The central puzzle of the Sodder family tragedy is the complete absence of remains for the five children believed to have died in a 1945 Christmas Eve fire. Their West Virginia home was destroyed while their father, George Sodder, was thwarted in his rescue attempts by a missing ladder and two trucks that suddenly would not start. Despite an official ruling that the blaze had cremated the children, George and Jennie Sodder maintained for the rest of their lives that their children were abducted, citing the fact that no bones were ever recovered from the debris. Their conviction was fueled by strange occurrences, including witness sightings of the children after the fire and the anonymous mailing, twenty years later, of a photograph alleged to be their grown son Louis.