Corrupt Podcast

E54 Corrupted Christmas: The Sodder Children

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Five of the ten Sodder Children disappeared after a Christmas Eve 1945 fire at their home. Decades later, their fate is still a mystery. Were they killed in the fire, kidnapped or murdered? The Sodder family believed the five missing children survived the fire but despite the decades-long hunt for answers, no definitive answers were ever found.

 

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      Sources for this episode:

      • Abbott, Karen. The Children Who Went Up In Smoke. 25 Dec. 2012, https://www.doenetwork.org/media/sodders.pdf.
      • “Betty Dolly Sodder  (1940-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17174320/betty_dolly-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “FayCo History: The Sodder Children – Thoughts and Ponderances.” Thoughts and Ponderances, https://www.facebook.com/WordPresscom, 8 Nov. 2019, https://seletyn.com/2019/11/08/fayco-history-the-sodder-children/.
      • “Five Children Perish in Yuletide Fire.” Schenectady Gazette, 27 Dec. 1945.
      • https://books.google.com/books?id=f44kAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=sodder+children&article_id=760,7215871&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwja4PKX88yQAxU0kYkEHYewAXQQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=sodder%20children&f=false
      • Frater, Jamie. “10 Facts About The Sodder Children Mystery That Don’t Add Up - Listverse.” Listverse, Listverse.com, 25 Jan. 2021, https://listverse.com/2021/01/25/10-facts-about-the-sodder-children-mystery-that-dont-add-up/.
      • “George ‘Ted’ Sodder Jr. (1929-2012) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102344696/george-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Giorgio V. ‘George’ Sodder  (1895-1969) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18304007/giorgio_v-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • Horn, Stacy. “Mystery of Missing Children Haunts W.Va. Town | SDPB.” SDPB, SDPB, 23 Dec. 2005, https://www.sdpb.org/2005-12-22/mystery-of-missing-children-haunts-w-va-town.
      • “‘I Still Have Hope’ Woman Seeks Children 34 Years.” Williamson Daily News, 26 Dec. 1979.
      • https://books.google.com/books?id=MJdDAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=sodder+children&article_id=6858,321092&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw78bx7syQAxUdC3kGHXOOL_AQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=sodder%20children&f=false
      • “Jennie Lauriessa Cipriani Sodder  (1903-1989) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18304176/jennie_lauriessa-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “John Frederick Sodder  (1923-2001) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173351729/john_frederick-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Joseph Samuel ‘Joe’ Sodder Sr. (1924-2010) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219649842/joseph_samuel-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Louis Erico Sodder  (1935-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17174767/louis_erico-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Martha Lee Sodder  (1933-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17179305/martha_lee-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Mary Ann ‘Marion’ Sodder Crowder  (1926-2005) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102344854/mary_ann-crowder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Maurice Antonio Sodder  (1931-1945) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17179362/maurice_antonio-sodder. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • Miles, Dorothy. The Missing Sodder Children. 2017.
      • “Missing Sodder Children in West Virginia – Legends of America.” Legends of America – Traveling through American History, Destinations & Legends since 2003., https://www.legendsofamerica.com/missing-sodder-children/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Photos of Michael Sodder  - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17503770/michael-sodder/photo. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Sodder Family House - Clio.” Clio, https://theclio.com/entry/45724. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Sodder Kids Mystery.” My West Virginia Home, https://www.mywvhome.com/forties/sodder.html. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “Sylvia Ann Sodder Paxton  (1942-2021) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226118601/sylvia_ann-paxton. Accessed 17 Aug. 2025.
      • “What Happened to the Sodder Children, the Siblings Who Went Up in Smoke in a West Virginia House Fire?” Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Dec. 2012, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-happened-sodder-children-siblings-who-went-up-in-smoke-west-virginia-house-fire-172429802/.

        • #sodderchildren #thesodderchildren #westvirginia #MauriceSodder #MarthaSodder #LouisSodder #JennieSodder #BettySodder #GeorgiaSodder #coldcase #missing #housefire #fire #corruptedchristmas #christmaspodcast #truecrime #truecrimepodcast

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