WV - Sodder Family - 5 children, Christmas eve 1945 - #1

[shadowangel]

There are just no answers that fit all the facts as we know them!

Maybe there's something we haven't considered yet? :waitasec:

 

[LButler]

I keep coming back to the fact that to FORCIBLY take 5 children (the oldest being a 15 year old male who is probably no stranger to manual labor) would take a small army. It would probably take 2 people just to subdue Maurice alone, let alone the other 4 running around....just seems unlikely to me.

Did Maurice have reason to take the 4 kids and leave?

Even if it had been someone they knew convinced them to leave, it had to have been well in advance of the fire. A 15-yr old would have the presence of mind to try to get his family out if he had seen the house burning.

Did a UFO abduct them? Sadly, that story seems to have the most validity to it right now!! (no, I don't really believe that, but the story unfolds like that is exactly what happened - something just swooped down and carried them away!!)

Let's get serious about getting them on the DoeNetwork. Who knows the protocol? While Stacy is in town meeting with folks would be a perfect time to get the photo and a good and ACCURATE story of how things happened that night. What about their own website? Anybody have experience in that type of thing?

 

[shadowangel]

I gots friends in high places. I'll e-mail one of them now.

 

[Shadow205]

I think that the Doenetwork is a good idea. I think that getting their pictures out to as many media outlets as possible is also a good idea. I have contacted Dateline but have not heard anything back from them. I firmly beleive that they are alive.I don't know why I feel so strongly that they are but I do. I also think that it is possible that they were taken to Italy.It would be wonderful if we could get age progression on each of them. I don't think that I have ever seen a case with so much mystery. Like Stacy said, it is like a badly written book, nothing make sense.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I think that the Doenetwork is a good idea. I think that getting their pictures out to as many media outlets as possible is also a good idea. I have contacted Dateline but have not heard anything back from them. I firmly beleive that they are alive.I don't know why I feel so strongly that they are but I do. I also think that it is possible that they were taken to Italy.It would be wonderful if we could get age progression on each of them. I don't think that I have ever seen a case with so much mystery. Like Stacy said, it is like a badly written book, nothing make sense.

I hope you are right about the Sodder kids being alive.

Unfortunately, I believe the children were killed, most likely the same night as the fire. It appears to me that the fire was set to teach the Sodders a lesson of some kind, or to kill the entire family. I've tried to think of a logical reason why these kids, if alive, never told anyone that they had been kidnapped from their parents. Or why they never tried to contact family members. As children, they could have been threatened in some way, but once they reached adulthood, what would have prevented them from speaking up?

 

[Stacy Horn]

Oh no! Dateline and I are going to be competing for the same story. (I will lose, I'm the little guy.)

The West Virginia State Police cold case guy is being EXTREMELY helpful, as is everyone else. I honestly think we might learn something, one way or another.

 

[shadowangel]

I believe Doe Network will accept case, but the circumstances will have to be explained as to why there is no Missing Persons report. If any report of the fire itself still exists, that will be helpful. Photos of the kids will be necessary. I believe this has already been discussed.

Now, let's see. Who do we know on here that's a writer by trade and could take care of the case description...

 

[Stacy Horn]

Ha! I will of course do whatever I can to help, but hang on. I hope to have new information which would have a bearing on what we do.

 

[LButler]

Ok, the Doe Network is something we can DO, not just talk about. I'll do whatever I can from my computer (I'm pretty tied down with a small business, but I do have lots of time for computer play). This could get very exciting.

And, Shadow, I agree with you somewhat on the children being alive. I think the younger ones may very well still be out there. For some strange reason, I have always thought that Maurice may have been killed immediately. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain an abduction of 5 kids. If fact, here's my latest thoughts:

Jonathan tells us on the other board that the kids were up listening to the radio with Marion and listening for Santa, then they went to bed. I talked with an "older" friend who says that it was a big thing to listen to the radio on Christmas Eve (correct me on this if needed, my only connect to the radio growing up was to watch MTV for the video to a cool song heard on the radio). Anyway, maybe someone knew the kids would be listening to the radio (as most kids would be, right?).

Marion is the oldest here so maybe at some point, she shoos the kids off to bed and away they go, OR, maybe she falls asleep (she's probably had a long day working at the Ben Franklin on Christmas Eve) and the kids don't go upstairs. What if the noise Jenny heard on the roof was someone's ploy to make the kids think that Santa was on the roof? Maybe Maurice tells them that if they go outside, they'll see Santa on the roof or flying over? But, they have to be quiet and not wake Mom, Dad or Marion on the couch.

Out they go to see Santa and someone is waiting for them. This is the point where I get the feeling that Maurice was perhaps killed (I hate to post such thoughts, it seems so evil to even think it) and it frightened the kids enough to be somewhat paralyzed for the moment. They are threatened too and do what the abductors tell them to. The abductors start the fire and any sign of a struggle or any evidence would soon be erased with all the activity around the house.

My thinking is this: It took way more than one person to pull this off. At least 2 and maybe more. It's nearly impossible that all the people involved went to their graves never talking about it, never mentioning it to a loved one, never getting drunk and bragging among peers in a bar, never feeling guilty and needing to talk to someone.....

 

[mysteriew]

Has anyone contacted the state police and asked why they aren't on the website?
http://www.wvstatepolice.com/children/

additional resources:
http://www.pollyklaas.org/missing/
http://www.adtoad.com/announcements-missing-ads.asp
http://www.reunion.com/
http://www.classmates.com/cmo/reg/s...XBD2LVFOCQKWZUCQCQKBK1GSIV3?_requestid=438501
http://wv.craigslist.org/

Another thought- do we have enough info to check military records? If alive, the boys would have been subject to the draft.

 

[shadowangel]

Is the "official" line still that the kids died in the fire? That's what law enforcement was stating at the time...

 

[LButler]

I think that's the problem with the kids not being listed anywhere. LE at all levels told the family that the kids burnt in the fire, that was the opinion coming out of the inquest right after the fire ... no more discussion!!

 

[Stacy Horn]

I am working with the West Virginia State Police. They have cold case guys who, as I said, are being very helpful. And everyone they contact in turn has also been very helpful.

When I have information I will share it, but this is all going to take some time. Old files have to be dug up, people found, and of course, sadly, often those we find have passed on.

I don't want to tell anyone what to do, I am the newcomer here, and you have all been very gracious to me. I can only suggest waiting until all the known facts are in before proceeding.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Ok, the Doe Network is something we can DO, not just talk about. I'll do whatever I can from my computer (I'm pretty tied down with a small business, but I do have lots of time for computer play). This could get very exciting.

And, Shadow, I agree with you somewhat on the children being alive. I think the younger ones may very well still be out there. For some strange reason, I have always thought that Maurice may have been killed immediately. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain an abduction of 5 kids. If fact, here's my latest thoughts:

Jonathan tells us on the other board that the kids were up listening to the radio with Marion and listening for Santa, then they went to bed. I talked with an "older" friend who says that it was a big thing to listen to the radio on Christmas Eve (correct me on this if needed, my only connect to the radio growing up was to watch MTV for the video to a cool song heard on the radio). Anyway, maybe someone knew the kids would be listening to the radio (as most kids would be, right?).

Marion is the oldest here so maybe at some point, she shoos the kids off to bed and away they go, OR, maybe she falls asleep (she's probably had a long day working at the Ben Franklin on Christmas Eve) and the kids don't go upstairs. What if the noise Jenny heard on the roof was someone's ploy to make the kids think that Santa was on the roof? Maybe Maurice tells them that if they go outside, they'll see Santa on the roof or flying over? But, they have to be quiet and not wake Mom, Dad or Marion on the couch.

Out they go to see Santa and someone is waiting for them. This is the point where I get the feeling that Maurice was perhaps killed (I hate to post such thoughts, it seems so evil to even think it) and it frightened the kids enough to be somewhat paralyzed for the moment. They are threatened too and do what the abductors tell them to. The abductors start the fire and any sign of a struggle or any evidence would soon be erased with all the activity around the house.

My thinking is this: It took way more than one person to pull this off. At least 2 and maybe more. It's nearly impossible that all the people involved went to their graves never talking about it, never mentioning it to a loved one, never getting drunk and bragging among peers in a bar, never feeling guilty and needing to talk to someone.....

The Santa story is an interesting theory, I can tell you've been thinking about this for a while. If it did happen this way, I agree that Maurice ws probably killed. He was 14 and would probably have put up quite a struggle.

But I still have the same question - why would these kids (now adults) keep quiet for all these years if they were alive? Sure, they may have been scared into silence at the time they were abducted, but over the years as they've become adults, it just doesn't seem plausible to me that none of them have come forward and talked about what happened to them. That's why I feel they may have been killed that night, or shortly thereafter.

I hope I'm wrong, and the missing Sodder kids are now happy, healthy adults.

 

[Shadow205]

Stacy, I sent the info to Dateline BEFORE you joined the board. I wouldn't worry to much about compeating with them, I never received a reply. It sounds promising with the State Police, I hope that they do provide some useful info and not just that they died in the fire.

Oh no! Dateline and I are going to be competing for the same story. (I will lose, I'm the little guy.)

The West Virginia State Police cold case guy is being EXTREMELY helpful, as is everyone else. I honestly think we might learn something, one way or another.

 

[Stacy Horn]

Shadow205, you are so nice. I was hoping my post didn't come off badly. I don't own this story, and I know that everyone just wants to find out what happened to those children, both for the family's sake and because we're human and when five children disappear we want to know why.

 

[LButler]

marilyn ... the part of the kids never returning baffles me as well. I have theorized in my brain, that the most plausible explanation is that they were taken too far away, overseas specifically, which would have prevented them from making contact for several years. After reaching adulthood, maybe they had good lives, were happy and content and just never thought of their "other family" or was unsure of how to make any kind of contact with them? I don't really believe that one myself, but maybe?

 

[Marilynilpa]

marilyn ... the part of the kids never returning baffles me as well. I have theorized in my brain, that the most plausible explanation is that they were taken too far away, overseas specifically, which would have prevented them from making contact for several years. After reaching adulthood, maybe they had good lives, were happy and content and just never thought of their "other family" or was unsure of how to make any kind of contact with them? I don't really believe that one myself, but maybe?

That is possible but, like you, I don't really believe that. Even if they had been taken far away (Italy?), and grew up to be happy, content people, it just seems they would eventually want to reconnect with their family in West Virginia.

And trying to take five kids overseas when you have no documentation for them would not be an easy task. I don't know what the travel requirements were back then, but I would assume that you would at least need a birth certificate for each child. And I doubt these kids would have gone willingly, so you'd also have to be dealing with screaming, crying, traumatized children who just want to go home.

To me, the mystery isn't about what happened to these kids, because I think they were killed. The mystery as I see it is who set this whole thing in motion by setting the fire? And for what reason?

 

[LButler]

marilyn .... the family owned about 7.5 acres ... I've never heard anything to verify that the surrounding area was searched for bodies ... just like we're talking about over in the Greenbrier bodies thread, there's some real rugged terrain in the Gorge area, over Gauley Mountain ... it would be easy enough to dump the bodies into one of those ravines ...

 

[Marilynilpa]

marilyn .... the family owned about 7.5 acres ... I've never heard anything to verify that the surrounding area was searched for bodies ... just like we're talking about over in the Greenbrier bodies thread, there's some real rugged terrain in the Gorge area, over Gauley Mountain ... it would be easy enough to dump the bodies into one of those ravines ...

It would be interesting to verify whether any type of search was ever conducted on the Sodders' property.

If these children were killed, I think the ravines sound like a quick way to dispose of the bodies.

I know that most of the people posting on this thread are of the opinion the children are alive, and I hope they are right. However, with the passage of time and no word from any of the missing Sodder children, I just don't think it is likely they survived.