Is this the creepiest crime in American history? Five children were trapped in a burning house… but no trace of their bodies was ever found
ON Christmas Eve in 1945, a fire ripped through the home George Sodder lived in with his wife Jennie and nine of their ten children.
George, Jennie and four of their kids managed to make it out alive. Horrifyingly, the five other children were killed in the blaze - but no trace of them has ever been found.
The fire was found to be caused by faulty wiring of the house in Fayetteville, West Virginia, although that was questioned because the Christmas tree lights were still on after it broke out. Also, George had only recently had the home rewired and double checked.
This was just one of the details which led the devastated parents to believe their five children Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty had been kidnapped.
George tried to get back into the house to rescue his kids during the blaze, but the ladder he needed to use was missing.
On top of that, his van wouldn't start and rain water which collected in a barrel on their property was completely frozen.
Even odder, once the flames were out and people could get back into their house there was absolutely no sign of the children.
There were no bones at all, but also no way they could have been cremated.
This led George and Jennie to believe their kids never died.
They turned the site of their home into a memorial garden in honour of the children, then in the 50s they created a billboard which went up on a local road asking for information. They even offered a reward for any information which proved what had happened.
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Sadly, the flyer stayed in place until Jennie passed away in 1988. George passed away in 1969.
So what did happen to Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty Sodder?
The parents were sure they'd been kidnapped, and there was speculation a child-selling agency could have been involved.
Backing this up was the fact that just two months before the fire, George and his wife had got into a row with an insurance seller who lived in their Fayetteville area.
They hadn't wanted to shell out for what he was selling. He was furious, and apparently told them their home would be destroyed in a fire and their kids would disappear.
Adding more fuel - the man was also part of the jury who decided the blaze was an accident.
In 1968, the family were sent a photo which is was claimed was from their missing son Louis. Unbelievably, the policeman who was supposed to be looking into it vanished too.
Another theory is that the mafia had something to do with it.
George had a coal-trucking business which was constantly being targeted by gangsters - the photo apparently from Louis had "90132" on it, which is a Sicilian post code.
However, it's also been suggested that firemen searching the initial seen did actually find some bone fragments and internal organs. They apparently didn't tell the family for fear of upsetting them too much.