CHICAGO — Jennifer Hudson and her family are offering a $100,000 reward for the safe return of her missing 7-year-old nephew.
Julian King has been missing since the Friday shooting deaths of Hudson’s mother and brother at the family home on Chicago’s South Side.
Hudson publicist Lisa Kasteler issued a statement Sunday saying the Oscar-winning entertainer and her family would offer the reward. The family asks that any information be given to Chicago police.
In a MySpace blog entry, Hudson said she was grateful for community support and posted a picture of her nephew.
“Thank you all for your prayers and your calls. Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely,” the blog entry said. “If anyone has any information about his whereabouts please contact the authorities immediately. . . . Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time.”
Chicago police also began distributing “High Risk Missing Child” alerts with a picture of the boy to businesses and residents near Hudson’s family home.
Authorities issued an Amber Alert after the slayings for Julian and his stepfather, Wil liam Balfour, 27, who had recently separated from the boy’s mother, Julia Hudson. Police arrested Balfour at his pregnant girlfriend’s Chicago apartment a few hours after the bodies were found, but the boy was not with him. The Amber Alert remains active.
Chicago police said Sunday that Balfour has been transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections on a violation of parole. Police said the violation is “independent of this investigation,” but an Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman said Balfour violated his parole by being a “person of interest” in the murder case and possibly involved in the disappearance of the 7-year-old.
Julian is described as 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair and was last seen wearing a striped polo shirt and khaki pants.
“I don’t care who you are, just let my baby go,” his mother said. “I just want my son back. He doesn’t deserve this.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
