World's Most Mysterious Disappearance

On Christmas Eve 1945, when the holiday mood was prevailing all over their family home in Fayetteville, West Virginia the Sodder family suffered a tragedy that still sticks in their minds. The in front of their eyes, what started as a joyful celebration suddenly became a horror film as the fire destroyed their house and entombed five of their children in the attic. Although the long struggle of George and Jennie Sodder provided no certainty of the fate of Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty, the Sodders never gave up hope. So it all started then, a sort of decades-old search for answers, characterized by unstoppable stubbornness and ignoring the official version of improperly connected wiring.

The Sodder family were excited and full of cheerfulness as they were getting ready to sleep in the Christmas Eve of that Christmas night. Having bought presents for her smaller siblings, Marion was seen running from one room to another with the laughter of the children echoing throughout the house as the family enjoyed the Christmas spirit. They could not imagine that their Thursday evening that brought them so much joy would be the one that ended in fatality. At daybreak, Jennie Sodder was awakened by a strange smell permeated in her bedroom, which was reminiscent of smoke. The maternity instinct surged, and she instantly switched to action, running towards Sylvia to save her daughter from the advancing blaze.

When the fire finally broke into their home, George and Jennie rushed to look for their other children, however, the blaze that swelled to the attic made it impossible for them to find their other children. In spite of their firm resolution to save their children, locked in a place beyond hope of escape, they endeavored to no avail. The Sodders’ firefighting attempts to go up the house and hit the attic failed due to the fact that the water butts were frozen and the trucks malfunctioned which made the couple feel powerless in the face of the tragedy that was unleashed in their house.

Following the fire that had taken their family members, the Sodder family found themselves puzzled about the unknown aspects and suspicious about the investigators' version of a fire sparking from faulty wiring. Mistery of the phone call that came and which was not heard again, a lost ladder, and an encounter with a door-to-door salesman before the call made them to strongly believe it was not an ordinary fire. The intensity of their threat pursuit notwithstanding, they obtained oppression from local authorities and police establishments which were fast to disregard the accusations and closed the case.

Unfazed by the unavailability of support through any official platform, the Sodder family set out to answer the mystery of their children's disappearance by heading into the long journey that would end in uncovering the truth. All through these years, they were receiving different tips and leads ranging from the kids' sightings in far places to the watching act of a stranger close to their home on that fateful night. In spite of their persistent endeavour, nonetheless, the villain of the mystery was not identified, and the mysteries baffled the Sodder family with sorrow and unanswered mysteries.

After a while when years went on and the children of Sodder family grown-up, too emotionally, the journey on this mission became for them a very personal and long-term affair. Their unflinching determination to discover the reason behind the disappearance may have been ridiculed and rejected by other distracted individuals, but they simply didn't care; they had not yet found answers to their questions. Though Sylvia, the only-surviving member of the Sodder family, passed away in 2021, her memory has lived on and will always remain as a symbol of hope and resilience; a symbol to remind us that no matter how great the obstacle, love will always prevail, as will the power of family ties in the midst of real life tragedy.

The disappearance of the Sodder children from Sodder house remain the most captivating and mysterious unsolved cases in the United States history. The veracity of the occurrence on that cold evening in 1945 is hard to find irrespective of the passing of years and existent theories. Perhaps, it is to be the heartbreaking story where the family finds the courage of the human spirit and reveal the truth whatever the situation is.