The Children Who Went Up In Smoke

The mystery of the Sodder children’s disappearance is one of the most haunting and perplexing cases in American history. On Christmas Eve in 1945, a fire consumed the home of George and Jennie Sodder in Fayetteville, West Virginia. While George, Jennie, and four of their children escaped the blaze, five of the Sodder children vanished without a trace. Despite extensive investigations, no remains were ever found, leaving behind a legacy of unanswered questions and heartache.

George and Jennie Sodder, Italian immigrants, were raising their ten children in a two-story timber house. On that fateful night, the family celebrated Christmas Eve together before retiring to bed. Around 1 a.m., Jennie was awakened by a phone call from an unfamiliar woman asking for someone Jennie didn’t know. Shortly after, Jennie heard a loud bang on the roof and then the sound of something rolling. Within minutes, she noticed smoke and flames engulfing the house.

In the chaos that followed, George, Jennie, and four of their children—Sylvia, Marion, John, and George Jr.—escaped. George attempted to rescue the remaining five children—Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty—who were sleeping upstairs. However, his efforts were thwarted by a series of inexplicable obstacles. The ladder he routinely kept beside the house was missing, his trucks refused to start, and the phone line appeared to be cut. Desperate, George climbed the walls of the house, but the intense heat drove him back.

The fire department, hindered by communication issues and a lack of manpower due to the war, did not arrive until the morning, long after the house had burned to the ground. Despite the intensity of the fire, which raged for 45 minutes, no remains were found in the ashes, leading many to believe the children had somehow escaped.

The Sodders were convinced their children had survived. Numerous suspicious circumstances supported their belief. The missing ladder was later found tossed in an embankment. A telephone repairman confirmed the phone line had been cut, not burned. Witnesses reported seeing the missing children in a car that sped away from the house during the fire. Jennie Sodder even conducted her own experiments, burning animal bones to see if they would be completely consumed in similar conditions. Each time, the bones remained, contradicting the fire chief’s assertion that the children’s bodies could have been completely obliterated.

Over the years, the Sodders received various tips and leads, but none led to a definitive conclusion. A letter arrived from a woman in St. Louis claiming to have seen the missing children. Another tip led George to a hotel in Charleston, where someone reported seeing the children with unfamiliar adults. George traveled the country chasing these leads, but each one turned into a dead end.

In 1949, the Sodders hired a private investigator and sought help from Washington, D.C. They even had the site excavated, uncovering several small bone fragments. However, these were determined to have come from a different source, not from the missing children. Despite these efforts, the case grew colder.

A turning point came in 1968, when Jennie received a photograph of a young man in his twenties who bore a striking resemblance to their son, Louis. The photo was postmarked from Kentucky, but no return address was provided. The back of the photo read: “Louis Sodder. I love brother Frankie. Ilil Boys. A90132 or 35.” The family hired another private investigator to follow this lead, but he vanished, adding another layer of mystery to the already baffling case.

The Sodder family’s quest for answers never ceased. They maintained a billboard along Route 16 with pictures of the missing children and a plea for information. George Sodder passed away in 1969, followed by Jennie in 1989, without ever learning what happened to their children. The surviving Sodder siblings continue to seek answers, driven by the hope that someday, the truth will emerge.

The case of the Sodder children is a tragic story of loss and relentless pursuit of truth. It intertwines themes of hope, resilience, and the enduring love of a family. Despite the passage of time, the mystery remains unsolved, and the quest for closure continues.