Jennifer Hudson's Missing Nephew, Julian King
Photo: myspace.com/jenniferhudson
Less than 24 hours after Jennifer Hudson and her family offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of the singer's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, Chicago media reported on Monday morning (October 27) that police found the body of a male child in a vehicle on Chicago's West Side. At press time, according to the Chicago Tribune, police and the Cook County medical examiner's officer were investigating the scene where the boy was found and attempting to determine the identity of the deceased.
According to CNN, an FBI deputy director at a news conference on an unrelated matter said that the body is "believed to be" King and that the bureau is working with the Chicago Police Department to confirm the identity. The Tribune reported late Monday morning that members of the Hudson family were expected at the medical examiner's office in the early afternoon, and a press conference was scheduled following the identification of the body.
King has been missing since Friday, the same day detectives discovered that Hudson's mother and older brother had been shot to death inside the family's home on Chicago's South Side. An Amber Alert was issued on Friday after King was reported missing.
The Tribune reported that a car belonging to Hudson's slain brother, a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban with Illinois license plate number X584859, was reported missing from the crime scene, and the SUV containing the body of the boy matched that license plate number. Live TV shots posted by the paper on Monday morning showed a white Chevy Suburban being investigated on the scene where the child's body was found. A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said there was no comment on the reports at press time.
Late Monday morning, Chicago police confirmed the discovery of the vehicle matching the description of the missing Suburban at around 7:06 a.m. A statement also confirmed that a body was found inside the car in the rear seat, though no details were given on the age or gender of the victim. "Identification of the body will be made by the Cook County medical examiner's office following their examination," the statement said. "The vehicle is being processed for evidence and the investigation remains ongoing."
People in the neighborhood where the SUV was found told local station CLTV that they did not recall seeing the Suburban on Friday or Saturday and that they believe it was dumped there early Sunday morning or "recently."
The only person detained by police in the case, 27-year-old William Balfour, has denied involvement in the disappearance of the boy, law enforcement sources told the Tribune. Balfour, out on parole after serving a seven-year prison sentence for attempted murder and kidnapping, is the estranged husband of the missing boy's mother, Julia Hudson. Since being taken in for questioning, he has been transferred to a state facility for violating his parole, officials said.
An unidentified police source told the paper that Balfour's alibi on the day of the killings has been contradicted by his pregnant girlfriend, who has been interviewed by police. Balfour was arrested at the girlfriend's home on Friday night, and a family friend said Balfour had recently threatened to take King away. A source said that police had tracked Balfour's whereabouts on the day of the slayings through his cell phone.
