Two days after her mother and brother were fatally shot at home in Chicago, Jennifer Hudson and her family have offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of her missing 7-year-old nephew Julian, gone since Friday.
"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," said a statement from Hudson's rep Lisa Kasteler. It also offered a reward and asked the public to give any available information to the Chicago police. "We ask that all inquiries be directed to the Chicago Police Department, Area 1 Detective Division at 312/747-8380."
As investigators continued looking for forensic evidence at the south side home of Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, the FBI confirmed that they are also assisting with the investigation.
"I can confirm that we have been asked to provide assistance to the Chicago police department to assist in the search for 7-year-old Julian King," said Ross Rice, special agent and spokesman for the Chicago office of FBI.
When asked whether they had any promising leads, Ross declined to comment. "The key word there is assisting. It is still a Chicago police investigation, both the murder and the kidnapping, and any announcements would be best to come from them."
After her sister Julia's impassioned plea for the return of her son at a press conference on Saturday, Jennifer took to her Myspace page to thank fans for the outpouring of support on Sunday.
"Thank you all for your prayers and your calls," she wrote on the Web site. "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. Here is a picture of Julian and what he was last seen wearing. Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time."
On Saturday, Democratic presidential nominee and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama reacted to Hudson's tragic news over the weekend, according to UsMagazine.com. Obama described the deaths as "heartbreaking" and said he was "trying to get a phone number to call her at this tragic time. She is somebody who has campaigned for me, she also lives in my community. So, we're really going to have to ... help her and pray for her and her family during this difficult time."
Police have not yet charged anyone in the murders, but Hudson's brother-in-law, William Balfour, who had lived at the residence in the past, is being held by Chicago police as a "person of interest" in the case. According to the Chicago Tribune, Balfour, 27, who recently separated from King's mother, was found at his pregnant girlfriend's house on the South Side of Chicago several hours after the bodies were discovered, but Julian King was not with him.
Balfour, on parole after serving seven years in prison for attempted murder and vehicular hijacking, was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections on a violation of parole "independent of this investigation," an Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson told the Tribune. The spokesperson said Balfour violated his parole "due to the allegations made against him, that he is a person of interest in the homicides as well as the kidnapping."
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