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http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-1...hs_N.htm?csp=34

Chicago police find SUV, body in search for Hudson's nephew

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

CHICAGO — Police said Monday the license plate on a white SUV containing a child's body matches the vehicle listed in the Amber Alert issued for Jennifer Hudson's missing nephew.

"The vehicle that was discovered is the vehicle that was being sought in conjunction with the investigation and the vehicle that was subject of the Amber Alert. It's a 1994 white Chevy Suburban. It was bearing the Illinois plates that were the subject of the search," Chicago police spokesman Daniel O'Brien said.

"There was a body discovered in the rear seat of the vehicle. Identification of the body will be done by the Cook County medical examiner," he said.

The body in the SUV is that of a young black boy, authorities told the Associated Press. The identity of the body has not been disclosed by police.

Julian King hasn't been seen since Friday. That's when Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in their home. Authorities issued an Amber Alert for the 7-year-old and were looking for a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban.

Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson.

Police on Sunday transferred custody of a "person of interest" in the killings to state authorities.

Hudson and her family offered a $100,000 reward Sunday for the safe return of her nephew.

Chicago police intensified their search for the child Sunday. Hudson joined the effort, posting on her MySpace blog two photos of her nephew, Julian King, in the brown and orange shirt he was last seen wearing. She urged anyone with information to contact authorities and to "please keep praying … that we get Julian King back home safely."

The only person named in connection with the case is William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson. Balfour is a "person of interest" and was named as a suspect in an AMBER Alert issued Friday, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

Balfour has not been charged in the shooting death of Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, 57, and older brother Jason Hudson, 29. Julian was reported missing Friday by his mother, Julia Hudson, 31.

Police fanned out across the neighborhood Sunday, posting flyers with Julian's photograph. "The community is a huge part of any investigation, particularly when it involves a small child and a homicide," Bond said.

Residents placed flowers and stuffed animals by the chain-link fence along Donerson's home. "This family has been in the community for a very long time. You can imagine why it's hit so close to home," Bond said.

Even after Jennifer Hudson became a star, her mother and brother stayed in a modest three-story home. The community's median household income is $31,400.

"Somebody is always getting shot or killed," neighbor Cornell White said. But White wasn't surprised Hudson's family stayed.

"Not everybody is about money. Her mother's lived there all her life, so she chose not to move," White said. Jennifer Hudson "always came back home" to visit.

Hudson, 27, won an Oscar in 2007 for her role in Dreamgirls, recently released a self-titled album and stars in the new movie The Secret Life of Bees.

The slayings stunned the entertainment world.

"Poor Jennifer," producer Quincy Jones said Saturday outside a benefit in Los Angeles. "Nobody can talk to her. Everybody is trying to call her. We just have to pray for her."

Outside the New Calvary Light Pentecostal Church across the street from Donerson's home, Rev. Arthur Reed used the message board to urge the public to "Help find Julian King." Last year, the board flashed Oscar congratulations to Hudson.