Jennifer Hudson, the 27-year-old Oscar-winning singer and actress, last night positively identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew, bringing a tragic end to a frantic three-day search.

The boy, Julian King, was found in the back of an abandoned SUV on Chicago’s West Side.

It is believed that he was shot by the same gunman who blasted his way into the home of Ms Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, on Friday. The body of Ms Donerson was found in the home immediately after the shooting, along with that of the singer’s brother, Jason Hudson, 29. It was initially hoped that Julian—the son of Ms Hudson’s sister, Julian—had escaped and would be found traumatised but alive.

Ms Hudson, a one-time reject from American Idol, became a national heroine in 2006 after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the musical blockbuster Dreamgirls.

On Sunday, she offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of her nephew. The Oscar-winning star used her website and MySpace page to post photographs of her nephew and plead for his return.

In one picture, the smiling boy was seen cuddling with his grandmother. “That's how close they were,” Ms Hudson wrote in a caption. In other comments, she described him as being “not the size of an average seven-year old” and of having “a baby face”.

Hours after his body was discovered, the photographs and reward details were removed from Ms Hudson's website and replaced with the simple note: “Thank you all for your prayers and calls. The support has been overwhelming and we thank you for being there for us through this tough time. Sincerely, The Hudson Family.”

The abandoned SUV containing the boy's body was found about 10-miles from the home of Ms Hudson’s mother. The resident who notified the police was Lynette Louden, 47, who became suspicious after her Chihuahua started barking at the vehicle.

“I only hoped the body wasn't in there,” she said. “When they said that it was, I cried.”

Chicago’s Police Superintendent, Jody Weis, last night said that the motive for the triple murder remained unclear, but he added that “it wasn't a case of a stranger-type homicide”.

The police have previously categorised the crime as a domestic disturbance, and the boy’s estranged stepfather, William Balfour, is currently being held in state custody on a parole violation. No one has yet been charged with the murders.

Ms Hudson was reportedly among seven family members and close friends who cried and held hands as they identified the 7-year-old’s body from a live image on a television screen at the Cook County Medical Examiner's office on Monday afternoon. Ms Hudson was the one to identify the boy, saying “yes that's him” when his face appeared on a wall-mounted video screen, according to Sean Howard, a spokesman for the medical examiner's office.

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin