DNA identifies Oregon family missing since 1958 in Columbia River car

DNA analysis has identified the remains found in a submerged Ford station wagon in the Columbia River as those of an Oregon family who vanished in December 1958 while searching for Christmas greenery, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. The state medical examiner’s office identified parents Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their daughter Barbie from remains recovered at the site. Investigators found no evidence of a crime, the sheriff’s office said.

The identification closes a case that drew national attention and fueled speculation of foul play for decades. The Martin family’s disappearance was the subject of a nationwide search and a $1,000 reward for information — and the wreckage of their car lay undiscovered in the Columbia River for nearly 66 years before a diver found it in 2024.

The discovery

A diver who had been searching for the car for several years located the Ford station wagon in 2024, the Associated Press reported. Authorities pulled part of the wreckage from the water in 2025. Only the vehicle’s frame and some attached components were retrieved, the sheriff’s office said, because of the “extent to which the vehicle had been encased in sediment.” Analysis of those items allowed investigators to confirm the car belonged to the Martin family.

Later in 2025, the same diver located human remains in the river. Those remains were turned over to the state medical examiner’s office, which developed DNA extracts and generated a genetic profile. Scientists then compared that profile against DNA from living relatives of the Martin family, yielding the identifications of Kenneth Martin, Barbara Martin, and their daughter Barbie.

A 1958 disappearance

The Martin family vanished in December 1958 on a trip to gather Christmas greenery, according to the sheriff’s office. The disappearance became a national news story; a $1,000 reward was offered for information about the family’s whereabouts. Months after the family went missing, the bodies of two of their children were found, but the other family members were never located — until now.

“Where do you search if you’ve already searched every place logic and fragmentary clues would suggest?” the Associated Press wrote in 1959, months after the family disappeared.

The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said it has concluded its investigation and found no evidence that a crime occurred.