Barbara Jean Martin

Title

The Martin Family Mystery: A Christmas Trip That Ended in Tragedy

Author

Benjamin Hayes

Publication Date

October 30, 2025

On December 7, 1958, Barbara Jean Martin left her Portland home for what should have been a simple afternoon outing. At 48 years old, she climbed into the family's distinctive cream and red 1954 Ford Country Squire station wagon alongside her husband Kenneth, 54, and their three daughters: 14-year-old Barbara (nicknamed Barbie), 13-year-old Virginia, and 11-year-old Susan Margaret. The family had a festive plan that sunny Sunday afternoon. They were heading to the Columbia River Gorge to collect greenery and gather materials for Christmas wreaths to decorate their home in Portland's Roseway neighborhood. None of them would ever return.

What began as a wholesome family tradition transformed into one of Oregon's most perplexing cold cases, a mystery that would haunt investigators, family members, and the local community for nearly seven decades. The Martin family disappearance contains all the elements of a classic true crime enigma: conflicting theories, suspicious evidence, family secrets, and questions that seemed destined to remain forever unanswered.

The Day They Vanished

The Martins lived at 1715 Northeast 57th Avenue in Portland, a typical middle-class household of the era. Kenneth and Barbara Jean had attended a Christmas party the night before their fateful trip, and Kenneth's Santa Claus suit still lay where he had left it when the family departed late that Sunday morning around 1 p.m. Their oldest child, 28-year-old son Donald, was serving in the United States Navy and pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University in New York, sparing him from whatever fate befell his family that day.

The family's journey into the Columbia River Gorge took them east along the scenic highway that winds through one of the Pacific Northwest's most beautiful landscapes. Eyewitnesses would later place the Martins at several locations that afternoon, creating a timeline that made their disappearance all the more mystifying. Around 4 p.m., gas station proprietor Dean Baxter reported selling the family five gallons of gasoline in Cascade Locks, approximately 40 miles from their Portland home. Baxter recalled seeing their distinctive station wagon continue eastward after the purchase.

The last confirmed sighting came shortly after at the Paradise Snack Bar in Hood River, about 20 miles east of Cascade Locks. Waitress Clara York served the Martin family and later told investigators she watched them leave the restaurant in the late afternoon. Kenneth was reportedly carrying two cameras, presumably to document their Christmas greenery gathering. Other motorists claimed to have seen the family on the north bank of the Columbia River in Washington State around dusk, though these reports were less certain. Then, as the winter darkness fell, the Martin family simply vanished.

The Search Begins

When the Martins failed to return home that evening, concerned neighbors contacted the police. What officers found at the family residence only deepened the mystery. The house appeared as if the family had stepped out for just a few hours and expected to return momentarily. The previous meal's dishes sat drying in the sink. A load of wash remained in the washing machine, frozen mid-cycle. Kenneth's Santa suit still lay out from the Christmas party he had attended the night before. Everything suggested a family planning to return home shortly.

The initial investigation faced immediate challenges. Multiple law enforcement agencies had jurisdiction over different parts of the Columbia River Gorge, and no single agency took command of the case in those crucial early days. The Hood River County Sheriff's Office discovered tire tracks in the parking lot at Cascade Locks that seemed to lead toward the water's edge. The sheriff quickly developed a theory that the family had accidentally backed their station wagon into the Columbia River, plunging into the frigid water. Despite numerous searches by divers in the area, no trace of the Martin vehicle emerged from the depths.

As weeks passed with no sign of the family, the case attracted increasing attention. Law enforcement received over 200 letters and hundreds of phone calls with tips and theories. One particularly intriguing report came from an orchard owner east of Portland who claimed to have witnessed a man and woman gathering greenery on December 7 in a canyon containing a Native American burial ground. The witness added a chilling detail: the following week, he noticed a flock of buzzards flying toward that location. Authorities searched the area but found nothing.

Detective Graven's Investigation

While other agencies pursued the accident theory, Multnomah County Detective Walter Graven believed something more sinister had occurred. Graven became obsessed with the Martin case, dedicating countless hours to following leads that others had dismissed. His investigation would uncover troubling evidence that contradicted the simple accident narrative.

Graven traveled to The Dalles, further east along the Columbia River, where he made a significant discovery. On a bluff overlooking the river, he found tire impressions that matched the type of tires on the Martin vehicle. Even more compelling, he discovered paint chips on rocks near the edge of the bluff. When the FBI crime lab analyzed these chips, they confirmed the paint matched the make, model, and color scheme of the Martin family's 1954 Ford station wagon. The location of these tire tracks and paint chips suggested the car had gone off the bluff and into the river at The Dalles, not at Cascade Locks as initially theorized.

Another piece of disturbing evidence surfaced near Cascade Locks. Someone discovered a bloodstained gun near an abandoned stolen car and turned it over to the Hood River Sheriff's Office. The gun appeared to have been used as a bludgeon. In a decision that would later seem unconscionable, the sheriff allowed the finder to keep the weapon, and it was never properly processed as evidence. The gun's significance would only become clear later when investigators learned it had been stolen from a sporting goods store by Donald Martin, the family's oldest son, several years before his family's disappearance.

The Bodies Surface

Five months after the Martins vanished, on a day in May 1959, a river drilling rig operating near the bluff where Graven had found the tire tracks snagged something heavy and metallic on its anchor. Before the object could be brought to the surface, it broke free and sank back into the murky depths. It may have been the missing Ford station wagon, but no one would ever know for certain.

Days later, fishermen at Cascade Locks reported seeing two objects that appeared to be bodies floating through the locks. Within 48 hours, the remains of Susan and Virginia Martin were recovered from the Columbia River at separate locations near Bonneville Dam, roughly 30 miles apart. The girls had been in the water for five months, and decomposition made determining precise causes of death difficult. Both were officially ruled as drowning victims.

However, disturbing questions emerged during the autopsy process. A Multnomah County autopsy technician noted what appeared to be a hole in Virginia's head. Some interpreted this as a possible gunshot wound, though the medical examiner ultimately attributed it to normal decomposition. The ambiguity surrounding this finding would fuel speculation for decades about whether the Martin family had met with foul play or died in a tragic accident.

The bodies of Kenneth Martin, Barbara Jean Martin, and their eldest daughter Barbie were never recovered. A memorial service was held for Susan and Virginia, but three members of the Martin family remained missing. The official investigation was eventually closed, with authorities ruling the incident a tragic accident despite the unanswered questions and unexplained evidence.

The Donald Martin Question

Detective Graven never accepted the accident theory, and his suspicions increasingly focused on an unlikely suspect: Donald Martin, the family's only surviving member. Graven couldn't identify anyone else with a motive to harm the Martin family, and Donald's behavior after the disappearance raised troubling questions.

Donald maintained a strained relationship with his parents and sisters. When his family disappeared, he did not immediately return to Oregon to join the search efforts, though he did speak with Detective Graven by telephone. Most notably, Donald skipped the memorial service for his two sisters whose bodies had been recovered. He only returned to Portland in June 1959, months after their deaths, to settle the family estate and meet with investigators.

The discovery that the bloodstained gun found near Cascade Locks had been stolen by Donald years earlier added another layer of suspicion. During his interview with Graven, Donald offered little insight into what might have happened to his family. He stated that he knew of no one who would want to murder his parents or had any reason to do so. Curiously, he added that while he couldn't imagine who would harm them, he also couldn't see how their deaths could have been an accident.

Graven's case notes, later preserved by his family, clearly indicate he believed the Martin case was a homicide that would only be solved when the family's vehicle was located. The detective remained convinced that the physical evidence would tell the true story of what happened on that December afternoon. Graven died in 1988, never learning the truth. Donald Martin passed away in 2003, taking whatever secrets he may have held to his grave.

Decades of Searching

The Martin family disappearance became one of the Pacific Northwest's most enduring mysteries. Over the decades, various efforts attempted to locate the missing station wagon. In 1999, journalist Margie Boulé of The Oregonian organized a dive search of the Columbia River near Cascade Locks. The search employed cutting-edge technology for the era, including new sonar, Global Positioning System (GPS), and lidar underwater acoustic equipment. Despite these advanced tools, the search proved unsuccessful.

The case captured the imagination of true crime enthusiasts and amateur investigators. Author J.B. Fisher wrote "Echo of Distant Water: The 1958 Disappearance of Portland's Martin Family," chronicling the events in detail. The mystery appeared in various podcasts and true crime forums, with armchair detectives debating whether the family had died in a tragic accident or fallen victim to something more sinister.

For the surviving family members and friends, the lack of closure proved agonizing. Greg Graven, Detective Walter Graven's grandson, grew up surrounded by the Martin case. He preserved his grandfather's extensive case notes and maintained the detective's conviction that the truth lay somewhere in the Columbia River. Dan Portwood, who worked with The Dalles Police Department, had an even more personal connection to the case. He had attended school with Susan and Virginia Martin in the 1950s and remembered them as real children, not just names in an old case file.

The Diver's Obsession

Enter Archer Mayo, a diver from White Salmon, Washington, who became consumed by the Martin family mystery. Beginning in 2018, Mayo dedicated himself to solving the decades-old case. He studied old photographs and maps, analyzed the Columbia River's currents and topography, and conducted extensive research into where the Martin vehicle might have ended up.

Mayo's approach differed from previous search efforts. Rather than relying solely on technology, he combined modern sonar and scanning equipment with predictive modeling based on his deep knowledge of the river. He obtained permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other relevant agencies to conduct his search using a suction dredge, a tool that could excavate the river bottom's mud and debris.

The search became an all-consuming passion. Mayo conducted hundreds of dives over the years, often coming up empty-handed. He nearly quit multiple times, frustrated by dead ends and the river's refusal to give up its secrets. In late 2024, 66 years after the Martin family disappeared, Mayo's persistence finally paid off. He located what appeared to be a vehicle buried approximately 50 feet below the water's surface near Cascade Locks, entombed in rock, silt, and accumulated debris.

The discovery process involved painstakingly excavating around the vehicle using the suction dredge. Within days of uncovering the car, Mayo became 99.9% certain he had found the Martin family station wagon. The vehicle was a wagon matching the 1954 Ford description, and it retained traces of the distinctive cream color that had made the Martin car so recognizable.

Recovery and Revelations

In February 2025, authorities officially announced that a vehicle matching the Martin family's missing Ford had been found submerged and inverted in the Columbia River's mud and debris. Recovery operations began on March 6, 2025, presenting significant logistical challenges. The vehicle had spent nearly 67 years underwater, and extracting it without destroying potential evidence required careful planning and execution.

The Hood River County Sheriff's Office coordinated the recovery effort, bringing in specialized equipment and personnel. A crane worked to retrieve the vehicle on March 7, 2025, pulling pieces of the station wagon from the river that had held it captive for so long. The operation extracted various components, including the chassis, rear axle, and engine. These pieces were immediately transported to the Oregon State crime laboratory for thorough examination.

During subsequent summer dives in 2024 and 2025, Mayo reported discovering human remains within and around the vehicle, along with what he described as conclusive physical evidence connecting the remains to the Martin family. According to Mayo's statements, he believed he had recovered remains from two, possibly three of the missing family members. Authorities have been more cautious, neither confirming nor denying Mayo's claims about the human remains while the forensic examination continues.

The discovery of additional vehicles in the same general area complicated the picture. At least two other cars were found in the Columbia River near Cascade Locks during the search and recovery operations, including one whose frame was retrieved during the same operation that pulled up the Martin station wagon. This revelation raised questions about how many other vehicles, and potentially how many other tragedies, the Columbia River had concealed over the decades.

Accident or Something More Sinister?

As forensic experts examine the recovered vehicle and any remains found within it, the fundamental question that has haunted this case for 67 years remains: Was this a tragic accident, or did something more sinister occur on December 7, 1958?

The accident theory, favored by early investigators and officially adopted as the explanation, has several points in its favor. The Columbia River in December is treacherous. The weather can change rapidly, visibility can drop, and the roads along the gorge were less developed in 1958 than they are today. A family unfamiliar with a particular location could have misjudged a turn or backed up too far near a cliff's edge. The fact that two of the daughters' bodies were found downstream from where the tire tracks and paint chips were discovered supports the theory that the car went into the river, perhaps at The Dalles.

Kenneth Martin's Santa suit lying out at home suggests he didn't expect to be gone long. The preserved state of the house indicates no planning for an extended absence. These details support an accidental death scenario: a family on a simple afternoon outing that went horribly wrong.

However, troubling evidence contradicts this straightforward narrative. Detective Graven noted that it would have been uncharacteristic for Kenneth to be driving that route after dark, as he disliked night driving. The bloodstained gun connected to Donald Martin and found near an abandoned stolen car suggests criminal activity in the area. The possible gunshot wound to Virginia's head, though disputed, raises the specter of violence. The tire tracks and paint chips found at The Dalles, combined with the initial tire tracks at Cascade Locks, create geographical confusion about where the car actually entered the water.

Some theorists have proposed that the Martin family encountered the ex-convicts who were arrested in the area the day after the disappearance. A waiter at the Hood River restaurant where the Martins were last seen reported that he recognized two suspicious men there at the same time as the family, and that these men left when the Martins did. Could the family have been followed, forced off the road, and pushed into the Columbia River? The stolen car and bloodied weapon found nearby might support this theory.

The Donald Martin angle remains one of the case's most uncomfortable aspects. While Detective Graven suspected the estranged son might somehow be involved, no concrete evidence ever emerged to support this theory beyond circumstantial details. Donald's odd behavior after his family's disappearance could reflect guilt, or it could simply be the reaction of a young man who had a difficult relationship with his family and didn't know how to process their deaths. The fact that he was across the country when they vanished makes direct involvement unlikely, though some have speculated about the possibility of him hiring someone to harm his family.

Closure After Seven Decades

For the community that has lived with this mystery for 67 years, the recovery of the Martin family vehicle represents a crucial step toward understanding what happened on that December day in 1958. Modern forensic science offers tools that didn't exist when Virginia and Susan's bodies were recovered in 1959. DNA analysis, advanced pathology techniques, and sophisticated accident reconstruction capabilities may finally provide definitive answers.

The recovery has been particularly meaningful for those with personal connections to the case. Archer Mayo, who spent seven years obsessively searching for the vehicle, expressed profound emotion about finally bringing the Martin family home. For Greg Graven, who grew up hearing about his grandfather's dedication to solving the case, the discovery represents his grandfather's investigative instincts being validated after all these years. Dan Portwood, who remembered playing with Susan and Virginia as a child, may finally have closure for the disappearance of his childhood classmates.

The Martin case serves as a reminder that even in modern times, with all our technological capabilities and investigative resources, mysteries can persist for generations. Families can vanish on ordinary afternoons. Questions can remain unanswered for lifetimes. Cold cases can stay cold for 67 years until someone with enough determination refuses to let them remain buried.

Barbara Jean Martin was 48 years old when she left her Portland home that December morning in 1958. She was a wife and mother looking forward to decorating her home for Christmas. She had no way of knowing that she, her husband, and her daughters were driving toward an end that would remain mysterious for nearly seven decades. Whatever happened on that lonely stretch of the Columbia River Gorge, whether accident or violence, the recovery of the family vehicle may finally allow Barbara Jean and her family to rest in peace, their story told at last.

As forensic examinations continue and authorities piece together evidence from the recovered vehicle, the full truth of what happened to the Martin family may still emerge. For now, after 67 years of questions, the Columbia River has finally begun to yield its secrets.

Sources

Benjamin Hayes

Benjamin Hayes is a blogger with a passion for true crime and unresolved mysteries. In his free time, Benjamin is an avid hiker and photographer. He finds solace and inspiration in nature, often trekking through the scenic trails of the Appalachian Mountains.