DNA analysis identified remains found in a car in the Columbia River as those of an Oregon family who disappeared in 1958 while searching for a Christmas green, authorities said Thursday.
The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said the state medical examiner’s office has identified parents Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their daughter Barb from remains found in the river after their car was wrecked. The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is closed and no evidence of a crime was found.
The Ford station wagon, thought to belong to the family, was discovered in 2024 by diver Archer Mayo, who had been searching for it for years. The following year, authorities salvaged some of the cars from the river.
On March 7, 2025, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office and a team of divers recovered a vehicle from the Columbia River in Cascade Locks, Oregon. /Photo credit: Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian, Associated Press, File
The family disappeared in December 1958. Months after the disappearance, the bodies of two children were found, but the other members never appeared.
The search for the Martins made national news at the time and sparked speculation that foul play was involved and a $1,000 reward for information leading to the murder.
“If you had searched everywhere that logic and fragmentary clues suggested, where would you have searched?” asked an Associated Press article in 1959, several months after the disappearance.
The Sheriff’s Office said only the frame and some ancillary parts were recovered from the water due to “the extent to which the vehicle was encased in sediment.” Analysis of the items led investigators to conclude that this was indeed the Martin family car.
This Christmas photo provided by the Ken Martin family shows, left to right: Barbara, Ken, Barbara, Sue, Donald and Virginia in Portland, Oregon, December 1952. /Image source: Associated Press
Later in 2025, human remains were recovered in Mayo, which were eventually turned over to the state medical examiner’s office.
Authorities said scientists extracted DNA from the remains and generated a profile to compare with relatives of the Martin family for identification purposes.
A forensic analysis of the remains was conducted by Texas DNA Laboratory Otham, which resulted in a positive identification.
Colby Lasyone of Othram told CBS affiliate KOIN-TV that more than a dozen experts were involved in the case, noting that they took bone samples and used advanced technology to isolate and analyze DNA. Kenneth Martin’s identity was confirmed through DNA comparisons with living relatives.
“It is particularly challenging to deal with skeletal remains that have been submerged in water for decades,” said Racione. “Unfortunately, the skeletal remains of others were so degraded that they could not be processed.”
Mayo also found a shoe, a camera bag with Kenneth’s name and address on it, seatbelt buckles and remnants of camera film, KOIN-TV reported.
“Maybe one day there will be a photo released of what that is, because it’s a really cool mystery,” he told the station.
Mayo told KOIN-TV he was glad the case was finally resolved.
“It’s not going to get resolved any further than it is now, so it feels good,” he told the station. “This really allowed us to write the final chapter of the book.”
In 2020, KOIN-TV produced a four-part podcast about the case.
Searchers returned to the site in 1999, believing the Martins might have disappeared, and compared the scene to a 1959 photo (front). / Photo credit: The Oregonian, Associated Press, file
