Indigenous Acknowledgment
Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation, the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
We invite you to learn more about Indians in Virginia in our
Encyclopedia Virginia.
On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire ripped through the Sodder family home in the middle of the night. The house was completely destroyed and only four of the nine Sodder children managed to escape Maurice, 14; Martha, 12; Louis, 9; Jennie, 8; and Betty, 5 were never seen again.
Their parents George and Jennie, alongside their surviving siblings John, 23; Joe (who was away with the U.S military), 21; Marion, 17; George Jr., 16; and Sylvia, 2 were plagued for the rest of their lives with the mystery of what really happened that night. Did the children die in the fire? Were they murdered or kidnapped?
More than 75 years later, there are still many facts about the disappearance that don’t add up.