Authorities have announced their intent to extract a station wagon from the depths of the Columbia River, which is thought to have belonged to an Oregon family that vanished almost 70 years ago during an outing to gather Christmas greenery. The disappearance of the Martin family captured significant media attention at the time, sparking theories of possible foul play.
Efforts to salvage the vehicle continued throughout Thursday afternoon, with uncertainty about whether it could be successfully recovered before nightfall. Diver Archer Mayo, who had been searching for the car for seven years, located what is believed to be the Martins’ station wagon last fall. According to Mayo’s representative, Ian Costello, the vehicle was discovered upside-down approximately 50 feet deep, encrusted with mud and shells.
“This marks a significant breakthrough in a case that has lingered in the collective memory of Portland for 66 years,” Costello remarked. Mayo identified additional vehicles in the vicinity, which need to be removed prior to retrieving the station wagon. Pete Hughes, a deputy from the Hood River County sheriff’s office, noted that one of these vehicles was previously known, while another remains unidentified.
The fate of the missing Martin family members remains unknown, raising questions about whether bodies may be found inside the submerged vehicles. The Martins, consisting of Ken and Barbara Martin and their daughters Barbara, Virginia, and Sue, embarked on a trip to the mountains on December 7, 1958, to collect festive greenery, but failed to return home. Investigators tracked Ken Martin’s movements through a credit card transaction at a gas station near Cascade Locks.
At the time, speculations arose that the family’s red and white station wagon might have met its end in a secluded river or canyon. Five months after their disappearance, Sue Martin’s body was found in a slough of the Columbia River, and her sister Virginia’s body was discovered the following day upstream. The other members of the family have never been located.
Don Martin, the Martins’ oldest son, was a Marine veteran and a graduate student at Columbia University during the time of his family’s disappearance. Convinced of their deaths, he shared his beliefs with the press. The case continues to attract public fascination, as noted by Deputy Hughes, who has been involved in the investigation. In collaboration with the Columbia Gorge major crimes team and the Oregon State Crime Lab, arrangements are being made to extract the discovered vehicle.
Though Mayo has established a known business retrieving lost items from the river, he also contributes to recovery operations involving drowning victims. His fascination with the Martin family case began while searching for a different sunken vessel. Utilizing extensive research and modeling, Mayo pinpointed the area thought to contain the family’s vehicle.
Currently, authorities have not released information regarding the potential discovery of other missing persons in the surrounding submerged vehicles, remaining cautious about revealing expectations until the full recovery is completed.
