Friday brought horror and tragedy for actress Jennifer Hudson, 27, seen to be the embodiment of American dreams after she won an Oscar for her role in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls, even after having failed the American Idol acid test. 

According to Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson, at 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, a family member entering the family home, found the Hudson family matriarch Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, shot dead on the living room floor and left immediately to notify the police. Investigation by responding officers found another dead body in the bedroom, which was later identified as the second victim Jason Hudson, 29, the older brother of the singer / actress. No sign of forced entry have been found, which means the crime could have been related to domestic issues. 

Chicago police is hunting for William Balfour, believed to be responsible for the double slaying, including abduction of Julian King, 7 Hudson nephew, who is missing. Balfour, an ex-con was on parole after serving seven years for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. Romantically involved with Hudson ’s older sister Julia, whom he calls his ‘wife’ on his MySpace profile page, Balfour also refers to Julian as his stepson. Julia in her profile on MySpace, lists her mother as her No. 1 friend, ‘William’ as No. 2 and Jennifer as No. 3, saying the person she admires the most is her mother, while William is ‘most likely’ to get arrested. A MySpace photograph of Balfour has been endearingly titled ‘My William’. 

Police has issued an Amber Alert for the missing child and feels that Balfour is probably driving a teal or green coloured Chrysler Concorde or Chevy Suburban bearing a temporary Illinois license plate X584859, with a left front headlight hanging out and scratches on the left side of the vehicle. 

The senseless tragedy comes just when Hudson’s career graph is on an ever upward curve. Currently co-staring in the Queen Latifah movie ‘The Secret Life of Bees’, her song ‘Spotlight’ made it to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot R&B / Hip-Hop charts, while her recently released debut album is a top seller. She also featured blockbuster movie ‘Sex and the City’, released earlier this year, including singing the national anthem when Obama whom she supports, accepted the presidential nomination at the Democratic Party Convention in Denver in August. 

No doubt, this is a difficult time for Hudson, who lost her dad in her teens and only recently stated in an interview that she had to thank her close-knit family for keeping her grounded after making it to the limelight. Perhaps, David Otunga, best known for his stint in ‘I Love New York’ reality show and to whom Hudson just recently got engaged, could help her make it through this hard-hitting tragedy of losing her mother and brother.