Crews remove part of submerged vehicle possibly linked to family's mysterious 1958 disappearance

A diver found a vehicle submerged deep in an Oregon lake that may belong to a family that disappeared over 65 years ago, and crews removed part of it Friday to examine.

An independent diver found the vehicle in the Columbia River, near Cascade Locks, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office announced on social media Thursday morning.

The vehicle has likely spent the past 66 years deep within the water's surface, or about 50 feet, to be exact, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Friday evening.

Divers and crews worked both Thursday and Friday to get the vehicle out of the water. The vehicle was encased and filled with rocks and other debris, the Hood River County Sheriff's Office said.

At about 3:45 p.m. Friday, crews were trying to pull the vehicle out of the water when part of the vehicle that holds the components together detached. Authorities said it was likely the weight of the debris and the vehicle's condition that caused the detachment. 

Crews were able to remove one part with the engine attached.  The vehicle has since been taken to a secure facility, where investigators will take a look at it, the sheriff's office said.

"The debris and parts of the vehicle left in the water were not able to be examined at this time," the sheriff's office said. "No human remains were found due to the debris."

Vehicle possibly linked to Martin family disappearance

The vehicle is believed to be connected to the case of the Martin family, whose members disappeared in 1958.

According to Columbia Gorge News, the family consisted of Kenneth Martin, his wife Barbara Martin, as well as the couple’s three children:

• 14-year-old Barbara, known as “Barbie”
• 13-year-old Virginia, known as “Gina” 
• 11-year-old Susan, known as “Sue”

Family told neighbors they were going to collect greenery, never returned

The family lived in Multnomah County and around 1 p.m. on Dec. 7, 1958, set out in their 1954 Ford Station Wagon, reported television station KOIN.

The family told neighbors they were visiting the Columbia River Gorge to collect greenery for Christmas wreaths, but they never returned, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement obtained by Paste BN. 

A neighbor then reported the Martin family missing that day, the sheriff’s office said.

Former detective believes the family was was murdered

In 2018, television station KOIN released a report tied to the 60th anniversary of the Martin family disappearance. The outlet spoke to Greg Graven, whose grandfather was a detective in Multnomah County when the Martins went missing. Graven’s grandfather died in 1988 but he kept his grandfather’s notes on the case.

“He believes that it was a homicide and that it would be solved when that vehicle is located,” Graven said in 2018.

The Hood River County Sheriff at the time thought the family may have accidentally driven into Cascade Locks while backing into a parking lot based on tire tracks and a credit card receipt showing they had bought gas, KOIN reported.

Graven, who was investigating, thought otherwise though. He thought it was strange that the family left at 1 p.m. to go find greenery, and he also found out that the patriarch of the family didn’t like to drive when it was dark out, per KOIN.

Witnesses also reported seeing the Martins having lunch in Hood River, and a waitress said she saw the family leave, reported KOIN.

As the search for the family continued, at one point a $1,000 reward was offered for information that could help find the family.

One theory regarding the Martin family’s case is that they were hijacked by two convicts who had been seen at the lunch spot they visited, reported Columbia Gorge News . The convicts later disappeared, the outlet reported. They were never interviewed. 

While investigating and visiting the lunch spot, Graven found tire impressions on a bluff leading into the Columbia River, KOIN reported. 

The tread was a match for the tires on the Martin family’s station wagon. And on a rock near the bluff, investigators found paint chips that were later tested and matched paint from the make and model of other vehicles like the Martin family station wagon.

Gun linked to Martin family son found with blood on it

After the Martin family went missing, a man found a gun near a stolen vehicle, KOIN reported. The gun was covered in dried blood and was turned into the Hood River Sheriff’s Office. 

The gun was not processed as evidence but Graven, the detective working the case, connected it to the Martin family’s older son. By the time his family went missing, their son was in the U.S. Navy, but he was accused of stealing the gun from a department store a few years before the disappearance, KOIN reported.

KOIN spoke to JB Fisher, an author who wrote “Echo of Distant Water,” a book about the family disappearance. The couple had a difficult relationship with their son, who did not return to Oregon while authorities were trying to find the missing couple and their younger children, Fisher told KOIN. 

Graven, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office detective, interviewed the couple’s son on the phone and wrote that the couple’s son must’ve planned their deaths, KOIN reported. Graven’s bosses allegedly called him off the case though.

Five months after the disappearance, the badly decomposed bodies of Virginia and Susan were found in the Columbia River, reported KOIN. The autopsy completed on the bodies revealed that one of the victims had a hole in her head, although no cause was listed, the outlet reported.

The missing parents’ son did not attend his sisters’ memorial service but did return to Oregon to handle his family estate affairs, KOIN said. While there, he spoke to Graven and told him he had no idea who would kill his family. He told Graven he thought his parents’ death was intentional though. 

Authorities have continued to search for the family for decades, and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office called the case “one of the region’s most enduring missing persons cases.”

The couple’s son lived in New York when his family disappeared, reported Columbia Gorge News. He later moved to Hawaii and died there in 2004.

Who discovered the suspected vehicle?

Washington-based diver Archer Mayo discovered the vehicle in late 2024, according to his spokesperson, Ian Costello.

When Mayo found out about the Martin family's disappearance, he became fascinated with it and set out to find out what happened. He has spent seven years trying to find out.

According to his team, Mayo has a deep understanding of the Columbia River, sifted through historical archives, and studied the Martin case to hone in on a small area of the river.

He used predictive modeling to find the spot, and late last year, he found a car matching the description of the Martin family's vehicle. The vehicle was about a few feet within the spot his model predicted - 50 feet underwater and seven feet under the river floor.

Taking into account the make, model, color, tires, and partial license plate, he believes the car he found in the river is a match for the Martin family's vehicle. He let police know about his discovery in in mid-February.

Working the investigation today are sheriff’s offices from Hood River, Multnomah, Wasco and Sherman counties, investigators from the Hood and Dalles police departments, as well as Oregon State Police, according to Pete Hughes, from Hood River County Sheriff’s Office.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on Paste BN's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.