This was a very tragic event that occurred to the very big Sodder family during the Eve of Christmas in 1945. Now there is a shrine in West Virginia (WV) to pay tribute to the middle children of this family. In summation, the deceased children in order of oldest - Maurice 14; Martha 12; Louis 9; Jennie 8; Betty 5 all perished in a fire seemingly due to faulty wiring, as said by many reports. So here it is. Twas the night before Christmas in 1945 and George and his wife Jennie Sodder with their nine other children (except that one was in the army) were all asleep. Jennie (the wife) got up from her bed constantly to check downstairs. The first time she went downstairs was just to turn off a light. The second time it was because she smelt smoke.
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His other children escaped through the same entrance as the parents so George knew that the rest of the children had to be in a room engulfed in flames. So obviously the first thing she did was to call the fire brigade. Just a note to remember that during those time, 1900s (20th century) responses for calls of emergency to fires would take forever rather than the 2000s (21st century).This all happened during 1 a.m. It was now Christmas Day of 1945 and the fire department scurried through rubble and debris of the remains of the house and only found organs. George and Jennie assumed the worst (that their five youngest children: Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty were all dead). They put dirt all over the remains of the house and planted flowers in honor of their lost children. Now, the shrine no longer exists. To this day many people that are interested in the mystery try to aid the remaining family members about the death of their family. This was the tragic disappearance of five Sodder
His other children escaped through the same entrance as the parents so George knew that the rest of the children had to be in a room engulfed in flames. So obviously the first thing she did was to call the fire brigade. Just a note to remember that during those time, 1900s (20th century) responses for calls of emergency to fires would take forever rather than the 2000s (21st century).This all happened during 1 a.m. It was now Christmas Day of 1945 and the fire department scurried through rubble and debris of the remains of the house and only found organs. George and Jennie assumed the worst (that their five youngest children: Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty were all dead). They put dirt all over the remains of the house and planted flowers in honor of their lost children. Now, the shrine no longer exists. To this day many people that are interested in the mystery try to aid the remaining family members about the death of their family. This was the tragic disappearance of five Sodder