The Last Christmas

Fayetteville, West Virginia. George and Jennie Sodder were home with nine of their ten children. Christmas had arrived, and several of the younger children were allowed to stay awake later than usual.

Sometime after midnight, the family went to sleep. Then Jennie woke to a telephone call. A woman she did not recognize asked for someone Jennie did not know. Voices and laughter could be heard behind the caller. Jennie told her she had the wrong number and returned to bed.

Later, Jennie recalled hearing something strike the roof—a sharp sound followed by what seemed like something rolling overhead. She went back to sleep.

Smoke woke George and Jennie. The house was burning.

George, Jennie and four of their children escaped. But five of the younger Sodder children were believed to still be upstairs: Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty.

The staircase was engulfed. George tried another way. A ladder normally kept near the house could not be found. He then attempted to use his trucks to reach the upstairs windows.

The trucks would not start.

The family could do little more than watch as the home collapsed into burning ruins. The fire department did not reach the property until hours later.

The explanation seemed unbearable, but straightforward: five children had been trapped inside and died in the fire.

The ruins should have contained what remained of them.