00:00:00
if you enjoy case file check out court junkie a true crime podcast that covers court cases and criminal trials
00:00:09
learn all about what happened after a 14 year old boy murdered a classmate at a middle school in florida or how a 21
00:00:16
year old college student ended up dead after getting into the wrong rideshare vehicle
00:00:22
host jillian jalali uses audio clips and interviews to focus on the facts of one
00:00:28
true crime case per episode in the end the listener can decide did the criminal justice system work
00:00:37
subscribe to courtjunkie on apple spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts [Music]
00:00:57
the following episode was originally released as bonus content for our patreon supporters
00:01:02
starting this year patreon supporters receive a bonus episode every fourth week when there is a break on the main
00:01:10
feed these episodes are called patreon picks because patrons vote on which episodes should be released they
00:01:17
selected this episode you are about to hear these bonus stories focus on cases with
00:01:24
fewer accessible resources so they're shorter than the average case file episode
00:01:29
they offer a shorter listen but still deserve to be told it's always been our intention to
00:01:35
eventually release these episodes to our general audience rather than keep them permanently behind a paywall
00:01:42
if you enjoy them you can join our patreon's five dollar tier to listen to the entire patreon picks catalog
00:01:49
vote on what everyone will hear next and receive all case file content earlier than non-patrons
00:01:56
sign up to become a patreon supporter at patreon.com casefile and thank you to those who have
00:02:04
and currently support the show our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:02:12
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:02:18
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website this episode involves a crime against
00:02:26
children it may not be suitable for all listeners [Music] there was excitement in the air as
00:02:41
marion soda returned home following her shift at the local dollar store on christmas eve in 1945
00:02:49
seventeen-year-old marion handed out gifts she had bought from work to her younger siblings who persuaded their
00:02:55
parents george and jenny to let them open a few early the family of 12 had an extra reason to
00:03:03
celebrate christmas that year world war ii had ended only three months prior it wouldn't be long before the sodder's
00:03:11
second oldest son joseph who had been serving in the u.s army returned home to fayetteville west
00:03:18
virginia as the night wore on two of the older soda sons john and george jr retired to
00:03:27
bed they had spent the day helping their father with work and were tired the pair headed up into the attic which
00:03:35
was used as a space for the many soda children to sleep the attic was divided into two rooms and
00:03:42
accessible via a set of stairs george senior also went to bed at this time in the master bedroom on the main
00:03:51
floor his wife followed shortly thereafter at around 10 30 p.m taking their three-year-old daughter
00:03:58
sylvia with her the other soda children maurice martha lewis jenny and betty continued to play
00:04:08
with their new toys marion lay on the couch keeping an eye on the youngsters who ranged from 5 to
00:04:15
14 years old at about 12 30 am jenny woke to the sound of the telephone ringing in her husband's study next to
00:04:26
the master bedroom she got up to answer it and was met on the line by a woman whose voice she didn't recognize
00:04:34
in the background were the sounds of laughing and chatter and of glass clinking the caller asked for someone who didn't
00:04:43
reside at the soto residence when jenny told her she had the wrong number the woman laughed strangely
00:04:51
before hanging up as she left the study jenny realised the lights were still on in the family room
00:04:59
where the children had been playing the front door was also unlocked usually the job of the last family
00:05:08
member to go to bed jenny walked past marion who was sleeping on the sofa and locked the door and turned off the
00:05:15
lights assuming all her other children were asleep in the attic jenny went back to
00:05:22
bed a light sleeper jenny was disrupted again 30 minutes later at around 1am on christmas morning
00:05:34
what sounded like a hard rubber ball landed on the tar and wood roof of the family's cottage
00:05:41
it rolled down the roof then there was silence exhausted jenny ignored the noise
00:05:49
rolling over and going back to sleep [Music] 30 minutes later at 1 30 a.m jenny woke
00:06:23
to the smell of smoke she followed the trail and found it was coming from george's study which was on
00:06:30
fire she raced back to her room and roused to george he in turn woke marion who was still
00:06:38
sleeping on the sofa she took three-year-old sylvia outside to safety jenny yelled frantically at the bottom
00:06:47
of the attic stairs for the seven children above to come down the fire was moving quickly and was
00:06:54
already starting to take hold of the stairs after what seemed an eternity jon and
00:07:01
george jr made their way down their hair was singed from the flames meanwhile george senior attempted to
00:07:11
call the local fire department only to find the phone line to the soda house was dead
00:07:19
marion sprinted to their closest neighbor who also tried to call but the phone went unanswered by the operator
00:07:28
another neighbor who was still awake saw the sodder house going up in flames and
00:07:33
also attempted to phone the fire department but again there was no operator response
00:07:42
george senior was forced to retreat from the house when the flames and smoke became too intense
00:07:49
four of his children and his wife were safe outside in the freezing winter night
00:07:54
but his five children who had been up late playing with their toys remained in the attic
00:08:01
attempts to control the fire with water from the outside rain barrel proved fruitless
00:08:08
it was frozen solid instead george senior realised he might be able to climb up to the exterior attic window
00:08:18
he ran around to the side of the house where he always kept his trusty ladder it was gone
00:08:27
george had another idea he jumped into one of his two coal trucks thinking he could reverse it up
00:08:34
to the house and climb on top to reach the attic window he inserted the key into the ignition
00:08:41
but the truck wouldn't start he tried his second coal truck it wouldn't start either
00:08:51
both had been working perfectly fine the previous day meanwhile one of the neighbors
00:08:58
frustrated and not being able to reach an operator drove into the town of fayetteville and attracted down f j
00:09:05
morris the fire chief he alerted his volunteer fire team using a commonplace practice at the time
00:09:13
one fireman would call another who would in turn call another until a team was assembled
00:09:20
unfortunately many of the volunteer firefighters had yet to return from war the department was severely understaffed
00:09:31
although the fire station was just over two miles from the sodder family home fire chief fj morris could not attend
00:09:40
alone as he couldn't drive the fire truck george and jenny soder could do nothing
00:09:47
more than watch the inferno helplessly within 45 minutes the roof crashed down to the basement level
00:09:57
their house was completely destroyed as daylight broke on christmas day 1945 all that was left of the sodder house
00:10:10
was ash and ruins the fayetteville fire department arrived at six and a 8am hours after the fire started
00:10:20
long after anything could be done to rescue the children or salvage the property
00:10:27
george soda senior was treated at the local hospital for lacerations to his arm sustained while trying to reach his
00:10:34
trapped children fire marshals and local police combed the wreckage for an hour fire chief fj morris and his team failed
00:10:45
to find any human remains explaining to george and jenny that their children's bones must have completely disintegrated
00:10:53
from the heat and intensity of the fire newspapers throughout the united states reported on the tragedy
00:11:03
the fayetteville county prosecutor announced there would be an investigation into the deaths of
00:11:09
fourteen-year-old morris twelve-year-old martha nine-year-old lewis eight-year-old jenny and five-year-old
00:11:16
betty a coroner's jury was assembled who concluded the cause of the fire to be faulty electrical wiring likely
00:11:25
originating in the home study at the rear of the house strong winds were blamed for causing the
00:11:32
quick acceleration of the fire on december 30 1945 george and jenny soda were issued five death certificates
00:11:43
for each of their deceased children their cause of death was listed as quote death by suffocation or fire which
00:11:54
completely destroyed the home in which they were sleeping as no remains had been found the
00:12:02
fayetteville county prosecutor assured the sodders a more thorough investigation would be completed in the
00:12:08
new year once the festive season had ended a week later and against the wishes of
00:12:16
authorities george went to work to cover the side of their former home unable to look at the
00:12:22
wreckage any longer using a bulldozer george emptied five feet of dirt on top of the ashes to fill
00:12:31
what once was the basement the sodders then created a memorial garden and shrine at the site
00:12:41
george built another house on his property but in a new location the surviving sodders tried to move on
00:12:49
with their lives however as the shock wore off george and jenny were left with an
00:12:55
uneasy feeling they were certain that the fire that destroyed their house and killed their
00:13:02
children was not an accident there were others in the community who felt that way too
00:13:12
one such person was a local bus driver he described what he called balls of fire being thrown by a group of people
00:13:21
at the sodder house whether or not this lead was followed up by authorities is not known
00:13:31
a few months after the blaze the snow blanketing the region began to thaw three-year-old sylvia was playing near
00:13:39
the side of her former home when she found something that had previously been concealed by the snow
00:13:46
about the size of a baseball and made of dark green hard rubber the object was hollow with a screw cap
00:13:56
silvia showed it to her parents george thought he recognized the object and took it to a military official to
00:14:04
confirm his belief the object was a type of grenade sometimes referred to as a pineapple
00:14:12
bomb george was certain this was the noise jenny heard on the roof just before the
00:14:19
fire broke out he also concluded that the unknown woman who phoned the sodder house earlier that
00:14:26
night was calling to make sure they were home before the fire was lit adding to george and jenny's speculation
00:14:35
that the fire was a deliberate act was the ladder that was always kept by the side of the house
00:14:42
it was later found thrown down an embankment approximately 80 feet away seemingly discarded by someone so it
00:14:50
couldn't be found [Music] on the night of the fire but before it was set a man had been witnessed
00:15:02
stealing a block and tackle from george's shed on the property george used the items as a pulley system
00:15:09
to work on his coal trucks he speculated that his trucks might have been tampered with by the man causing
00:15:17
them not to work during the blaze no investigation was conducted on the tracks to see if they had been tampered
00:15:26
with or if it was simply the cold night air that caused them not to start however the thief a local man named
00:15:34
lonnie johnson was later arrested and charged for the theft of the block and tackle
00:15:41
while being questioned by police he also admitted to cutting the sodders electric
00:15:46
line despite the claims by george and jenny sotter who said the electricity was on as the house burnt down
00:15:54
jenny later said we would never have gotten out of there alive if the lights had been cut
00:16:04
after the fire a telephone repairman was called out to attend to a hanging telephone line
00:16:11
they informed the sodders that the phone line had been cut explaining why george
00:16:16
and jenny couldn't call for the fire department during the blaze to cause this damage someone had
00:16:24
declined the telegraph pole which was over 14 feet high the sodas believed that lonnie johnson
00:16:32
had cut the phone lines by accident thinking it was the electric line johnson pleaded guilty to cutting the
00:16:41
line but denied stealing the block and tackle nevertheless he was fined 25 dollars
00:16:52
even though the sodders were convinced their house was intentionally set alight they were uncertain as to who might be
00:16:59
responsible as far as they were aware their middle class family was well respected within
00:17:05
their close-knit community both the george and jenny were italian immigrants who wound up in fayetteville
00:17:13
where they met and fell in love they had their first child john in 1923 before going on to have another nine
00:17:22
children george was an intelligent man unafraid of a hard day's work from the moment he arrived in the u.s at
00:17:31
age 13 he labored to build his own american dream he worked in pennsylvania on the railway
00:17:40
before moving to west virginia where he began his own trucking business moving dirt and other construction materials
00:17:47
around various sites he settled in fayetteville drawn in by its large population of italian
00:17:55
immigrants although theirs was a happy life the soda family still faced the difficulties
00:18:03
this led them to question if anyone around them might have reason to hurt them weeks before the fire on a cool fall day
00:18:16
george soder was suddenly disrupted by the sound of knocking it was coming from the front door
00:18:25
at his doorstep was a young man he didn't recognise the stranger asked if there was any
00:18:32
worker going at george's coal trucking business george regretfully told him no instead of leaving the man meandered
00:18:42
towards the rear of the sodder's farmhouse george followed close behind keeping an
00:18:49
eye on him the man then stopped where the building's two fuse boxes were located
00:18:58
george had just had a new wiring installed to fit an electric stove for his family
00:19:04
the local power company had recently given the setup the once over telling him the wiring was installed correctly
00:19:12
and functioning properly the man turned to george and said this is going to cause a fire one day
00:19:25
without offering any further explanation the stranger went on his way [Music] in retrospect george considered this
00:19:36
unknown man could be the arsonist seeking revenge for not being given work but this was not the only strange
00:19:45
encounter at the sodder's house prior to the fire a short time after this incident another
00:19:53
man showed up on the sodder doorstep named armstead rossa long jr he was trying to sell family life
00:20:01
insurance when george declined to take out a policy long junior became furious yelling at
00:20:09
george your goddamn house is going up in smoke and your children are going to be
00:20:15
destroyed you are going to pay for the dirty remarks you have been making about mussolini
00:20:23
this comment took george by surprise but his views on the italian fascist leader benito mussolini were well known
00:20:32
throughout the italian community in fayetteville although mussolini was admired by some
00:20:40
george soder went out of his way to make known his view that he despised the former dictator who had been executed
00:20:48
nine months before the fire it was a subject that divided his neighbors and george was sure it made
00:20:57
him some local enemies armstead rossa long jr the man who had threatened george later
00:21:05
served on the coroner's jury who determined the cause of the fire to be faulty wiring
00:21:12
he was never investigated as a suspect nor was his appearance on the jury with two of his close acquaintances regarded
00:21:20
as a conflict of interest in addition in the weeks prior to christmas as the school-aged children
00:21:28
finished up for the year they approached george and jenny with a concern they had seen a man watching them
00:21:36
intently from his car that was pulled up alongside the highway as they got off the school bus and walked to their home
00:21:45
initially dismissing their children the sodas now wondered if this had anything to do with the fire
00:21:56
one issue that lingered in the minds of this sod appearance was the lack of human remains uncovered in the aftermath
00:22:03
of the fire one day jenny soder was reading a newspaper when she came across an article detailing the deaths of a local
00:22:12
family of seven in a house fire all skeletons had been recovered including that of a three-month-old baby
00:22:23
according to the sunday gazette mail jenny soda began to experiment she wanted to see if a fire could
00:22:31
completely disintegrate bones as she had been told by the fire chief following her own tragedy
00:22:39
jenny took leftovers from dinner chicken bones pork chop bones and beef joints and placed them in a wood burning stove
00:22:48
to see what would happen after each time she was left with a pile of burnt but still visibly intact bones
00:22:58
[Music] jenny visited a crematorium to discuss her findings an employee told her that even after
00:23:07
burning a human body for two hours at 2000 degrees skeletal remains were still present
00:23:15
the fire that consumed the soda household did not reach nearly as high a temperature or burn intensely for as
00:23:23
long it left a major question for the sodders if the children were in the fire then where were their remains
00:23:46
case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode sponsors
00:23:54
get ready holiday season is approaching quickly and if you're selling anything online it's time to prepare for the
00:24:02
busiest time of the year between growing your business managing inventory and juggling orders you've got a lot going
00:24:09
on make shipping the easiest part of your day with the ship station and now the number one e-commerce
00:24:17
shipping solution in the united states is available in the uk australia and canada
00:24:25
figuring out the best way to ship your orders can be frustrating and confusing shipstation makes it quick easy and
00:24:32
convenient you can import your orders from any sales channel automate just about any
00:24:38
shipping task and seamlessly connect carriers and print shipping labels this means you can get products out the
00:24:46
door fast shipstation works with all of the major carriers and gives you discounts on ups
00:24:53
and usps shipping over 100 000 sellers use and love shipstation in their business
00:25:02
it's never too early to start prepping for the holiday rush so get a head start with shipstation
00:25:09
our listeners can use offer code case file to get a 60 60-day free trial just in time for the holidays
00:25:17
that's two months of stress-free holiday shipping for free just go to shipstation.com click on the microphone
00:25:25
at the top and enter in case file ship station make ship happen with regards to losing weight and
00:25:35
getting healthy case file team member jess could list a number of things that she'd tried in the past shakes
00:25:42
restrictive diets and grueling cardio workouts are just a few of many that spring to mind
00:25:49
they might have worked in the short term but weren't sustainable once jess tried noom everything changed
00:25:57
that's because noom uses a psychology-based approach to find a healthy balance that's moldable and fits
00:26:04
in with your everyday life meaning you can do it and stick with it noom understands that one size does not
00:26:12
fit all choose your goals and noon will personalize a weight loss plan for you using a cognitive behavioral approach
00:26:20
nume helps you unlearn bad habits and better understand your relationship with food
00:26:27
one of the best things jess loves about noom is the easy to use app in only 10 minutes a day she can complete her daily
00:26:34
lessons log her food and chat with her coach it's simple and fits into her lifestyle
00:26:41
not to mention the recipe section which has a heap of healthy and quick recipes to make meal time easy and stress-free
00:26:50
start building better habits for healthier long-term results sign up for your trial at noom.com
00:26:58
case file that's n o o m dot com slash case file to sign up for your trial today
00:27:10
the fact that you're listening to case file means you're probably a fan of podcasts
00:27:15
we are too and there's one podcast that the team is loving called the jordan harbinger show
00:27:21
if you haven't started listening to it yet you need to right now jordan's show which apple named as one
00:27:28
of its best in 2018 is aimed at making you a better informed more critical thinker
00:27:35
get a sense of how the world actually works and come to conclusions about what's happening
00:27:41
even inside your own brain he talks to everyone from neuroscientists to counterfeiters to
00:27:47
astronauts authors thinkers and performers for true crime fans there's definitely a
00:27:54
lot to love team member paulina has recently been captivated by episodes 527 and 28 about a man who spent 10 years
00:28:03
undercover infiltrating the north korean illicit arms trade she also loved episode 453
00:28:11
where two former dea agents talk about bringing down the notorious pablo escobar
00:28:18
we really enjoyed this show and we think you will as well there's a lot to like check out jordanharbinger.com
00:28:26
start for some episode recommendations or search for the jordan harbinger show that's h-a-r-b-i-n-g-e-r
00:28:37
on apple podcasts spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts thank you for listening to this
00:28:45
episode's ads by supporting our sponsors you support case file [Music] 50 miles north of fayetteville in the
00:29:04
town of charleston a woman was reading the local newspaper when she saw an article detailing the fire that killed
00:29:11
the soda children accompanying the piece were the photographs of the five deceased
00:29:17
children the woman recognized four of the five children immediately having seen them at
00:29:24
the hotel where she worked a week after the fire she contacted authorities and assigned
00:29:32
an affidavit which read the children were accompanied by two women and two men all of italian
00:29:40
extraction i do not remember the exact date however the entire party did register at
00:29:47
the hotel and stayed in a large room with several beds they registered about midnight
00:29:55
i tried to talk to the children in a friendly manner but the men appeared hostile and refused to allow me to talk
00:30:02
to these children one of the men looked at me in a hostile manner he turned around and began
00:30:09
talking rapidly in italian immediately the whole party stopped talking to me i sensed that i was being frozen out and
00:30:19
so i said nothing more they left early the next morning this was not the only alleged sighting
00:30:29
that made its way back to george and jenny soda another woman came forward to say she
00:30:35
served the children breakfast at a tourist stop outside of fayetteville on the morning of the fire
00:30:42
she also noticed a car with florida license plates parked outside this coincided with a later sighting in
00:30:51
the commercial fishing village of cortez florida the local police followed up the leads
00:30:58
but they didn't get far in 1947 the sodders certain that their children had been kidnapped and a fire
00:31:07
lit to cover the tracks wrote to the fbi they received a reply from director j edgar
00:31:16
hoover in the letter he told the sodders he would like to be of assistance but it
00:31:22
seemed like a local matter not within the jurisdiction of the fbi however they agreed to help if
00:31:30
permission to investigate was received from the fayetteville police and fire departments
00:31:37
for reasons unknown the police and fire departments refused to cooperate george soder followed up the alleged
00:31:49
sightings of his children traveling to the various locations where they were reportedly spotted
00:31:56
but he returned home each time no closer to finding them in 1949 he traveled to manhattan in new york
00:32:06
city after seeing a photograph of some school children in the local newspaper he became convinced that one of them was
00:32:14
his missing daughter betty george tracked down the family but they refused to talk to him
00:32:23
in order to help chase up leeds george hired private investigator cece tinsley tinsley interviewed members of the
00:32:32
fayetteville community upon speaking with a local minister a strange story emerged
00:32:41
the minister reported that the fire chief fj morris who investigated the ruins of the sodder house on christmas
00:32:48
morning had visited him with a confession morris said he had found the remains of
00:32:55
a human heart in the ashes that morning but instead of notifying anyone he took the heart placed it inside a box and
00:33:05
buried it underneath the rubble of the former soda house cece tinsley confronted the fire chief
00:33:14
who admitted burying the box together they went to the scene and dug around until they located it
00:33:23
tinsley sent the box and its contents to a mortician he examined the specimen and sent a
00:33:30
letter summarizing his findings to george soder it wasn't a human heart but a piece of
00:33:38
beef liver it hadn't even been in a fire the findings added more confusion to the
00:33:47
case jenny sotto revealed that the family hadn't been eating beef liver nor was there any in their house on the night of
00:33:56
the fire tinsley returned to fire chief f.j morris and told him of the findings he confessed to burying the liver in the
00:34:07
hope that it would be found and put to rest the soda family's concerns that their children were still alive
00:34:14
somewhere when word of the bizarre actor got out others speculated that he buried the
00:34:21
organ to put a stop to the investigation the specimen was never sent back to the
00:34:27
sodders and disappeared presumably discarded so no further testing was ever completed
00:34:35
why he buried the liver in a box was never ascertained fire chief fj morris maintained that
00:34:45
other human remains were found on the morning of the fire however the sodders refuted this claim
00:34:52
telling the media that they were informed that nothing was found writer stacey horn reported on her
00:35:00
website that eldest son john allegedly told police in a statement that he tried to rouse the missing soda children who
00:35:08
he initially claimed were asleep in the attic when the fire took hold however george and jenny soda later
00:35:16
disputed this assertion saying that jon reported this out of guilt for running down the attic stairs
00:35:23
to escape the blaze without alerting his siblings as the three-year anniversary of the
00:35:32
blaze approached the rally register printed an article about the sodder children and their possible
00:35:38
disappearance titled mysterious fade of five children pondered it listed further evidence that
00:35:46
the children might still be alive evidence included a girl who came forward to say she had seen one of the
00:35:54
supposedly dead children looking out a car window while the fire was in progress
00:36:01
another private detective hired by the sodders named george swain theorised in the article that the children might have
00:36:08
been lured from the house under the pretense of attending a christmas party they were then kidnapped for sale on the
00:36:15
black market he added that he had interviewed witnesses who were at the fire on whether they smelled burning flesh or
00:36:24
heard screams coming from the house all those he interviewed said they hadn't however the strong winds that
00:36:32
night may have accounted for this the article ended with a quote from the editor
00:36:40
it is the truth not sympathy that mr and mrs soder seek they want to know whether their children
00:36:48
are living or dead the parents shall believe their lost ones are alive until proven dead
00:36:56
this story is published in the hope that somewhere somehow it will bring forth information that will end the agonising
00:37:04
doubts for the parents either through a happy reunion with their children or definite establishment that the
00:37:11
children did meet death in the fire after three years working on the soda case private investigator george swain
00:37:23
announced in september 1949 that he was stepping down from the case he told the beckley post-herald that he
00:37:32
had nowhere left to turn he said my three years work on this mystery leaves the matter unsolved in spite of
00:37:42
the fact i worked diligently in probing every known lead in the face of utter frustration met at every turn
00:37:51
many mysterious circumstances will puzzle me forever my efforts in a large measure were
00:37:59
prompted by sympathy for the bereaved parents and i regret that i was unable to bring
00:38:05
them even a crumb of solace in the bereavement my heart goes out to the soda family
00:38:13
i have been guided by advice from some of the nation's most noted experts on arson pathologists and criminologists
00:38:21
and i feel that many of the mysteries surrounding the fire never will be solved i believe it is utterly foolish to spend
00:38:30
any more money on a search that is bound to prove fruitless as i see it now the question is not whether the children
00:38:39
perished in the flames but what became of the bones following the fire despite the resignation of the lead
00:38:49
investigator on the case the sodders refused to give up searching for their children
00:38:56
on september 11 1953 nearly eight years after the fire george and jenny put up a billboard on
00:39:03
their property which was visible to those driving along highway route 16. adorning the billboard were the black
00:39:12
and white photos of morris martha lewis jenny and betty sotter above the five photos in large capitals
00:39:22
was the question what was their fate kidnapped murdered or are they still alive alongside was the announcement of a five
00:39:34
thousand dollar reward in addition the sodas printed out flyers with the children's photos and
00:39:42
information hoping to circulate the images as far as possible [Music] the billboard made local news with the
00:39:51
beckley post-herald reporting soda says he cannot understand the lack of interest shown by authorities in the
00:39:59
case he has had to pay for and push what investigating has been done however the family has pledged all in
00:40:08
its power to solve this mystery the family is not particularly interested in punishing anyone if there
00:40:16
was foul play they state they would be glad to wave charges or to sign any kind of release
00:40:23
asked for if they could only regain their children or learn what happened to them
00:40:32
over the years the billboard was carefully maintained by george and jenny sotter and repainted with new messages
00:40:39
now and again each time pleading for information on their children one tip came in from a woman in houston
00:40:47
texas who sent a letter to the sodders according to medium.com she maintained an acquaintance of hers
00:40:56
had confessed to being louis soder and told her he was living with his brother morris both of whom were listed as
00:41:04
deceased in the fire george travelled to the area but was unable to locate the woman who sent the
00:41:12
letter local police managed to help george find the man who confessed to being lewis
00:41:19
but he denied ever making the confession one day in 1968 22 years after the fire
00:41:31
jenny soder went to collect her mail rummaging through the various letters one envelope caught her eye
00:41:40
it had her name on it but no return address a postmark revealed it had been sent
00:41:47
from central city kentucky [Music] when jenny opened the letter she realised it had already been opened and
00:41:56
resealed similar to previous letters she had received in the past inside was a single black and white
00:42:05
photograph showing the upper body and face of a man in his late twenties to early thirties
00:42:12
on the back someone had scrawled louis sodder i love brother frankie l-l-i-l-boys
00:42:22
a90-132 or 35 the cryptic message meant nothing to the sodders and there was no child named
00:42:33
frankie in their family however from the moment they laid eyes on the photo george and jenny were convinced that
00:42:41
they were looking at their son lewis who was nine years old at the time of the fire
00:42:48
he bore a striking similarity to the photo of louis as a child that was still situated on the billboard
00:42:56
the sodders made a copy of the photograph to add onto the billboard and another which they framed and hung in
00:43:03
pride of place in their home they hired a private investigator to follow the lead to central city kentucky
00:43:12
paying him up front for his services george and jenny never heard from him again
00:43:21
as 1968 drew to a close the sodders had spent over fifteen thousand dollars of their own money to
00:43:28
chase up leads pay private investigators and promote their children's disappearance
00:43:36
they increased the reward for information to ten thousand dollars george told the sunday gazette
00:43:45
it's hard sometimes to get to sleep at night just wondering about them after all if someone wanted to get me
00:43:53
why did they get my family too but as long as we live we will dig into it to come out with an explanation on
00:44:03
what really happened 23 years ago in that fire george sodder died a year later on
00:44:11
august 16 1969 at age 73 after his death jenny continued to display the billboard at the soda
00:44:22
property over the years it became weathered and run down jenny who had worn black exclusively
00:44:31
ever since the fire as a sign of mourning to her five children became more reclusive
00:44:38
as reported in the smithsonian magazine she began to have more and more rooms built on the existing soda house in an
00:44:46
attempt to distance herself further from the outside world jenny tended the memorial garden planted
00:44:55
at the side of their former home ensuring that the flowers thrived jenny soda died in 1989 at the age of
00:45:05
85. she was buried next to george at highland memorial park in fayette county george sodder's headstone reads
00:45:18
who believed in justice for everyone but was denied justice by the law when his five children were kidnapped christmas
00:45:26
eve 1945 at fayetteville west virginia in the years following their mother's death the remaining soda children
00:45:39
continued to follow up leads and promote the story of the fire that changed their
00:45:44
lives forever some developed the theory that the fire was orchestrated by the italian mafia
00:45:52
who were supportive of benito mussolini or that the local mafia had tried to recruit george and he had declined
00:46:01
prompting them to seek revenge according to the smithsonian magazine another theory was that the five missing
00:46:10
sodder children had been kidnapped by someone they knew who told them of the fire and offered to take them somewhere
00:46:17
safe they speculated that perhaps they were alive and had not contacted their siblings in order to protect them
00:46:27
sylvia soda the youngest surviving sodder child is now in her late 70s she is the only known soda child still
00:46:36
alive according to medium.com silvia is certain that her siblings did not perish in the fire
00:46:46
she still browses online blogs dedicated to finding out what happened to her family in the hope of getting some
00:46:53
answers before she passes although sylvia was only three at the time of the fire she can still remember
00:47:01
her father's bleeding arm she has also never forgotten the screams of those who escaped the inferno
00:47:09
watching helplessly as it destroyed their lives forever [Music] one event that came the closest to
00:47:18
solving the mystery of what happened to the soda children occurred in august 1949
00:47:24
nearly four years after the fire in desperation to find any evidence that would prove to him that his children
00:47:32
perished in the blaze george soder hired a small crew and excavated the site he had previously
00:47:39
filled over with dirt watching as george removed the soil with a bulldozer was a washington dc
00:47:47
pathologist named oscar b hunter whom the sodders had hired for his expert opinion
00:47:53
[Music] as printed in the raleigh register he told george that had the children perished in the fire
00:48:01
he expected their skulls would be located no fayetteville county officials attended the scene aside from a deputy
00:48:10
sheriff who watched on and didn't participate excavating to a depth of five feet the
00:48:19
crew combed through the dirt and rubble to find human remains they found several coins that had been
00:48:27
burned but were still recognizable a damaged dictionary bits of roofing and other small objects that had not been
00:48:35
impacted by the blaze then they uncovered some bones the skeletal remains which appeared to
00:48:44
be vertebrae were sent to the smithsonian institute for analysis the report which was sent to the sodders
00:48:53
concluded the human bones consist of four lumbar vertebrae belonging to one individual
00:49:03
since the transverse recesses are fused the age of this individual at death should have been 16 or 17 years
00:49:12
the top limit of age should be about 22 since the sentra which normally fused at
00:49:18
23 are still unfused the eldest soda child determined to have perished in the fire was 14 year old
00:49:28
morris the report continued on this basis the bones show greater skeletal maturation than one would
00:49:38
expect for a 14 year old boy the vertebrae showed no evidence that they had been exposed to fire and it is
00:49:47
very strange that no other bones were found in the allegedly careful excavation of the basement of the house
00:49:55
one would expect to find the full skeletons of the five children rather than only four vertebrae
00:50:06
this was a sentiment echoed by many professionals who were called upon to give their opinion over the years
00:50:12
following the fire in a 15-year anniversary article printed in the beckley post herald on christmas
00:50:20
day 1960 a pathologist said i wouldn't say it's impossible but it's highly improbable
00:50:29
i have seen about 120 burning deaths and there were always some remains left another pathologist who wished to remain
00:50:41
anonymous was quoted as saying no ordinary house fire could completely consume five bodies
00:50:51
the findings prompted two hearings about the soda case in the west virginian capital of charleston
00:50:58
however the governor and state police superintendent closed the case due to lack of evidence
00:51:07
the vertebrae were not returned to the sodders and the report concluded that the bones likely came from the dirt that
00:51:15
george soda used to cover over the rubble of the fire as the remains have long since
00:51:22
disappeared this raises another question that will forever be unanswered if the bones weren't from the soda
00:51:32
children then who did they belong to when jenny sodder died in 1989 her remaining children took down the
00:51:44
billboard she and george had erected in an effort to find out what exactly had happened to 14 year old morris
00:51:51
twelve-year-old martha nine-year-old lewis eight-year-old jenny and five-year-old betty
00:52:00
it had red on christmas eve 1945 our home was set a fire and five of our children ages 5 through 14 kidnapped
00:52:13
the officials blamed defective wiring although lights were still burning after the fire started
00:52:21
the official report stated that the children died in the fire however no bones were found in the
00:52:28
residue and there was no smell of burning flesh during or after the fire what was the motive of the law officers
00:52:38
involved what did they have to gain by making us suffer all these years of injustice
00:52:46
why did they lie and force us to accept those lies [Music] [Music] you