Aliens...
If they were kidnapped, it would take more than one person to take that many kids.
If any of the missing survived and procreated, DNA could help. Mysteries like this bother me.
Strange.
But stranger that apparently no one has bothered to look.
I’d bet $$ that if anyone bothered, they’d find evidence of the family out there. Somewhere.
And there would be a trail to help explain what happened.
In this day and age, the greater mystery is why the DM would write such a story and the only mention of DNA would be in the word ‘kidnapped’... /s
Worse, the author of ‘No Direct Evidence: The Story of the Missing Sodder Children’ published in 2022, well into the era of DNA. Nothing.
This poster I just found echoes my words.
https://www.poorgailsalmanac.com/2021/10/14/will-dna-find-the-lost-sodder-children/
Do a search: Nothing.
This suggests that maybe the children were taken to Italy with no elaboration
https://charleyproject.org/case/betty-dolly-sodder
But I find no evidence that anyone has attempted a DNA search.
Very odd.
Obviously, they were kidnapped; 5 children don’t just evaporate.
They were threatened by the Mafia that their house would be burned and children “destroyed” three months earlier.