The Sodder Family - This is important, medical condition causes spine fusing early

[Laura_Bean]

The spine WAS probably the oldest boys.




This disease most often happens in young males. It's something that people of Italian descent are prone to. So, the spine was found of Maurice. And odds are the rest were small pieces, and because George Sodder filled it all in, when he was told not to, he disturbed it and it got scattered.

I did NOT want this to be the answer. We can prove Maurice died if we know where the bones are, a simple DNA test would prove if it is his. But it is.

I kept thinking the whole thing about this spine piece could be the answer, but when I was reading it tonight, suddenly a thought struck me. What if there is a disease or illness that could cause his spine to be fused early? An anomaly was also possible but not probable, but a disease would make more sense. Well there it is.

Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Most often found in young males.

 

[Laura_Bean]

Btw..... I also think we need to find out if Maurice had any symptoms. Pain in and around his back, pelvis, etc.

And if Maurice had this back during this time, it would have at first been attributed to growing pains, etc. Later, he would have seen a doctor in town, who would have suggested keeping an eye on it to see if it got worse. If it got worse, he would have been given a name of a better doctor probably in a city somewhere else, which would have cost a good amount of money. Tests would have been down, if his parents could afford it, only to find out Maurice would eventually become crippled and nothing could stop it. Eventually, he would lose his ability to walk and do normal tasks.

 

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We can prove Maurice died if we know where the bones are, a simple DNA test would prove if it is his.

From the current Sodder_children_disappearance entry on Wikipedia...

Later Deville supposedly confirmed that the bone fragments had come from a cemetery in nearby Mount Hope, but could not explain why they had been taken from there or how they came to be at the fire site

...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearance#1949_excavation

Earlier on the same webpage article it mentions...

The firefighters, one of whom was a brother of Jennie's, could do little but look through the ashes that were left in the Sodders' basement.

...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearance#Christmas_Eve_1945_house_fire

Above contain original references current at time of this linking... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodder_children_disappearance#References

 

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[Rayemonde]

I don't know, but i doubt AS would be the cause... I know a couple of people who have it, and it causes intense pain for years until the vertebrae finally fuse, and I think the Pathologist coukd tell the difference between naturally fused bones and bones fused by AS. I'm not sure which vertebrae normally fuse with AS and I've never heard or someone so young having it, never mind someone so young already having fused vertebrae from it.

 

[Laura_Bean]

Even if the bones burned first before seeing them? And with as little as there was left....

 

[Lwrsalgirl]

I don't think we know what happened to the kids. Some people insist they died in the fire while others believe they were kidnapped. Here is a new theory- the children who stayed up late heard noise outside and the older kids went out to investigate, ran into the burglar(s) and were killed . The younger ones were taken or the 3 girls were taken for nefarious reasons. I believe arson was involved but probably not the mafia. I can believe that Joe had some bad blood with the coal mining companies or moonshiners- both notoriously vicious. I just don't think the simplest answer applies here. If Joe had trouble with either it explains no law enforcement involvement and a tardy fire chief, at that time coal companies and Moonshiners ran the show and they had officials of all kinds in their pocket. Hmmm, no operator available to place calls for help, 8 hrs for firefighters to arrive, and neighbors didn't rush to help. I think Joe or Joe and Jenny piddled somebody off.

 

[mansker]

My husband has AS; it is seen more often in men than women, but the symptoms don't typically appear before the early-mid 20's, it has also been called "bamboo back" because the x-ray of the spine often looks like a piece of bamboo. The progression over the years is typically slow, so I do not believe that AS would have caused spinal fusing at the age that George was. (JMHO)

 

[karen beck]

I have been thinking about the Sodder children now for about 2 years. I pray for answers to what happened to them because only God will tell us the truth. This thought came to me about 3 weeks ago. "Find one and find them all" This means they are all together. So, that is not Louis in the picture sent to Jenny.

 

[carolann0308]

It was a tragic fire and very bad circumstances.
If the fire started at approx 1am and the fire department didn't get to the house until 8am that means the home burned unchecked then collapsed into the basement within 7 hours. With no fire equipment on the scene all night, how in 1945 would a small town fire department manage to do a thorough investigation of the scene Christmas Day? Coal stored in the basement, no fire codes, no building codes, no fire hydrant, is it that hard to believe that a department with no previous experience investigating arson or having the the right equipment would be unable to handle this tragedy?
It was Christmas day, who could stomach digging through hot smoldering embers trying to find a child when it was obvious to all, that no one could have lived through this. Can you imagine the guilt of the local volunteer firefighters? Start a campfire at night, let it burn hot for hours and even after there is nothing left, the ground will stay hot. No one could have gone through anything until the site was cold for fear of hot spots reigniting.

Even in modern fires like the warehouse in LA this year, it was over a week before there was a final body count and that was with forensic experts from all over the US assisting the fire department who was on the scene in minutes.
There are no photos of the burnt house from Dec 25th, or the stories of firemen giving up their Christmas dinner to sift through rubble looking for remains because they couldn't. No one here even managed to dig one up from an old newspaper. Most articles begin 5 years later when the site was revisited, that's when interest peaked outside of VA. And even the human bones found then, are not enough proof for some people. The Dad filling in the basement 3 weeks later says to me, he knew the truth then. But crackpots, gossip and possibly 'private investigators' looking for money fed his grief to the point that it was simply no longer logical.
My thoughts on the sting? Why? Given the parents actions after the fire, they grieved for the rest of their lives and were unable to move on.

The hotel owner? She could not give a date or offer any proof other than sharing a tale 5 years later about some italians staying at her place.

The mafia? They supposedly set fire to the house then kidnapped the kids because the Dad criticized Mussolini? Mussolini was considered an enemy of the US by most Americans, even the Italian American ones. Most men in town were off fighting AGAINST Mussolini that is why the fire dept was understaffed.
Two Mathas? Between 1930-1945 Martha was one of the most popular baby names in the US according to the SS administration, look it up! Two cousins having similar names is not unusual.
Some 'sleuths' on this site have a terrible problem looking past the obvious and finding the devil in a woodpile.

 

[Bob1959]

This particular forum seems to be ignoring the fact that both pathologists determined that the four bones discovered in the 1949 excavation had never been exposed to the heat of a fire. Also it was determined that some of the bones had been chipped as if damaged in trying to separate them from the rest of the body.

Also, in terms of the Mount Hope cemetery angle, I researched that cemetery and fond that it was an older cemetery that has not been used in a long time AND there is only one grave of a boy there that fits the age and timeframe. this boy was 19 when he died from ijuries incurred from WWII. an exhumation of this grave could show if any bones had been removed. but the possibility of an exhumation in Fayette County is very small.

 

[Bob1959]

Also, the Sodder family has the four bones. They were returned in 1949. Jennie Sodder kept them in a safety deposit box for years and when she died they went to other members of the family. But, they are not going to turn them over and most will not even discuss the case.

 

[Leischa]

First of all there is a photo of the remains of the house from Christmas day. im using it in my book on the Sodder case.
View attachment 128752


some people here need to do their research on the Mafia, or more specifically the Black Hand, in West Virginia. Try and take a guess how many people had their houses burned, blown up or both. and how many people had their children kidnapped.

Did you know that George Sodder (not Joe ) received a Black Hand Letter before the fire?

Hi Bob,

<modsnip - reference was removed for no link to new info>

I haven't read everything there is to read on the subject yet, as I've just discovered this very intriguing case a week ago, but I do believe that the fire was in no way due to an electrical problem, and that maybe the missing kids were kidnapped.

Also... since this thread was started about Maurice's spine... Here are my thoughts on the subject. I highly doubt that we can so easily guess that Maurice had ankylosing spondylitis. My ex boyfriend has that, and it took blood tests and x-rays analyzed by specialists in order to diagnose the disease. His back and legs had hurt for over ten years before they finally found out what it was. This disease is not very well-know to "regular" doctors, even now in 2018, so I doubt that they were very well informed on the subject back in the 40's.

This disease does cause the spine to fuse, but it takes years and years for that to happen. It gets worse over the years, especially when it's not treated. The process can go faster (and the pain get worse) if the person does a lot of physical work in which their back is not in an optimal position (construction workers, for example, who are often bending or on their knees), so IF Maurice had ankylosing spondylitis, and he worked on the farm, and in his father business, maybe it could've worsen his condition... but I doubt that he'd already been diagnosed with the illness.

 

[Swimgal]

I’m not so sure how the posting works here on Websleuth so hopefully I’m going about it the correct way. I wanted to comment here concerning the post in regards to the 4 bones. I don’t know where the information came from listed here about the Sodder family having the bones but would be interested in knowing because that is not the information I heard from a Sodder family member interview. I was born and raised in WV, and have followed this case digging up as much information as I can find. Actually, Sylvia Sodder Paxton, the youngest of the Sodder children who survived the fire, has a granddaughter by the name of Jennie Paxton Henthorn who lives in St. Albans, WV, as well as Sylvia herself. Jennie carries on as much as she can for her mother Sylvia Sodder Paxton and in a rare radio and podcast interview Jennie has confirmed verbally on record that the Sodder family never received the bones back from the Smithsonian Institute after they had examined them in depth and positively concluded the bones had never even been in a fire and were therefore not bones from the Sodder home fire. Jennie has said that the Smithsonian claims they mailed the bones back to George Sodder her grandfather but the family, according to her mother Sylvia Sodder Paxton, never received them and never knew what happened to the bones. They desperately wanted the bones for further studies as forensic science technology advanced and to prove these were not bones from any of the children. Various members of the Sodder family had spoken with the Smithsonian numerous times about the missing bones but no one knows what happened to them. It’s such a misfortunate occurrence in a tragedy already full of twists and turns, suspicion and deception.

 

[McJenn]

What are the odds that a burglary was going on the same time a house fire started AND children go missing? Hmmm...

 

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