A large, middle-class family experienced a house fire on Christmas morning of 1945 in which five of their ten children perished.  Lots of speculation and concern for what may have really happened to these kids have surrounded the story for many years. 

Spotlight West Virginia.  Arts and Culture.  Kristin.  Winter 2015.  Page 39.  https://kriswritesstuff.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/swv-sodder-2.jpg

The Children Who Went Up in Smoke.  A Tragic Christmas Mystery Remains Unsolved More than 60 Years After the Disappearance of Five Young Siblings.  Karen Abbott.  Smithsonian Magazine.  December 25, 2012.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-children-who-went-up-in-smoke-172429802/

Remember the Bone-Chilling Story of the Missing Sodder Children.  Gavin Alexander.  October 2, 2019. 

https://www.ststworld.com/remembering-the-missing-sodder-children/

Their Fate:  Kidnapped-Murdered or Are They Still Alive?  Adelina Lancianese.  November 6th, 2016.  https://www.timeswv.com/news/their-fate-kidnapped-murdered-or-are-they-still-alive/article_be5920fe-a3f1-11e6-a3fc-43908d62effb.html

Sodder Mystery Holds National Appeal, Continues to Baffle Community.  Sarah Plummer.  Register Herald.  January 28th, 2016.  https://www.register-herald.com/news/sodder-mystery-holds-national-appeal-continues-to-baffle-community/article_2c6a06ad-e788-5e1b-a3cf-6e6fe65061f8.html

Baffling Christmas Mystery:  What Happened to the Sodder Children.  Nathan Jolly.  NZ Herald.  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12182500

Certificate of Death for Maurice A. Sodder.  http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/images/billboard_maurice_death_cert_cropped.jpg

Certificate of Death for Louis Sodder.  https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forensicgenealogy.info%2Fimages%2Fbillboard_louis_death_cert_cropped.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forensicgenealogy.info%2Fcontest_386_results.html&tbnid=oo0l1WH__k8Z6M&vet=10CKoBEDMoTGoXChMIoMyg6Lm16gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEBg..i&docid=l_JbbLVK1WetsM&w=1683&h=1451&q=The%20Sodder%20Children&ved=0CKoBEDMoTGoXChMIoMyg6Lm16gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEBg

Louis Sodder Photo Message.  https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpm1.narvii.com%2F7155%2F44de5cf27000d375439ab0e03cb9e1e06d75cd5ar1-1029-597v2_hq.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Faminoapps.com%2Fc%2Fconspiracytheory%2Fpage%2Fblog%2Fthe-sodder-children%2Fj0Vq_8W7hKu8PbmGBrpX8GKBvG741XkPQZZ&tbnid=wPNvqfZGvnLmbM&vet=10CL4BEDMovwFqFwoTCKDMoOi5teoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAX..i&docid=V2FnXJSxGlS_2M&w=1024&h=594&q=The%20Sodder%20Children&ved=0CL4BEDMovwFqFwoTCKDMoOi5teoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAX