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historyJan 23, 202457:18pending

The Most Mysterious Disappearance in History | Sodder Children

About this episode

A cold case that ignites every parent’s worst fears: on Christmas morning, 1945, five siblings vanish from their family home in West Virginia during a raging fire. The devastated Sodder family spends the rest of their lives trying to find out what happened. Despite the work of dozens of investigators and thousands of amateur sleuths, the mystery remains: what happened to the Sodder children?

The Most Mysterious Disappearance in History - UNSOLVED: Sodder Children: Mysterious Disappearance After House Burned Down   


 0:00 - Intro

0:32 - ALREADY KNOW this story? Think again!

1:06 - Backstory

2:25 - Christmas Eve 1945

5:41  - Tragedy Strikes

9:42 - Fire Department response 

11:30 -  Police & Fire Determine cause

14:20 - George & Jennie’s response

16:43 - Odd Coincidences & The Sodders Investigation

 20:54 - Police Suspect / Arrest

 23:22 - George & Jenny’s Theories 

24:39 - Who had a motive?

27:55 -Janulato Family 

33:22 -  The Coroners Inquest

35:31 -  Remains? Evidence of a conspiracy?

38:01 - George finds bones!

40:02 - Offering a Reward + Supposed sightings of the kids

43:01 - Where the children taken our of the country? Mafia?

44:48 - Postal codes in Italy or Mexico?

48:17 - The Family’s continued search

49:19 - My Initial Theory (SPOILER: It has changed)

50:36 - Was not a cover up? Stacey Horn’s EVIDENCE

52:32 - Does this happen a lot? Was someone torturing this family?

53:50 - The fire burned MUCH longer than reported  

54:46 - My NEW theory  + The OTHER Sodder Children

56:31 - What do YOU think happened? + Outro

► Listen on the go - You can find the History & Hearsay PODCAST on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, or if you enjoy the visual aspect you can WATCH right here on Youtube every OTHER Friday!  

 ► THESE VIDEOS ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY,  always do your own research when searching for the truth =) **

**Anytime you research a story, you may find some conflicting details. In my episodes, I be telling the ones that seem to be the most widely accepted as fact, but I may also mention multiple versions of the story - when I come across details that I feel effect the overall story enough to be worth mentioning. 
 ►Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/creepy-stories/2   (First I ever heard about it) https://sites.rootsweb.com/~wvrcbiog/WhatReallyHappenedToChildrena.html 

https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/mystery/5-curious-details-about-the-missing-sodder-children  

 https://www.history.com/shows/historys-greatest-mysteries/season-3/episode-8   

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-children-who-went-up-in-smoke-172429802/ 

https://archive.ph/20131014191841/http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_358182913.html#selection-1117.1-980.111 

https://thecrimewire.com/true-crime/The-Mysterious-Disappearance-of-the-Sodder-Children  

Evidence that the children possibly actually died in the fire: https://stacyhorn.com/2005/12/28/long-long-long-sodder-post/ 

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The Most Mysterious Disappearance in History | Sodder Children

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