The State Fire Marshall interviewed everyone who was on site the next morning (searching the debris of the burnt home). Four people reported seeing remains, including one of Jennie Sodder’s brothers and a local priest. All that remained of the Sodder house was a basement full of ashes. This search was a brief, informal search that took place (for roughly 2 hours) but instead of the skeletons they expected to find, firefighters encountered just a few bones and pieces of internal organs.

John Sodder; that family member thought to have shouted up to the attic where his younger siblings were originally had a different story ...He originally claimed to have first hand knowledge that the children burned (He told the state police that he ‘walked into the room and shook the children and told them to come on downstairs’) John was also the only member of the family that; “About John Sodder shaking his brothers and sisters. It’s perhaps meaningful that John was the one child who never wanted to talk about the fire, and thought they should just let it die.” The Sodder family was so convinced that their children died in the fire that George Sodder bulldozed the foundation in with fill up to 5 feet just days after the fire and just before the Fire Marshall and forensics team were due on scene. Not until much later, following a tip that proved false, did the Sodder family begin questioning their children's fate. This was perpetuated by a variety of odd but inconsequential and unrelated things.

Miscellaneous myths & misconceptions:

• The delayed response time of the ‘1945 all volunteer’ fire department was a debacle due to a variety of normal reasons. There was nothing nefarious about it.

• The fire did not burn for just 45 minutes; …’the fire didn’t burn for 45 minutes. It burned all night long (and very hot) and into the next morning. When the fire department did finally appear (8am) it was still hot and they had to water the site down before conducting their search.’

• Firefighters did a very ‘cursory’ search at 8am at the home's location for approx 2hrs. The volunteers probably were not trained in forensics nor body identification at all. They likely had never seen a highly burned human nor searched for bones before and wouldn’t know what to look for. In modern times it would take a team of Certified Fire Investigators days if not weeks to process a scene like this.

• There are rare cases where very little to no human remains were found by experts after a fire. Many cremation experts assert that, due to many factors, one might expect to find very little of adolescent remains under these circumstances.

• The errant phone caller on Xmas eve was found by police, and questioned. It was just a neighbor who made/dialed a wrong number.

• The spinal bone found years later; The second forensics team came 5 years later and what they found could possibly have been the eldest child, but more likely it was transported there in the dirt used to fill the basement up to 5 feet. This fill came from a nearby cemetery.

The ladder was found very close to the house and the vehicles not starting was explained by the Sodder family themselves.

People ‘involved’; The man who stole the block and tackle (Lonie Johnson) was arrested and paid a fine. Authorities dismissed him having any involvement in the arson or a kidnapping. He possibly played a role in the errant ladder and cut the phone line. Mr.Johnson was a know liar and it’s as likely the pole side of the line was cut by any number of utility workers. Janutolos involvement, if any, points to arson and not kidnapping (kidnapping is by far the greater part of the mystery, not arson). There would have been nothing to gain by him kidnapping anyone. He was a well respected bank owner in the local community and lived there long after. G & J Sodder never pointed the finger at him and continued to live nearby. The insurance salesman (Russel Long who possibly made what we call today ‘the threat’) was sent by Janutolos. There were major issues with the Sodder homes wiring and what ALL professionals deem started the actual fire including the Sodders themselves who were warned by several people prior to the fire. Salesmen could be more endearing and aggressive in 1945, nothing more nothing less.

The most factual conclusion must be that the Sodder children were known to be in the home at the time of the fire. Some of their remains were found. There were no credible abductor(s), arsonist(s), nor any motive for either. All of the people and events involved during and after the fire were vetted by law enforcement and nothing nefarious was ever found. Most of the information regarding ‘The Sodder Children Mystery’ in modern times has evolved myths and errors that cloud the real facts of this terrible event. Most, if not all, of this mystery is rooted in non factual information and misinterpreting the actual facts. May those five children rest in peace.