The Disappearance of the Sodder Children
4.3.18 Today we'll be discussing the disappearance of the Sodder children. The time is December 24, 1945, in Fayetteville, West Virginia. George and Jennie Sodder, along with nine of their ten children were asleep when a fire broke out. The children in the home at the time were Sylvia (2), Marion (17), John (23), George Jr. (16), Maurice (14), Martha (12), Louis (9), Jennie (8), and Betty (5). The fire started around 1 am. George, Jennie, Sylvia, Marion, John, and George Jr. escaped. The remaining children shared two bedrooms between them, both rooms upstairs. George broke back into the home to save the rest of his children, but the staircase was on fire. George went to retrieve his ladder, which curiously was missing from its usual spot. As a last resort, he decided to park one of his two coal trucks beside the house, intending to climb on top of it to get into the house. However, neither of his trucks would start. Marion, one of the children who escaped, ran to a n...
