On what began as a cheerful Christmas Eve in 1945, the Sodder family’s celebration in Fayetteville, West Virginia, took a tragic turn. George and Jennie Sodder were gathered with nine of their ten children, ranging from ages 2 to 18, anticipating a festive holiday.

However, the night was shattered by a catastrophic house fire. In the chaos, five of their children—Maurice, 14; Martha Lee, 12; Louis, 10; Jennie, 8; and Betty, 5—vanished under mysterious circumstances.

Amidst the devastation, four of the children managed to escape the blaze, while one son was away serving in the military. The absence of any remains for the five missing children left their parents, George and Jennie, in a relentless search for answers.

Initially, the Sodders believed their children had perished in the flames, but when the ashes revealed no traces of their bodies, suspicions of foul play arose. This unsettling uncertainty led them on a tireless quest, fueled by hope and desperation.

Determined to uncover the truth, the Sodders offered substantial reward money, employed private investigators, and embarked on extensive travels across the country—from New York to Kentucky to Florida—chasing every lead. Despite their exhaustive efforts, the fate of their children remained a haunting mystery.

They offered thousands of dollars in reward money, hired private investigators, and traveled across the nation – New York, Kentucky, Florida – following leads, but to no avail.

Since then the mystery has led to fears, speculation and conspiracy theories about possible motives for the missing children. 

Sylvia was the youngest of the Sodder children to survive the fire. On the night of the blaze, her older sister, Marian ‘Mary Ann,’ 18, rescued her from the blazing inferno.

In April 2020, Sylvia died from Alzheimer’s and was the last living Sodder child, according to her daughter, Jennie Henthorn.

Henthorn told Daily Mail her mother rarely spoke about the night her siblings disappeared, partly because she was only two when the horrifying fire took place. But she said the mysterious disappearance stuck with the family.

‘My grandparents never had a resolution and were never satisfied that they knew what happened to their children,’ Henthorn said.’ This haunted them, and they never got away from it.’

The fire broke out at 1 am at their home after a special evening of holiday cheer.

As the flames spread, Henthorn’s aunt Marian rescued her mother from her grandparents’ bedroom on the main floor of the two-story home. 

Her uncle Ted and uncle John, whose bedrooms were on the second floor, also managed to get out, but their five other siblings were nowhere to be seen.

Henthorn said that her mother’s only memory of the night was being in the front seat of one of her father’s trucks. 

She recalled how distraught her grandparents were when they couldn’t get to their children, and remembered her grandfather cut his arm very badly when he was trying to get into the burning house.

She said her mother recalled being scared because he father was hurt and he was bleeding.

It was a very cold night, and her mother sat between her parents in the truck as they waited for the fire department to arrive. 

She said her aunt Marian ran to the nearest neighbor and tried to call the fire department, but the phone lines were down, and the operator wasn’t available to connect the call until much later.

The fire department arrived the next morning on Christmas Day, and the fire marshal eventually followed.

Henthorn did not believe anything nefarious took place. She said,  ‘It was just one of those nights that nothing went right.

‘It was Christmas Eve. The weather was crappy. The war had just ended. One of my uncles still hadn’t made it home from the war,’ she said.

Though there were no bodies, no bones or remains found, the authorities concluded that faulty wiring was the cause of the fire and the reason why the children had died,  the Smithsonian Magazine reported.

However, the Sodders suspected something was amiss and began their own investigations. George hired a private investigator, and Jennie would do her own analysis. 

‘My grandmother would do these little experiments on her cook stove, where she would put chicken and beef bones, but no matter what she did, there were always bones still left,’ Henthorn said. 

‘She couldn’t understand why no one had found any remains of her children.’

‘They had no reason to believe that they perished in the fire, so the only possibility, the only other option, is that somehow they were taken that night.’ 

Over the decades, many theories surfaced, though none have been confirmed, including that their children were kidnapped. George Sodder was very outspoken during Mussolini’s rule, and some people did not like it.

The Sodders believed that someone may have set the fire intentionally to take their children.

Another theory was that the children were cremated by the fire since there were no bones. 

There had also been sightings of the children that were never proven. One woman claimed she saw the children in another state. Another claimed she served them in a restaurant. 

Bob Bragg, author of ‘No Direct Evidence: The Story of the Missing Sodder Children,’ spent seven years researching every lead in the case.

As a native of West Virginia, he said he was always intrigued by the case. ‘Today marks 80 years since the Sodder children vanished,’ he said.

‘It is one of West Virginia’s most famous and enduring mysteries.’

At the time of the fire, George was running a successful freight business, and two of his sons were working for him. He did very well, Bragg said, and he also bought a coal mine.

According to Bragg, George knew that the Mafia was trying to extort money from him when they wanted him to take out insurance policies on his children, or when they told him to increase his homeowners’ insurance.

Bragg said George would not be intimidated and told them, ‘How I live my life is none of your business.’ 

The author said that it was then that George was told that ‘his house would go up in smoke and his children would be destroyed.’

Bragg said: ‘Three months later, that happened.

However, the person who threatened George was never questioned about his comments. ‘The house burns to the ground, and they never question this man. That is how much power he had. He was untouchable.’

He said, ‘This family is still afraid because of what they thought was a vendetta against Mr Sodder. ‘It all came down to the fact that they tried to extort money from them.’

Henthorn, who said that she rarely does interviews, serves as the family historian.

‘My mom wanted to make sure that people had access to the story, and then that way, if there were any possibility for a lead, they would have as much information as possible,’ she said. ‘So we’ve always shared the information.’

However, she pointed out that what has been most hurtful about keeping the story alive is the misinformation and negativity out there, which mainly started after the internet 

‘Implying that my grandparents were bad parents, or the kids ran away, and that maybe they were abused, that is why they burned down the house,’ she said, ‘That bothers me.’

‘I think it’s just easy for people to fire off comments and not realize that their words have consequences.’

Her grandparents had a giant billboard on their property that featured photos of the missing children and their estimated ages, along with a $10,000 reward.

‘These children were kidnapped on Christmas Eve 1945, and their home was set afire to cover the crime,’ the poster read, in part. 

Another billboard read: ‘Was their fate kidnapped- murdered or are they still alive? 

Henthorn said that over the years, her grandparents received many letters and leads that turned out to be dead ends. Some people appeared to be disingenuous and were trying to get money from them.

One of the most compelling was a photo that, she said, turned up at her grandparents’ house that was in an envelope and the return address was from Kentucky.  

Henthorn said, ‘My grandmother believed it was her son. She believed that that was Lewis.’ 

‘My mom and dad went to the town in Kentucky that was on the postmark and tried to find the man that was in the picture, and they were unable to find him,’ she said.

Henthorn said she was told that her parents, or her father and grandfather, traveled all over the country trying to follow leads, but that ‘they just never got any answers from any of them.’

Many theories have emerged about the Sodder children over the decades; however, Henthorn said she does not want to speculate on anyone’s theories about the case.

‘I think this story is a story that just keeps on getting retold over the years because there wasn’t really closure.’

‘My mom hoped that they were still out and that they were safe and well and cared and my grandparents hoped the same thing.’

Henthorn said her grandfather died in 1969, and her grandmother Jennie, who she was named after, was a widow and lived alone. 

Her mother and her Aunt Marian were always there to support her grandmother.

She remembered every year, they would take the two-hour drive from St. Albans, where they lived, to Fayetteville to spend Christmas Eve with her grandma.

‘My dad didn’t want my grandmother to be alone,’ she said. 

And, though it was also a difficult time of year for her mother and her aunt, there were always presents for the kids and the grandkids,’ she said.

‘She [my grandmother] wanted to make sure that her family still had Christmas, that that holiday didn’t get taken from them.’

Her grandmother eventually moved in with them on their farm in West Virginia, so her mother could care for her, after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She died in 1989.  

Henthorn wanted people to remember that although they suffered this horrible loss, and as painful as it was, they ‘lived a good and meaningful life.’

‘I don’t think there was ever a moment where it totally went away, but I remember my grandmother laughing. I remember my grandmother happy.

My grandparents would have never wanted my mom and dad, or my aunts and uncles, or their grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have lived less than a full life because this tragedy happened, she said.

‘They were strong believers in making the most of circumstances, not dwelling on losses. They did not give up on finding their children. They fought harder than most, and they would not rest until they knew what happened.’

The fact that this story is still out there now, I think, is the most telling thing.’

Years after the fire, Jennie Sodder miraculously gave birth to another child. A son named Michael. He would have been their eleventh until tragedy struck again.

Baby Michael was born on December 29, 1951 and died a day later on December 30, 1951.

She said the exact cause of death was unknown. ‘It is not clear whether it was that the baby just was unable to survive or that maybe there was an accident at the hospital over his birth,’ she said.  

Henthorn added, ‘you have to understand how hard Christmas was for my grandmother.’