Unknown Fate: The Enduring Mystery of the Sodder Children

Haunted History

On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, erupted in flames. Amid the chaos, George and Jennie Sodder managed to rescue four of their ten children, but five others—Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty—were believed to have perished in the fire. Yet, no remains were ever found.
What begins as a tragedy soon twists into one of history's most chilling unsolved mysteries. Cryptic clues surface—a strange phone call, a missing ladder, cut wires, and a suspicious insurance salesman with veiled threats. Eyewitness accounts suggest the children may have been seen alive, far from the smouldering ruins of their home.
Were the children victims of the flames—or of a more sinister plot?
Haunted History is produced by SoundBite Studios with host Megan Alda and writer/researcher Chloë Kibbe.
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Episode Source Material

What Happened to the Sodder Children, the Siblings Who Went Up in Smoke in a West Virginia House Fire? by Smithsonian Magazine
What Really Happened to Children by Niles Jackson for the Sunday – Gazette
Mystery of Missing Children Haunts W. Va Town by Stacy Horn
Where are the children? by Audrey Stanton
The Sodder Children by Casefile
Christmas Eve Tragedy by Autumn D.F. Hopkins
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