The O'Jays members spoke up after Frank Little Jr.'s remains were confirmed to be his after 40 years.
News 5 Cleveland first reported that the DNA Doe Project did the genealogical research and identified the remains found in Twinsburg in 1982. After a thorough study, the group confirmed that the remains were those of Little, who suddenly disappeared decades ago.
They also revealed that his manner of death was a homicide.
Twinsburg Police Department disclosed the development to the public but said they still do not have further details to explain the musician's disappearance and death.
Following the news, The O'Jays' original singers Eddie Levert and Walter Williams expressed their heartbreak to Fox News and gave their thoughts about the discovery.
According to the duo, Little was "sentimental, loving and passionate."
"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," they shared.
Levert and Williams - now 79 and 78 respectively - still perform these days.
How The Project Identified Frank Little Jr.'s Remains
The case waited for decades before it had been resolved. Amid the processing of the remains, one of his remaining cousins from his home state, Margaret O'Sullivan, said that she was asked whether they had any missing relatives. When she told the authorities about Little, she informed them they never knew what happened to him in the past years.
According to police, DNA from a close relative helped the group identify the remains. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab reportedly analyzed the result before Dr. Lisa Kohler of the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed his identity.
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Twinsburg Police Department shared a press release following the discovery, saying, "Thanks to the genealogical research of the DNA Doe Project, unidentified remains discovered on February 18, 1982, have been identified as Frank' Frankie' Little Jr., born in 1943, from Cleveland, Ohio. His identity remained a mystery for almost 40 years."
Reports revealed that partial remains were initially discovered in a garbage bag behind a now-closed business area on Cannon Road, Twinsburg, after a former staff recovered a skull in the snow.
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