Car Pulled from Columbia River 66 Years After Family’s Haunting Disappearance Can’t Be Verified

To this day, the 1958 disappearance of the Martin family remains a mystery – it is one of Oregon’s long-standing cold cases about a family of five who never returned from a day-trip to the Columbia River Gorge, just before Christmas.

The Martin Family was popular among their church community, and all indications were that they were happy, so it was met with great shock when the community learned of their disappearance. What could’ve happened? There was no trace of them – it was as if they just vanished. Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their three daughters, Barbie, Virginia, and Susan, were gone.

Martin Family Case Remains Unsolved as Officials Stop Short of Confirming Recovered Vehicle

On December 7, 1958, the family left Portland in their 1954 Ford Custom station wagon and headed up the Columbia River Gorge to look for greenery to add to their Christmas décor in the home. They were reportedly seen stopping for snacks and fuel in Hood River in the late afternoon. There was also a report of seeing a car that matched theirs in The Dalles, near the river. After that, no one saw or heard from them ever again.

Back home in Portland, authorities found their home just as they left it; the Christmas tree was up, and presents were wrapped.

In May 1959, the first breakthrough happened. A river drilling rig reported that its anchor had become snagged on a heavy object at the bottom of the river. While the rig was pulling the anchor to the surface, the heavy object dislodged and sank back to the bottom of the river. A day later, two fishermen discovered the bodies of 11-year-old Susan Martin and 13-year-old Virginia floating in the river near Cascade Locks. There was still no trace of the other family members or the vehicle, and this remained the case for the next 65 years.

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Finally, a break in the Martin Family Cold Case

In late 2024, a diver, Archer Mayo, using special equipment, detected what appeared to be a vehicle in the Columbia River near Cascade Locks. It was covered with multiple feet of river silt and other debris. It was later confirmed to be the same make and model of the Martin family vehicle. In March of this year, the vehicle was pulled from the river and sent to a lab for further investigation. Unfortunately, the vehicle identification number (VIN) was not found, and although the make and model match, authorities cannot, with absolute certainty, confirm the vehicle pulled from the river was Martin’s.

No one will ever likely know what happened on that date back in 1958, but authorities think the probable cause was that the family drowned as a result of a crash. The video below from Adventures with Purpose goes into great detail about the Martin Family disappearance.