Gary W. Redner, e.v.p. of procurement and director of wholesale operations for family-run Redner's Markets in Reading, Pa., was found dead Sunday at his Lower Heidelberg Township, Pa. home. State police ruled the death a homicide.

Authorities said they believed Redner was killed between 7 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday, but disclosed no possible motive for the crime. The police appealed to the public for help, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible.

An autopsy was performed on Sunday, but a cause of death wasn't disclosed.

Lt. Thomas McDaniel, head of the criminal investigation unit at the state police barracks in Reading, declined to day whether there had been a break-in at the house, or if anything had been taken; and he wouldn't say who discovered the body, so as not "to expose anything that would undermine investigators."

Divorced and the father of two grown children, Redner, 55, lived alone.

"My son was extremely popular," Earl Redner, Gary W. Redner's 82-year-old father, was quoted as saying in local press reports. "If he had an enemy, I don't know who he was. He was probably the most popular person in the company, and that includes me."

The elder Redner, who is retired from the company, said he last spoke to his son Saturday from Charleston, S.C., where he lives part-time.

The victim's brother, Richard E. Redner, also of Lower Heidelberg Township, is president, c.e.o., and chairman of Redner's Markets. Gary W. Redner's son, Gary M., joined the company in 2001 and directs wholesale operations, while Gary Redner's other child is a daughter who isn't involved in the family business. Richard's son, Ryan, is c.o.o., a company spokesman said.

Redner's operates 39 Warehouse Markets and 12 Redner's Quick Shoppe convenience stores throughout eastern Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. The company has about 4,000 employees.

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