Recovery Efforts Underway for Vehicle Linked to 1958 Missing Martin Family in Oregon
Authorities in Oregon are preparing to recover a vehicle believed to belong to the Martin family, who mysteriously vanished nearly 70 years ago. The family disappeared in December 1958 while on a trip to find a Christmas tree in their Ford station wagon, leaving behind a lingering mystery.
Ken and Barbara Martin, along with their daughters—Barbara, 14, Virginia, 13, and Sue, 11—set out for the Cascade Mountains but never returned. Their case was reignited after investigators traced a credit card purchase by Ken Martin for gas near Cascade Locks by the Columbia River. Tragic discoveries were made in the months following their disappearance; the bodies of Sue and Virginia were found in the river, but Ken, Barbara, and their oldest daughter remain missing.
On March 6, Hood River County Sheriff’s Office officials announced the recovery of a vehicle in the Columbia River, believed to be connected to the Martin family’s case. Diver Archer Mayo, who spent seven years searching, discovered the car upside down at a depth of 50 feet, encrusted with silt and marine residue. The retrieval will face complications due to other submerged vehicles in the vicinity.
Sheriff Matt English acknowledged “more than circumstantial evidence” linking the vehicle to the family’s fateful journey, emphasizing the need to treat this investigation with the gravity it deserves. As recovery efforts continue, questions remain about what may be uncovered with the vehicle’s retrieval.
Authorities suspended the operation Thursday evening but plan to continue on March 7, with the community holding its breath for answers in this decades-old mystery.
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