Update
Police Identify Body of Hudson's Nephew
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Chicago police have confirmed the harrowing news. The body of a young boy found in an abandoned SUV is in fact that of Jennifer Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King.
"Tragically, search efforts ended shortly after 7 a.m.," Police Superintendent Jody Weis said at a press conference this afternoon in Chicago.
"At this time, we can confirm that the body located inside the vehicle was the body of 7-year-old Julian King. The vehicle was towed and taken in...for forensic processing."
The announcement came shortly after Jennifer Hudson, accompanied by family members, viewed the remains—the second time in three days the Oscar winner has had to make the grim trip to the morgue, having previously identified her slain mother and brother.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. A police spokeswoman said that Julian was shot multiple times, but Weis said those details were being left to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office to report.
"Today a family and a community are grieving, but we want them to take comfort in knowing that Chicago police and detectives will continue to work around the clock to ensure that justice is served," Weis said, also thanking the Illinois State Police and FBI for their time and efforts.
"The Hudson family members are also a key partner in this investigation, cooperating with detectives every step of the way under stressful and very painful circumstances."
Julian, the son of Hudson's sister Julia, was reported missing shortly after a relative discovered the bodies of the actress' mother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, and her older brother, 29-year-old Jason Hudson, Friday afternoon in Donerson's Englewood home. Each had been shot to death.
FBI agents this morning located the white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban that Julian was believed to have been taken away in after receiving a call at 7:06 a.m. about a suspicious parked vehicle in the 1300 block of South Kolin Avenue on Chicago's West Side.
A body was discovered in the backseat.
"I didn't look in there. I didn't touch it. I knew it was a strange vehicle," area resident John Loudon, whose wife reported the vehicle to police after he saw that its license-plate number matched reports of the SUV police were looking for, told the Chicago Tribune.
"I feel bad about that baby," he added.
Hudson had offered a $100,000 reward for Julian's safe return. "Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely. If anyone has any information about his whereabouts, please contact the authorities immediately," Hudson wrote on her MySpace blog.
William Balfour, Julia Hudson's estranged husband, has been in police custody since Friday night as a "person of interest." He has denied involvement in the crime but has since reportedly stopped responding to authorities' questions. No charges have been filed.
The 27-year-old man was transferred to a state lockup Sunday night for violating his parole. Released in 2006, Balfour spent seven years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. His latest arrest qualifies as a parole violation.
"I think they're pretty optimistic," Superintendent Weis said when asked whether authorities expect to solve the crime.
"You've got two crime scenes...I'm very confident that our forensic technicians will go through both areas with a fine-toothed comb, and I suspect that we'll have some evidence that will link us to the killer."
"We're following any lead we can get right now," Weis added. "[Balfour] is a person of interest, but that's not to say that there is not other individuals that may turn up. Right now, we're just following the facts we have, we're following the evidence that we have."
(Originally published Oct. 27, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. PT)
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