WV - Sodder Family - 5 children, Christmas eve 1945 - #2

[welder 79]

I could be wrong but I think it was supected the fire chief or someone put a cow's liver in some kind of metal box and buried it near the burned out homeplace trying to pass it of as human and that didn't work out as there plan

 

[LButler]

I had heard about the cow liver episode, but I was thinking there was some story behind the human bones that were found at the site.

 

[Shadow205]

In reference to the bones. I know that way way back at the beginning of the thead(probably the 1st one) there was something about the bones being brought to the site in the fill dirt. I read where the fill dirt came from near an old cemetery and somehow the bones were in it. What ever it was that I read even told that they had determined who the bones were. It was a young boy who had been killed in an auto accident. I cannot for the life of me find that information now. I'm still looking through all of the information that I have but I know that I read that somewhere.

 

[LButler]

The Sodder kids have been listed on the Doenetwork!!!!

This is obviously old news for the people responsible for getting them on there, but new and great news for me!!

Wow!!

Maurice is case # 2241 DMWV and there are links to the others there.

Great job to everyone who got that done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MaryLiz]

The Sodder kids have been listed on the Doenetwork!!!!

This is obviously old news for the people responsible for getting them on there, but new and great news for me!!

Wow!!

Maurice is case # 2241 DMWV and there are links to the others there.

Great job to everyone who got that done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meaghan Good listed them on Charley Project too! Here is the link for Maurice. You can see the rest of them through his link.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sodder_maurice.html

 

[Shadow205]

This is great news! I don't know who got them listed but thank you. Now that they are listed, I think that the local media will take more interest. Maybe if we can get a good story in the LOCAL media it will stir up some old memories. There are still plenty of people around who might have information. Somone knows what happened to the Sodder children. I truely beleive that they are out there somewhere and nothing would make me happier then to see them reunited with their baby sister, Sylvia.

 

[Shadow205]

I need help researching and trying to find an old magazine. You will remember mentioned that George Sodder saw a picture of a young girl in a magazine that he beleived was Betty. He traveled to New York in an attempt to identify the girl but was not allowed to see her. Here is the letter that he wrote to the school;

Walt Whitman School
25 East 78th Street
New York, NY
Attn: Miss Louise Krueger, Director

Dear Miss Krueger:

The enclosed picture of several of your students appearing in the May 14, 1946, edition of LOOK magazine is self-explanatory.

For your information, the little girl to which the arrow points quite definitely resembles one of our children who disappeared during the latter part of 1945, and I shall appreciate it greatly if you will, at your earliest convenience, favor me with the following information:

1. Her name
2. The date of her enrollment
3. Any further information you may feel at liberty to supply.

Needless to say, your cooperation in this matter will be more than appreciated.

Yours very truly,

George Sodder
According to Jennie(Granddaughter) it is not known if he received a reply to the letter or not. She thought that she located the correct magazine and purchased it but the picture that she was looking for was not in it. So, evidently there was a mistake on which issue the picture appeared in. Anyone that would like to help could search for anything to do with the school, classmates.com, reunion sites, any place where we might find pictures of students from that time period, any info on "Ms.Krueger".

Any ideas on where we might go with this information?

Jennie also said: My mom remembers the picture showing little girls lined up at a ballet class.

 

[MaryLiz]

I looked on eBay for the old Look magazine. I found one dated May 28, 1946, just 2 weeks later! I couldn't find one for May 14, 1946.

If you google Old Look Magazines there are a number of places that have old magazines for sale. One place www.millionmagazines.com said they had most all the back issues of Look and Life but they wanted $29.95 for each issue.

Good Luck!

 

[Teresa Larson]

I came across this story posted on the Doe Network. It is very interesting and sad. Has there been any new information about this? Did they ever search the site again? Thanks Teresa

 

[Shadow205]

I came across this story posted on the Doe Network. It is very interesting and sad. Has there been any new information about this? Did they ever search the site again? Thanks Teresa

Teresa,

The most recent news is that the children are listed on the Doe Network. That IMO is very big news. Not sure who got it done but a big thank you to whoever did!

 

[Mr. E]

I am currently reading a book about forensics (Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World's Top CSI Training School -- Bodies We've Buried), and one little bit on fires had me thinking of the Sodders. Regarding fire fatalities, the book says, "A fire will not and cannot consume a person completely. There will always be pieces of bone, at least as big as a quarter, no matter how hot the fire gets. Typical house fires rarely if ever get about two thousand degrees and never remain that hot for very long. In contrast, a typical crematorium reaches sustained temperatures of nearly twenty-two hundred degrees, and the remains still must be pulverized in to dust by an industrial-strength blender."

I know this has probably been discussed ad nauseum, but based on this I would think that their would have been more evidence of the Sodder childrens' deaths had they died in that house.

 

[grievousangel]

Mr.E, I would think so also...even if the site were bulldozed over...an archaelogical type dig could still be done ....if the children died in the fire, there should be some trace of them there.

 

[Teresa Larson]

I was also wondering who had the pictures of the children for the billboard? The Sodders lost everything in the fire so who would had these pictures? Did they have any family living near by? I know younger children would try to hide from the fire and smoke but I doubt the 2 older children would unless they were over come by the smoke. I believe that they were some how lured out of the house that night. That would explain why the door was still unlocked and the lights were left on. They could have even been lured out of the house by someone they all knew. The Mafia + coal mines meant lots of trouble back then. Mr Sodder may have refused to pay his "protective dues" I also think the authorities probably knew why this happened that's why they took their time and why there are so many discrepancies in this case. The older children knew where they came from so they could have made contact with their family later However who ever took them could have convinced them the rest of the family died in the fire. They may have even taken them past the burned remains of house later. Children that are kidnapped are often told their parent or parents died They never bother looking because they believe they are dead. Does anybody know if they searched the site in recent years and if so did they find anything?

 

[gardenmom]

I was also wondering who had the pictures of the children for the billboard? The Sodders lost everything in the fire so who would had these pictures? Did they have any family living near by? I know younger children would try to hide from the fire and smoke but I doubt the 2 older children would unless they were over come by the smoke. I believe that they were some how lured out of the house that night. That would explain why the door was still unlocked and the lights were left on. They could have even been lured out of the house by someone they all knew. The Mafia + coal mines meant lots of trouble back then. Mr Sodder may have refused to pay his "protective dues" I also think the authorities probably knew why this happened that's why they took their time and why there are so many discrepancies in this case. The older children knew where they came from so they could have made contact with their family later However who ever took them could have convinced them the rest of the family died in the fire. They may have even taken them past the burned remains of house later. Children that are kidnapped are often told their parent or parents died They never bother looking because they believe they are dead. Does anybody know if they searched the site in recent years and if so did they find anything?

There are some good points here. The pictures may have come from family, or perhaps the school photographer (or who ever took them) had the negatives. Good point about the kids being told the parents died.

 

[Granddaughter]

Hi all -

The photos of the children were from my grandmother's sister Alma and from the school.

Also, Mom remains convinced that the excavation done by Oscar Hunter, MD, was thorough and conclusive. He was an impressive man and a national leader in pathology. Anyone who would return to the site now would have no greater credentials than he did. Photos of the excavation are posted on the Sodder children website.

 

[HollywoodBound]

I'm comparing the picture of Louis from the site to the one mailed to the family:
http://www.sodderchildren.com/images/Children photos/Louis5.jpg
Do you know if in other pictures his left ear appears the same as it does in the above link or is it just the angle? In the picture it appears to be raised away from his head more than his right ear.

 

[HollywoodBound]

Were the 2 Sodder sons that got out of the burning house sleeping in the same room with the other boys when the fire broke out? If so, did they say if the others were in the room or not?

 

[LisainWV]

Hollywood....this is a LOOOONG thread with lots of info in it (and the previous thread as well). The boys upstairs that escaped the fire, thought they heard the kids answer from the other room as they left the burning house, but no one can be sure if they were up there or not.

I personally believe that Maurice was old enough to at least get himself out had he been up there. And, if he's in the room with the smaller kids, I think it would have been natural for him to see to getting them out as well. It's just my thinking that he probably spent a lot of time with the younger kids and became used to looking out for their welfare. I just don't see a 15 yr old not getting out of a burning house.

PS I'm the former "LButler" that has posted on here. Problems with my account, so I re-registered as LisainWV.

 

[Shadow205]

LisaInWV.

Glad to see you back. I wondered what ever happened to Lbutler.

 

[LisainWV]

Good to be back. I think about this often even if I'm not on here posting. I still believe the answers to this mystery are out there!!