Where Is Kelly Juanita Staples? 6-Year-Old Disappeared In 1980 While Walking To School

CHICAGO — A photograph on a police flier and aching hearts are all that is left behind of Kelly Juanita Staples, who was 6 years old when she vanished on Jan. 8, 1980, walking to school at 73rd Street and Merrill in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.

A dedicated team of Cook County Sheriff’s detectives investigating cold missing persons cases are keeping her story alive by asking the public for any information about Kelly’s disappearance.

Her family told Chicago police that the little girl was wearing a and brown and white striped cap, a brown scarf, a red plaid coat, blue jeans and blue rubber boots when she left for school. Kelly was 3-feet tall and weighed 42 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She is also said to have a birthmark in her middle chest.

In 1992, police thought they had a break in the case when a serial killer confessed to murdering Kelly and several other victims. The man’s story turned out to be false. Police do not believe Kelly to have been abducted by a family member.

Over four decades later, Kelly’s family still has no answers as to what happened to her, or if she is even still alive. Kelly remains among the 64,000 missing Black women and girls missing in the United States today.

Aged-progressed photos available on National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS) show Kelly at age 31 and 41. Kelly would be 51 years old today.

Anyone with information about Kelly Staples, is urged to call Cook County Sheriff Special Victims Unit at 773-674-9490 or ccso.missingpersons@ccsheriff.org.