You should use has attribute selector. This sample should do the work:

$('selector').closest('[id]')

$(elementToStart).parent().closest('div[id]');

I use the parent() to avoid just getting the element itself.

Example: http://jsfiddle.net/zQRFT/1/

Look for an id attribute on a div, using the closest method:

$(this).closest('div[id]');

The [id] brackets there is what's called the Has Attribute Selector