Were the Five Sodder Siblings Inside the Burning House?

On Christmas morning, December 25, 1945, the Sodder family home burned to the ground in Fayetteville, West Virginia. George and Jennie Sodder escaped with four of their children. But five of their kids, Maurice Sodder, Martha Sodder, Louis Sodder, Jennie Sodder, and Betty Sodder, were believed to have been trapped inside. There was just one enormous problem: Investigators couldn’t find their remains. No bodies. No teeth. No identifiable bones. More than 80 years later, newly uncovered case records are raising fresh questions about what really happened to the five missing Sodder children. Crime Junkie first covered the Sodder children mystery in 2019. Now, Brit Prawat returns to the case with information that has never been publicly reported before. Miranda Weeks, the great-great-granddaughter of one of the older Sodder children, has spent the last two years digging through archives, interviewing relatives, and tracking down original case files. Her research uncovered dozens of pages of records that challenge parts of the story that have been repeated for decades, and they raise an extraordinary possibility: What if Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty weren’t inside the house when it burned? In this Crime Junkie update, you’ll hear about the complete timeline of the December 25, 1945, Sodder house fire in Fayetteville, West Virginia, why the fire department didn’t arrive until approximately seven hours after the fire began, the missing ladder George Sodder desperately searched for while trying to reach the second floor, the man who admitted cutting the Sodders’ phone line that night, why investigators declared the fire accidental despite recovering no identifiable remains, the mysterious “human heart” supposedly recovered from the ashes that turned out to be something else entirely, the human vertebrae discovered during a 1949 excavation and why experts determined they had never been exposed to fire, a modern fire investigator’s assessment of whether five bodies could have been completely destroyed in the blaze, and previously overlooked records that have led Miranda to a new theory about what may have happened to the children. The investigation also revisits Fiorenzo Janutolo, George Sodder’s former employer. According to records and family research discussed in this episode, Janutolo and George had experienced a falling out after George started his own trucking business. Roughly two months before the fire, Janutolo allegedly confronted George over insurance and made a disturbing threat involving both the Sodder home and his children. Then the house burned.

The episode examines the insurance arrangement surrounding the property, Janutolo’s connections within Fayetteville, and the ties Miranda uncovered between him and several people involved in the original investigation. Janutolo was never charged in connection with the fire or the children’s disappearance. His granddaughter disputes the family’s suspicions and remembers him as a kind and generous man. Then there are the sightings. In 1952, a hotel operator signed an affidavit claiming that several children resembling the missing Sodder siblings stayed at her hotel shortly after the fire, accompanied by adults who appeared to be Italian. The FBI also investigated another lead involving relatives in Cortez, Florida. Neither produced definitive answers.

But after reviewing the newly uncovered records, expert analysis, witness accounts, and the physical evidence, one question remains impossible to ignore: If the five Sodder children didn’t die in the fire, where did they go? -------- Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created anAmerican Idol Contestant Arrested For Murder!? The Case Of Ashley Flynn d hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of Audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

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