Car frame, tires retrieved from Columbia River might be linked to missing Martin family

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. (KATU) — For the second day in a row, a dive team worked to recover a car from the Columbia River near Cascade Locks. This recovery will possibly be bringing closure to the case of a missing family that has remained open since 1958.

READ MORE: Car recovery in Columbia River linked to case of Oregon family missing since 1958

A spokesperson for the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office tells KATU a frame and tires have been pulled from the water.

In November 2024, a diver claimed to have discovered the old station wagon in a part of the river known as “the pit.” He reported his discovery to authorities so they could make a plan to get it out. Now, those pieces will go to processing to confirm if they could belong to the Martin Family 66 years ago.

Back on Dec. 7, 1958, Kenneth and Barbara Martin took their three daughters, ages 11, 13, and 14, to go look for Christmas wreath greenery in the Columbia River Gorge. They never returned home.

There have been many theories as to what happened to the family, but without the car it’s been hard to close the case.

"On the one hand, there is a sense of closure, at least to the extent that we can identify a scene of something where this case has always left questions about even where they went and what happened to them," JB Fisher, author of "Echo of Distant Water," said during an interview with KATU.

"If there are bodies, one of the things that's really important to consider is the fact that the Martins were very, very serious about everyone wearing their seat belt," Fisher said, noting that the family had seatbelts installed in their car. At the time, cars weren't initially made with them. "In 1958, lots of friends and neighbors who I've talked to said that, you know, they drove with the Martin family in that station wagon, and they were always insistent that until everyone had their seat belts on the car wouldn't move."

"Months later, the bodies of two of the Martin daughters, Virginia, 13, and Susan, 11, were discovered in the Columbia River—one near Camas, Washington, and the other near Bonneville Dam," the sheriff's office said about the investigation. "Investigators speculated that the family’s vehicle may have entered the river, prompting extensive dive operations over the years."

The Hood River County Sheriff's Office released the following statement about Friday's recovery operation:

"On March 6th and 7th, divers and crew from Advanced American Construction worked to dredge out the vehicle located in the old locks of the Columbia River at Cascade Locks. The vehicle was encased and filled with rock and debris from being in the river for more than 66 years at a depth of about 50 feet. At about 3:45pm on March 7th, while attempting to pull the vehicle out, the chassis detached from the rest of the vehicle due to the weight of the debris and condition of the vehicle. They were able to remove the chassis with the engine. The vehicle was then transported to a secure facility to be examined by investigators. The debris and parts of the vehicle left in the water were not able to be examined at this time. No human remains were found at this time due to the debris.

Investigators will now work on finding identification numbers from the engine and chassis of this vehicle to ensure it is in fact the Martin car. It is uncertain how long this process will take."

The car will be wrapped and sent to a warehouse, where a forensic team will try to learn more about its owners, said Pete Hughes, a Hood River County Sheriff's deputy. But officials felt certain the found the car they were looking for, he said.

“Everything matches,” he said. “It appears to be the color, make and model of the Martin vehicle."

Disappearance made national news

The search for the Martin family was a national news story at the time and led some to speculate about the possibility of foul play, with a $1,000 reward offered for information.

“Where do you search if you’ve already searched every place logic and fragmentary clues would suggest?” an Associated Press article wondered in 1959, months after the disappearance.

The station wagon was found last fall by Archer Mayo, a diver who had been looking for it for seven years, said Mayo’s representative, Ian Costello. Mayo pinpointed the likely location and dove several times before finding the car upside-down about 50 feet (15 meters) deep, covered in mud, salmon guts, silt and mussel shells, Costello said.

“This is a very big development in a case that’s been on the back of Portland’s mind for 66 years,” Costello told The Associated Press.

Mayo found other cars nearby, Costello said. Hughes, the Hood River County sheriff’s deputy, said one car had been previously identified and the second was an unknown Volkswagen.

Investigators will now work on finding identification numbers from the engine and chassis of the car to make sure it is the Martins’ vehicle. The rest of the car body will remain in the river for now, Hughes said.

An ill-fated Christmas trip

The Martins took their daughters — Barbara, 14; Virginia, 13; and Sue, 11 — on a ride to the mountains on Dec. 7, 1958, to collect Christmas greenery, according to AP stories from the time. The children left the Sunday newspaper comics scattered about their home. Dishes remained in the sink and a load of laundry in the washing machine.

They never returned. Officials narrowed their search for the family after learning that Ken Martin had used a credit card to buy gas at a station near Cascade Locks, a small Columbia River community about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Portland.

“Police have speculated that Martin's red and white station wagon might have plunged into an isolated canyon or river,” the AP reported. “The credit card purchase was the only thing to pinpoint the family's movements.”

A waitress reported seeing a family that could have been the Martins at the Paradise Snack Bar, east of Cascade Locks, just before sunset. The family had been out looking for a Christmas tree. They ordered hamburgers, fries, milk and dessert. The bill came to $4.15.

Five months after their disappearance, the body of the youngest daughter was found “bobbing in a Columbia River slough,” according to the AP. “The body of Susan apparently floated free of the wreckage in the spring current and was washed to a back water slough near Camas, Washington," the AP wrote.

Virginia Martin's body was found the next day about 25 miles (40 kilometers) upstream from where her sister's was located. The other family members were never found, but the search continued.

The Martins had a 28-year-old son, Don, who was a Marine veteran and graduate student at Columbia University in New York at the time and told the AP he believed his family was dead.

Vehicle found by longtime sleuth

“It's been a high public interest case,” Hughes told the AP on Thursday.

After Mayo provided part of the license plate number and other vehicle identifiers, the sheriff's office and the Columbia Gorge major crimes team, along with the Oregon State Crime Lab, arranged to have the car pulled out, he said.

Mayo runs a business that finds things that were lost in the river, like watches and rings, but also helps with the recovery of drowning victims, Costello said. He had been looking for a research vessel that sank in 2017 when he learned about the Martin family, Costello said.

Mayo began digging up material on the family and used modeling to pinpoint the possible location, he said.

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Associated Press journalists Sarit Hand and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.