On the afternoon of December 7, 1958, five members of the Martin family got into their Ford station wagon. With Christmas approaching, the family had decided to gather greenery from the Columbia River Gorge to decorate their home in Portland.

Planning to return shortly, they left dishes in the sink and laundry in the washing machine. However, the Martin family never returned home. At some point on that winter day, they vanished and were never seen alive again.

KOINFive members of the Martin family disappeared on December 7, 1958. Only the eldest child, Donald Martin, survived.

For years, detectives tried to solve the case of the missing family of five. However, in 2024, a car belonging to the family was found in the Columbia River, and the following year, human remains were discovered and DNA analysis was conducted. Finally, in April 2026, it was determined that the DNA matched, and the other members of the Martin family were officially identified.

But there are still many chilling questions. How did the Martin family's car end up in the Columbia River? And does some evidence suggest that the family's eldest child and only surviving member, Donald Martin, may have played a role in their disappearance?

The Last Hours Before the Martin Family Disappeared

On the night they went missing, 54-year-old Kenneth Martin attended a Christmas party dressed as Santa Claus and handed out candy canes to neighbors — a family tradition.

The next day, Kenneth was still wearing the Santa Claus costume, so when the Martin family went out for their Sunday drive, the costume was still present. His wife, 48-year-old Barbara Martin, had left a load of laundry in the machine, The Charley Project reports.

Multnomah County SheriffThe three Martin sisters who went missing in 1958.

Their eldest daughter, Barbie, was a 14-year-old freshman at a local high school. She and her younger sisters Virginia (13) and Sue (11) climbed into the back seat of the family's cream and red car for the afternoon trip.

The Martin family made at least two stops before they disappeared. They ate at a restaurant in Hood River, about 60 miles from Portland. And they stopped for gas in Cascade Locks, 40 miles from their home.

However, after filling up the tank, the family seemingly vanished. When they did not return to Portland, their friends called the police. But there were very few clues in the case of the missing Martins.

Initial Clues in the Missing Martin Family Case

The sudden disappearance of this family of five baffled the police. Despite numerous searches, investigators found not a single trace of the family or their station wagon.

Medford Mail Tribune reported that two weeks after they went missing, the first clue arrived in the Martin family's mailbox: a gas station receipt showing that Kenneth Martin signed for five gallons of gas on the day he disappeared. Since then, no money had been withdrawn from the Martin family's bank account.

The receipt directed authorities to Cascade Locks, where the family was last seen. However, when the search yielded no new useful information, it appeared to be another dead end.

Wikimedia CommonsThe Martins were driving a 1954 Ford Country Squire.

Hundreds of phone calls and letters poured in from across the country with tips, reporting alleged “sightings” of family members. One woman even reported having a vision that the family was “in the water next to a totem pole.” However, these tips did not bring the police any closer to the missing family.

The Bodies of Virginia and Sue Martin Were Found

Authorities continued to scour the forests within 50 miles of Portland. Then, in February 1959, tire tracks belonging to the family’s 1954 Ford station wagon were found on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River.

Alarmingly, it appeared that the tracks led down the cliff. Did the missing Martin family fall into the river while backing up?

Hoping to find the car, the Army Corps of Engineers lowered the water level behind the Bonneville Dam. However, the search was unsuccessful.

St. Louis Post-DispatchSue Martin was only 11 years old when her family disappeared. Five months later, her body was found in the Columbia River.

Months passed without any progress in the case. Finally, in May 1959, more than five months after the family went missing, authorities found the bodies of Virginia and Sue in the Columbia River.

The causes of death were officially recorded as drowning. However, Virginia Martin's body was found with a mysterious hole in her head — and because the girls' bodies had decomposed for so long, the autopsy could not definitively determine the cause.

Meanwhile, Kenneth, Barbara, and Barbie remained missing. Had they also died? Or were they still living somewhere?

The Curious Story of Donald Martin, the Only Surviving Family Member

The only surviving member of the Martin family was Donald Martin, the eldest child, who was 28 years old when his family disappeared. A Navy veteran, Donald was attending graduate school in New York, far from Portland.

Donald did not return for his sisters' memorial service — but he did come home to settle the estate.

“I don’t think anyone would murder my family, but I can’t see how this could have been an accident,” he told Detective Walter Graven at the time, according to KOIN 6.

Graven spent years trying to solve the case of the missing Martin family. And he arrived at a disturbing conclusion: Donald may have played a role in their disappearance.

In his notes, Graven wrote, “This must have been planned by —-.” He crossed out the suspect's name and wrote, “there is no one else who is motivated.” With a computer developed by an investigator, it was revealed that the name crossed out was “Donald.”

KOINA note written by Detective Graven suggesting that Donald Martin was involved in his family's disappearance.

Another piece of evidence linking Donald to the disappearance was an alleged bloody gun found near an abandoned stolen car in Cascade Locks.

“It was completely covered in dried blood; I don’t know what they beat,” explained Bonnie Cox, who found the gun. “It looked like they had beaten something to death.”

The Coxes turned the gun over to the local sheriff, but strangely, the sheriff did not process it as evidence.

Multnomah County SheriffFriends and family raised money to offer a reward for information about the missing Martin family.

Later, detectives realized that the gun had a surprising connection to Donald Martin. A few years prior, Donald had worked at a local sporting goods store but had been fired due to stolen goods — including the gun found near where his family went missing.

Some Resolutions in the Martin Family Case Nearly Seven Decades Later

As the case began to go cold, Detective Graven wrote in his notes, “There is no murder that cannot be solved, although I cannot get cooperation from anyone.”

However, Graven was never able to solve the case of the missing Martin family. He died in 1988. And Donald Martin passed away in 2004. Sixty years after the Martins went missing, their disappearance remains unresolved.

St. Louis Post-DispatchThe disappearance of the Martin family made headlines across the country — even months later as new clues emerged.

Finally, in 2024, a civilian diver interested in the case, Archer Mayo, found the Martin family's car in the Columbia River, and the following year, human remains were discovered. And ultimately, in April 2026, it was determined that the DNA obtained from these remains positively matched the Martin family.

But even though the remains were found, we still do not know exactly why they fell into the Columbia River.

What happened to the Martin family? The evidence points to two main possibilities. Kenneth Martin may have accidentally backed off a cliff after putting five gallons of gas in his car, causing the family’s station wagon to fall into the Columbia River.

A darker possibility is that the Martin family may have been victims of a crime. The stolen car and the bloody gun linked to the only surviving family member paint a dark picture, but was Donald Martin really involved in this?