on christmas eve, december 24, 1945, a fire destroyed the sodder home in fayetteville, west virginia, united states. at the time, it was owned by george sodder, his wife jennie, and nine of their ten children. during the fire, george, jennie, and four of the nine children escaped. the bodies of the other five children have never been found. the sodders believed for the rest of their lives that the five missing children survived.