Frank P. Stiles

1938 - 2025

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade staff writer

Frank P. Stiles, a storied Toledo police detective sergeant who in retirement was an investigator with the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office cold-case unit, died Dec. 13 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 87.

He died after a brief illness, his son Carey Stiles said.

"He was a bulldog," said Doug Wilbur, a retired Toledo police detective. "He wouldn't let go. Once he got a case, he wouldn't let go until it was solved. He was a policeman's policeman."

Mr. Stiles retired from the Toledo Police Department on April 26, 1990, after 25 years.

Hired April 2, 1965, as a patrolman, he was promoted to detective sergeant in 1976, soon after being transferred to the detective bureau, where he worked until retirement.

"Frank was a great detective, good investigator, good interrogator, and hardworking," said James Carnes, also a retired TPD detective.

For many years while at TPD and later in retirement, Mr. Stiles was also head of security for the former Lion stores in Toledo until Dillard's bought Mercantile Stores, the Lion's parent company in 1998.

Mr. Stiles then was a chief investigator at the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office from January, 1999, until retiring permanently in 2017.

"He was amazing, amazing, he really was a star," said Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates. "He was a cold-case guy that helped us with many, many cases that were unsolved and old."

Proud to be a police officer

Mr. Stiles always wanted to be a policeman and was very proud of working as a police officer, especially in the detective bureau, his son Carey Stiles said.

Frank Stiles had also enjoyed training other officers in criminal interrogation, his son said.

In 1978, he was named Ohio's outstanding peace officer by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys association. He was also the state's 1973 policeman of the year, an award given by the Knights of Columbus, and the Baker-Stengel American Legion Post's 1971 Toledo policeman of the year.

Mr. Stiles told The Blade in 1974 it was not so much that he felt vindictive toward the criminals whom he pursued, it was just that he thought they belonged in jail.

"When a person commits a crime, I think he should pay for it," he said in February, 1974, at which time he credited himself with solving 4,000 felonies, primarily crimes committed by juveniles.

His superiors credited one quality more than others for his uncommon success - being "totally relentless in following the circuitous path which leads from crime to criminal," The Blade wrote at the time.

"About all you can do is get out on the street, start driving around, walking around, pounding on doors, and asking questions," Mr. Stiles said. "If you do it long enough, things will start to happen, and eventually everything will fall into place."

The Cook case

The thousands of cases that Mr. Stiles solved included that of Toledo's most notorious serial killers, brothers Anthony and Nathaniel Cook.

"He worked that Cook case for 20 years," Ms. Bates said. "He worked that case, and he solved that case. He was just like a dog with a bone."

The murders began in May, 1980, locking the city in fear as gruesomely beaten bodies were found in culverts and ditches and young couples turned up dead in the trunks of cars.

The killing spree ended in October, 1981, when Anthony Cook was arrested in the shooting death of Realtor Peter Sawicki. However, 17 years would elapse before DNA linked the brothers to the other crimes.

The police investigation ended in 2000 when confessions made by the Cook brothers cleared up eight cold-case murders and other unsolved crimes.

Later, Mr. Stiles, who was the lead investigator of the killing spree, told the story of the killings in Evil Brothers, the first of his three true-crime books he wrote in retirement. The other two are Blind Trust, and City Soldiers.

A close call

Early into his police career, Mr. Stiles had a close call when a shoplifting suspect whom he was trying to apprehend produced a pistol and pulled the trigger, only for the gun to jam, according to a 1967 Blade story that cited police reports.

He kept the unspent bullet as a reminder of the incident, Carey Stiles said.

The 1967 incident is described in a story titled "Miracle on Superior Street," which is included in his book City Soldiers. Mr. Stiles details how he chased a suspected shoplifter and how they grappled, at which time the latter pushed the barrel of his pistol into Mr. Stiles' belly and pulled the trigger.

Life journey

Born Aug. 23, 1938, to Janie and Eugene, Sr., in Toledo, he graduated Waite High School, where he played varsity football and basketball.

While in high school, he worked as a night stocker at a local Kroger store. He also boxed, becoming the city of Toledo's novice division light-heavyweight Golden Gloves champion in his senior year.

After high school, he worked at a local company that made auto parts until he was drafted in the Army in October, 1961. He served in France on a two-year tour of duty following the Berlin Crisis, which had culminated with the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Following his honorable discharge, he returned to Toledo.

"He always said he really enjoyed his time in the Army," Carey Stiles said. "It taught him good discipline and respect for authority, which is part of why he was interested in becoming a police officer."

In his free time, he enjoyed entertaining friends and family at home and dining out with them.

Surviving are his sons, Kevin and Carey Stiles; daughter, Amy Pratt; brother, Donald Stiles; stepdaughters, Angie Eckstrom and Laurie Barbee; stepsisters, Janet Ocheske, Elaine Christian, and Carol Henny; 12 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Services are private. Arrangements are by Coyle Funeral Home. The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.