Well potentially it could be her.
She was from Chicago, and our JD was from St Louis. So not that far away.
Kelly was 6 and went missing in 1980, she was 3'0, is that tall for a 6 year old?
JD was
Estimated Age: 8-11 years old
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Height: 4'10" to 5'6"
Weight: 61-70 lbs.
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
She was considered tall for her age, and I have seen the photos. She was tall and skinny. She was well nourished prior to her death. So she can't have been captured for a long time. No signs of prior abuse. SO somehow I doubt JD was held captive for a long time, I don't think she's Kelly. I don't think she's in namus at all.
Most likely she's either recently came to St Louis to live with relatives cause her mother died OR she was living in a Orphanage prior to this where she was sent to a family of caretakers that did this to her. The person that killed her didn't want her to be identified at any cost because he would easily be associated with her, that's why her head was removed PM.
Look for orphanages or group homes for children in the Chicago area (somehow I feel like she's from there cause it was rough in the 80's) and try to find list of kids that were removed or given to caretakers around that time. Remember back in 1983, diffrent states didn't cooperate like today. That's how Ted Bundy escaped from jail on the west side and went to Florida got arrested and nobody made that connection!
Another chance would be if her mother died or was a murder victim around that time and relatives took care of her or perhaps the killer took her child. But I feel like the latter would've made bigger news. If her mother died (not murdered) it's likely she was given to relatives just weeks before this and she moved to St Louis, where she knew nobody. She was around 8-11 so she did go to school somewhere, perhaps some grown woman would be wondering whatever happened to her classmate that moved to St Louis back in 1983 is today? That's what happened to Tammy Alexander.