Jennifer Hudson Asks Public to Help Find Nephew, 7

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson appealed on Sunday for the public's help in finding her 7-year-old nephew, missing since the shooting deaths of her mother and brother.

A photo released Oct. 24, 2008, by the Chicago Police Department shows 7-year-old Julian King....

A photo released Oct. 24, 2008, by the Chicago Police Department shows 7-year-old Julian King. Chicago Police issued an Amber Alert Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 for King, who police say may be related to singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Julia Hudson pleaded for the safe return of her 7-year-old son, Julian King, on Saturday Oct. 25, 2008, a day after Julia and Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death at the family home in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Chicago Police Department)

(AP)

City police transferred custody of the man labeled a "person of interest" in the shooting deaths to state authorities.

An Amber Alert remained in effect Sunday for young Julian King, who disappeared on Friday, the day the bodies of his grandmother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old uncle Jason Hudson were found in the home they all shared on the city's South Side. The deaths were ruled homicides.

The Amber Alert listed William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a "double homicide investigation." Julia Hudson is the missing boy's mother

Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said authorities considered Balfour a "person of interest" in the case but he had not been charged.

Authorities said the search for Julian would be citywide, but on Sunday residents and officers focused their efforts "in the immediate vicinity" of the family's home in the Englewood section, said police spokesman Dan O'Brien.

Police said they did not have a motive for the killings but called the case "domestic related."

"There's a lot of forensic evidence. We have to work the evidence and try and solve this case," Bond said Sunday. "Most importantly, we want to find the child."

Bond said no weapon had been found at the Hudson home, a three-story house sandwiched by vacant lots littered with trash. On Sunday, investigators moved in and out of the home and examined the trash.

Police officers were instructed to place fliers with Julian King's picture and description in every business in the area.

Jennifer Hudson, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls, was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. A publicist did not disclose her whereabouts.