A 1954 Ford Country Squire, the same year and model of the Martins‘ car. Credit: Charles01
On Sunday, Dec. 7, 1958, Kenneth and Barbara Martin left their home with their daughters Barbie (14), Susan (11) and Virginia (13) to collect Christmas greenery at the Columbia River Gorge. That was the last time any of them were seen alive, sparking a baffling disappearance in Oregon and the largest manhunt the state had undertaken at the time.
Now after almost 70 years, thanks to the relentless efforts of local diver Archer Mayo—and advanced genetic genealogy techniques— the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office has officially identified the remains of Kenneth, Barbara and Barbie Martin within the wreckage of the Martin family car, recovered from the Columbia River.
No leads
In the weeks after the Martin family was officially declared missing, over 200 tips were submitted to law enforcement, including alleged sightings of the family.
By February 1959, investigators had undertaken searches of various locations, including the greater Portland metropolitan region. During this time, a volunteer searcher found tire tracks leading off a cliff near The Dalles, which reportedly matched the tires on the Martins' Ford. Paint chips recovered at this location were sent to FBI for analysis, and it was determined that the paint was the same used on the make and model of the family car. Based on the possibility that the Martins' vehicle might have accidentally plunged—or been forced—into the river, the level was lowered by 5 feet. A subsequent search with sonar technology revealed no leads.
Two of five bodies
On May 1, 1958, a river drilling rig near The Dalles hooked something of substantial weight to its anchor. It became dislodged before it could be pulled to the surface.
Two days later, the body of Susan was discovered on the north bank of the Columbia River, roughly 70 miles west of The Dalles. Her identity was positively confirmed via dental records. The next morning, the body of Virginia was discovered near Bonneville Dam, roughly 46 miles west of The Dalles. Her identity was also confirmed via dental records.
The evidence found on the younger sisters’ clothing gave investigators a little more of a backstory. Traces of metal, including aluminum, were recovered from Susan's clothing. The spot on the river bank where the drill rig encountered the submerged object—and where the car is suspected to have gone into the river—was directly opposite an aluminum smelting plant.
The Hood River County sheriff at the time suspected that the drilling rig had overturned the Martins' car at the bottom of the river and dislodged one of the doors, allowing the bodies of Susan and Virginia to escape and surface downstream.
Further searches of the water were undertaken by both sonar and helicopter, but did not uncover anything. The search for the remainder of the Martin family was suspended after a search diver nearly drowned.
Local hero
Local diver Archer Mayo became interested in the case in 2018 and began exploring the river. In 2024, he located what he believed to be the Martin family car in a catch-basin area in Cascade Locks. In March 2025, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office contracted a crane to extract the vehicle out of the river, but only the frame and some of the attached components were able to be pulled out. However, Mayo was able to retrieve items inside the car that allowed police to conclude it was the Martin family car.
Undeterred, Mayo kept diving near where he found the submerged car. Later that same year, he successfully located human remains.
The diver surmised Kenneth likely misjudged space and distance while driving in the Cascade Locks parking lot, and the car toppled into the water.
DNA analysis on degraded remains
Othram scientists developed DNA extracts from the recovered remains and generated a comprehensive Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) profile for one of the unidentified individuals. The other two DNA profiles were too degraded to be fully sequenced.
The successfully generated profile was directly compared with family reference standards obtained from known relatives of the Martin family. Through this process, Kenneth Martin was positively identified and based on the totality of the circumstances in which the remains were recovered, and the anthropological assessment of the remains, Barbara Martin and Barbie Martin were also identified.
The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office says it has now concluded its investigation, having found no evidence of a crime—just a drive gone wrong.