Police have identified the remains of a family that crashed into an Oregon river in 1958, solving a decades-old mystery. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office identified Kenneth Martin based on DNA recovered from remains found in the Columbia River, while other evidence helped identify his wife Barbara and their daughter Barbie.
The Martin family disappeared in December 1958 during a trip to the Columbia River Gorge to collect greenery for Christmas decorations. The bodies of two of their children, Virginia, 13, and Susan, 11, were found downstream months later, but the other three family members remained missing.
In 2024, diver Archer Mayo, who had taken an interest in the case, found the family's Ford station wagon submerged in 50 feet of water in a part of the river known as 'the pit'. The following March, police used a crane to remove parts of the buried car, which was encased in sediment.
Investigators found remnants of a shoe, a camera case with Kenneth Martin's name and address, and camera film at the site. DNA from Kenneth Martin was matched to living relatives, while the other remains were too degraded for a match but were identified based on the circumstances.
The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation, finding no evidence of a crime. The case had been one of the greatest manhunts in Oregon's history, with a $1,000 reward offered at the time.
