Real Name: Maurice Antonio, Martha Lee, Louis Erico, Jennie Irene and Betty Dolly Sodder
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Fayetteville, West Virginia
Date: Christmas Eve, 1945
Bio[]
Occupation: Students
Date of Birth: Maurice (July 8, 1931), Martha (January 22, 1933), Louis (December 30, 1935), Jennie (September 19, 1937) and Betty Sodder (March 4, 1940)
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Marital Status: (all) Single
Characteristics: All the children were Caucasians of Italian descent in appearance with dark brown or black hair and eyes.
Billboard asking for information on missing Sodder Children, Fayetteville, West Virginia
Case[]
Details: On Christmas Eve, 1945, the Sodder family home burned down. The cause was traced to defective wiring despite the fact that Christmas tree lights were still on after the fire started. The oldest two sons and daughter and the youngest daughter survived, but the five middle children were missing and no trace of their remains were found. Believing that the fire was a cover for the abduction of their children, George and Jennie Sodder spent a fortune on detectives to investigate.
Several pieces of evidence and eyewitnesses backed up George's kidnapping belief. In 1968, a photo, supposedly from Louis Sodder, was mailed to the surviving family; on the back was the message: “Louis Sodder, I love brother, Frankie. Ilil boys A90132 (or 90135)”. Detective C.C. Tinsley was hired to investigate the photo and where it came from, but he vanished and was never seen again.
A billboard describing the family mystery was erected near the site of their house, but the local law enforcement did not do any investigation into the children’s whereabouts, and the coroner's report declared them legally dead.
George Sodder eventually died in 1969 with Jennie passing away in 1988. The billboard on their missing children now no longer stands.
Suspects: None known, but speculation suggests the kids were abducted by an illegal child-selling agency similar to Georgia Tann's with help from the local police. Two months before the fire, the Sodders had an argument with another Fayetteville resident who tried to sell them life insurance. He warned that their house would burn and the children would vanish. He was also a member of the coroner’s jury which ruled the fire accidental.
Mystery Photo
Other amateur sleuths point out that Mr. Sodder owned a coal-trucking business. The coal industry was under constant pressure from the Mafia, which may have been involved in the children's disappearance. "90132" was a postal code for Palermo, Sicily at the time. The Sodders themselves were of Italian descent, and their original name was Soddu.
Extra Notes: This case has been confused with other Unsolved Mysteries cases. It has not actually been aired in any episode.
In 2022, it was featured as one of the cases on History's Greatest Mysteries on History Channel.
Results: Unsolved
Links:
- The Sodder Family on Wikipedia
- The Children Who Went Up In Smoke
- What happened to the five Sodder children?