The Martin family vanished almost 70 years ago after going shopping for Christmas greenery in December 1958
Credit: The Oregonian via AP, file
NEED TO KNOW
- The remains of an Oregon family have been identified after they disappeared in Oregon while out collecting Christmas greenery back in December 1958
- The bodies of Virginia, 13, and Susan Martin, 11, were previously found downstream in a river months after the family’s disappearance, but the remains of parents Kenneth and Barbara, as well as their 14-year-old daughter Barbie, weren’t found at the time
- The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office has now confirmed that they’ve found the remaining family members, after a private diver located what he believed to be the family’s car in 2024
The remains of a family that went missing almost 70 years ago have been identified over a year after their car was found in a river in Oregon, authorities have said.
On Thursday, April 16, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a release that the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office had identified the remains of Kenneth Martin, Barbara Martin and Barbie Martin.
The sheriff’s office said, “The Martin family originally disappeared in December of 1958 while reportedly visiting the Columbia River Gorge to collect Christmas greenery.”
“The remains of Virginia (13) and Susan (11) Martin were found downstream months later, but the parents, Kenneth and Barbara, and oldest daughter Barbara ('Barbie', 14) were never found despite extensive searching and diving,” the release added.
Credit: AP Photo, File
As previously reported by PEOPLE, diver Archer Mayo discovered what he believed to be the missing family’s station wagon upside down at a depth of around 50 feet in the water after searching for it for seven years, the Associated Press reported in March 2025.
The sheriff’s office said in Thursday’s release, “In 2024, a private diver located what he believed to be the Martin family car in a catch-basin area within the original locks in Cascade Locks, Oregon.”
“In early 2025, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office contracted a crane to attempt to pull the vehicle out of the river. Due to the extent to which the vehicle had been encased in sediment, only the frame and some of the attached components were able to be pulled from the water,” they added.
Police continued, “Analysis of those items along with other items retrieved by the diver allowed investigators to conclude that this was in fact the Martin car,” sharing, “Later in 2025, the diver located human remains, which were turned over to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, and subsequently to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.”
Authorities looking for the missing family managed to narrow down the search to the Cascade Locks near the Columbia River after learning that Ken Martin had used a credit card to buy gas at a station in the area, the AP previously reported.
The remaining Martin family members were identified following DNA analysis by Othram, Inc., which is “a forensic genetics laboratory specializing in advanced DNA analysis,” police said in Thursday’s release. The forensic genomics company helps “to identify human remains and resolve missing persons cases,” per its website.
Credit: AP Photo
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Police said that the company “uses the identity inference method, which allows scientists to identify individuals from DNA evidence even when no direct comparison sample is initially available. Recovered forensic evidence from the case was submitted to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas.”
“Othram scientists developed DNA extracts from the remains and generated a comprehensive Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) profile for one of the unidentified individuals,” the release stated. “SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation and are commonly used in forensic genetic genealogy. Unfortunately, the other two DNA profiles were too degraded to be fully sequenced.”
The sheriff’s office continued, “The successfully generated profile was directly compared with family reference standards obtained from known relatives of the Martin family. This comparison enabled investigators to evaluate biological relationships with a high degree of accuracy.”
The release noted that “Kenneth Martin was positively identified” through this process.
“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,” police confirmed, thanking the company and authorities for their help amid the investigation.
The release stated, “Following the successful identification, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office notified next of kin, who wish for privacy and have requested no media contact.”
The Martins also had a 28-year-old son Don, a former Marine who was a graduate student at Colombia University in New York at the time of the family's disappearance, the AP previously reported.
PEOPLE has reached out to Hood River County Sheriff’s Office sheriff, Matt English, for comment.
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