The Sodder children mystery

Has anyone mentioned this before, sorry it probably has, but my recall is rather bad of late.



The Sodder Mystery




CaseEdit

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. Local law enforcement did not do any investigation into the children’s whereabouts. The coroner's report declared them legally dead.
George Sodder eventually died in 1969; Jennie in 1988. The billboard 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.



Sodder photo mystery

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; the original name was Soddu.
Extra Notes: This case has been confused with other "Unsolved Mysteries" cases. It has not been aired in any episode.
Results: Unsolved



 





Categories:
West Virginia


1945


Fire-Related Cases


Abduction
http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Sodder_Family

What a bizarre story. I don't think I've heard of it before, surely I'd remember a name like Sodder!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearance

Never heard of it either.

The poor Sodders.

A very tragic story.

This case has been mentioned on one of my Facebook groups.

Thinking about it again, I don't believe that these children survived. How did "an abductor" get them out of the house either before the fire or during it without anyone else noticing?

Sadly there are cases even today with advanced forensic skills where there are no identifiable remains after a devastating fire.

That happened two years ago in Wales where a father and five of his children died. I believe that it was only possible to identify two out of the six.

A new video on the case.