Authorities in Oregon have announced plans to retrieve a car from a river that is believed to have belonged to a family that vanished nearly 70 years ago. The Martin family disappeared in December 1958 after setting out to find a Christmas tree in their Ford station wagon, according to The Oregonian.
Ken and Barbara Martin were accompanied by their daughters Barbara, 14, Virginia, 13, and Sue, 11, on the trip to the mountains for holiday decorations, as reported by previous Associated Press accounts. Unfortunately, they never returned.
The search for the missing family led authorities to focus on the Cascade Locks near the Columbia River after discovering that Ken Martin had used a credit card to purchase gas at a nearby station. Tragically, the body of the youngest daughter, Sue, was found in the river near Camas, Washington, around five months after their disappearance. Virginia’s body was located the following day approximately 25 miles upstream from Sue’s remains.
On March 6, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that they were working to recover a vehicle from the Columbia River near Cascade Locks, believed to be associated with the Martin family’s disappearance. The vehicle was found by a diver at a depth of around 50 feet, covered in debris and mussel shells. The recovery operation is ongoing, with authorities hoping to determine the fate of the missing family.
According to the AP, a 28-year-old named Don, who was a former Marine and a graduate student at Columbia University in New York, has a son. The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office and Ian Costello did not respond immediately to PEOPLE’s request for more information. You can find the original article on People’s website.
