On Christmas Eve 1945 in the quiet little town of Fayetteville West Virginia, Jennie Sodder awoke just after one in the morning to find her little farm house filled with smoke, flames licking the walls of her husband's office. She rushed to wake and alert her husband and 9 children. It was clear that they needed to escape quickly. Once out on the lawn Jennie saw her husband, two daughters and two son's, which left 5 children in the house, trapped, or so they thought. No trace of those five children has been found to this very day.

In the seventy nine years since five of the ten Sodder children disappeared during the fire that destroyed their home, no one can say for sure what happened to them and it has driven devoted true crime fans into the deepest rabbit holes.

Click To Learn More

Article 1

Article 2

Local West Virginia Coverage

Smithsonian Article

WWBD Merch

Buy your WWBD swag here!