True Crime, Disappearences And Paranormal Cases

The Sodder Children (unsolved)

It was the 24th of December 1945 when around 1am in the Sodder's home a fire broke out.

Out of the house escaped Goerge Sodder and Jennie Sodder the parents. From there nine children only 4 escaped leaving in the house Maurice Sodder age 14, Martha Sodder age 12, Louis Sodder age 9, Jennie Sodder age 8, and Betty Sodder age 5, were left in the burning house.

When Goerge noticed that 5 of his children were still in the house he ran to his back to get his ladder. However, his ladder wasn't in the spot it used to be. Then, he ran to his cole truck to try to climb from there, but the trucks were not starting.

Meanwhile, one of the children ran to a neighbor to call the fire department, but noone answered.

Then a other neighbor ran into town and actually found the fire chief F. J. Morris in person.

When the fire fighters finally arrived, 7 hours late to a fire that was 2.5 miles away, the house was litterly ashes.

Authorities looked around the ashes to find remains of the children, but there was none.

The fire chief said that the fire must have been so hot that the children were completely cremaded including there bones.

While that sounds reasonable it is not very accurate.

When bodies are cremaded they usually leave bones in fine form, but in the fire no bones were found. There was also no smell of burning flesh reported from anybody during and after the fire.

The cause of the fire was deemed to be wirring in the house and a week later Fayettville coroners office made death certificates for the five sodder children.

But, soon George and Jennie Sodder started believing that there children were not burned in the fire, but instead kidnapped. They believed the fire was set as a diversion and not the cause of faulty wiring.

George had even had the wiring checked early that fall and the power company deemed it safe and well working.

First, before I talk about the children, I want to talk about George Sodder's past and why the children may have been kidnapped.

George Sodder came from Italy and in Fayetville, were they live, had a small Italian immigrant communtiy.

In that community George was very vocal in.

Espacially about his hate for Mussolini.

This hate towards Mussolini made a few heated debated in the community.

George also never revealed the reason he left Italy.

Some speculated that he may have been involved in shady business' in Italy.

Here are some curious occurences that support that a possible kidnapping happend.

In fall just before the house burned down a life insurance salesman came to the Sodders home.

When he realised his sale wasn't going to be succesful he got infuriatef yelling at George.

He said, qoute," Your goddam house is going up in smoke, and your children are going to be destroyed. You're going to be paid for the dirty remarks you have been making about Mussolini."

In the days before the fire two of the surviving Sodder sons saw a man that would always watch them when they would come home from the highway.

And at the night of the fire at around 12 am the phone rang. Jennie Sodder got up to answer it, but noone was on the other line.

She went back to bed, thinking nothing of it. However, when she went back to bed she left the lights on and when she started falling asleep there was a loud bang om the roof with the sound of something rolling. An hour later she awoke to the smell of smoke.