'Jays until the time he disappeared? You wonder what happened with his girlfriend? Was he drafted? What was life like for him after Vietnam?
Everyone has a story. He had a brush with fame, which draws our interest, but everyone has a story.

Whoever killed him, knew him. We wonder what happened to meet such as gruesome end.

So many questions about a life cut tragically short...
He performs vocals here: