Car being pulled from river might have belonged to family that vanished in 1958

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - A car believed to be associated with an Oregon family missing since 1958 may have been found.

The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said they are attempting to recover the car from the river near Cascade Locks this week.

According to the sheriff’s office, the car is believed to belong to the Martin family - Ken, his wife Barbara and their three daughters, ages 11, 13, and 14. The family was last seen in December 1958.

Authorities said the family of five left their home in Portland to go look for greenery for Christmas wreaths but were never seen again.

The case was investigated by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, and evidence led investigators to believe the family had possibly been in Hood River County and Wasco County.

In May 1959, two of the children’s bodies, 13-year-old Virginia and 11-year-old Susan, were recovered in the Columbia River - one near Camas, Washington, and the other near Bonneville Dam.

Investigators speculated that the family’s car may have entered the river, prompting extensive dive operations over the years.

Archer Mayo, an amateur investigator, is the one who reportedly discovered the car.

Mayo, who has been looking for the car for seven years, reported that the vehicle was found upside down, about 50 feet underwater, with about 90 percent of it buried.

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