THE CHILDREN WHO WENT UP IN SMOKE
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HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL By Stacy Horn
Family picture of George Sodder surrounded by his children (detail)
The trial of Robert Mason (detail)
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fter the tragedy, parts of the Sodder’s house remained intact. Martha’s and Maurice’s bedrooms appear as bruised ghosts of a happy time. Flames did not only destroy their home, they also ruined their lives. The youngest child who survived the fire, Sylvia Sodder Praxton, still speaks of her siblings in the present tense: “I am the youngest, but Betty is only 2 years and a day older than me. I hope she’s still alive.” Paxton and her husband and their daughter firmly believe the siblings were kidnapped. They speculate endlessly about the mechanics of how it was carried out and why. They also speculate on the fate of the children, especially the older boys, after their kidnapping. But at the end of the day, the three agree it is only speculation and there is no way to determine the children’s fate without new evidence. Paxton feels that time is running short to get answers. Evidences have been lost or destroyed and firsthand accounts get scarcer by the day. She said she would like to see the case resolved, and would like to finally find closure. She would like to give her parents’ unending nightmare a final, concrete conclusion. “I was the last one of the kids to leave home. At night my dad would be up pacing the floor and we would talk. He’d share stories of the children and we’d talk about what might have happened. I experienced their grief for a long time.” Her husband, Grover Paxton, recalled a particularly poignant vignette of just how George and Jennie continued to search, continued to hope for their children’s return and continued to be disappointed: In 1967 the Sodders received a letter from a woman in Houston. She said that one of the missing boys, Louis, had too much to drink one night and spilled an intriguing story of his true identity. “She said the two oldest boys were living in Texas, so Mr. Sodder wanted to go,” recalled Grover Paxton. “He [George Sodder] was really excited to get down there. We drove straight down.” But the trip turned into another effort in futility for the still grieving man. The woman who had written the letter was unavailable to speak with Mr. Sodder and his son-in-law. They spoke to local authorities who pointed them in the direction of the men in question, but they would never know her motive for writing the letter. « I took him down there. We found the men and the oldest one especially looked like the family. They were the right age. The one that would have been Maurice’s age was friendly, but said “I wish I could help you but you have the wrong people.” » The two men went on to insist to Mr. Paxton and Mr. Sodder that their families lived nearby. Grover Paxton spoke of his father-in-law’s disappointment in the fruitless trip: « I think there was always some doubt in his mind. He died shortly thereafter and I think he always wondered if those were his boys and if he’d made a mistake, leaving so quickly. » Every Christmas, the people of Fayetteville go over what happened that night, repeating the same reasons for believing their version of the story. Without physical evidence, they can’t say for sure, but fire professionals are convinced the blaze probably cost the Sodder children their lives. For some, the children died on this terrible night. For the family and many of their neighbors who grew up looking into the faces of the Sodder children, and who firmly believe the children are still out there, this could be the Christmas they finally come home.