The Christmas Eve Fire That Left Five Children Missing
When Tragedy Strikes On A Winter Night: George and Jennie Sodder tucked their ten children into bed on Christmas Eve 1945, never imagining it would be the last time they saw five of them. Around 1:00 AM, their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia erupted in flames. George and Jennie managed to escape with four of their older children and two-year-old Sylvia, but Maurice (14), Martha (12), Louis (9), Jennie (8), and Betty (5) remained trapped upstairs. George desperately tried to save his children, but encountered strange obstacles. His ladder, normally kept against the house, had vanished. When he tried to drive his coal trucks closer to reach the upper windows, neither vehicle would start, despite working perfectly the day before. The family called for help, but the fire department didn't arrive for seven hours. By then, the house had collapsed into smoldering ruins.