$50,000 reward offered in deaths of NC tree farmer, son, employee

INDEPENDENCE, Va. (AP) — The family of a prominent North Carolina tree farmer has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for his slaying, as well as that of his son and an employee.

Authorities said Friday that robbery was the apparent motive in the shooting deaths Thursday of 74-year-old Ronald Hudler, 45-year-old Frederick Hudler and 25-year-old John Miller.

The three were slain on Ronald Hudler’s property in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, just north of the North Carolina border.

The Grayson County sheriff’s department said in a news release that its officers are working on the case with federal and state authorities.

Hudler’s family business is based in western North Carolina but also has farms in Virginia.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)