Car believed to belong to missing Martin family found

Investigators have pulled a car from the Columbia River that they believe might belong to a family missing since 1958. The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office announced they could not confirm that the vehicle is definitely linked to Kenneth and Barbara Martin and their three daughters. However, officials say they have “every reason to believe” it could be theirs. The Martins vanished while traveling from their home in Portland in a 1954 Ford station wagon. Despite extensive search efforts at the time, only two of the daughters’ bodies were found months later. A recent dive by Archer Mayo helped locate what appears to be the vehicle in a deep section of the river. Divers worked for two days to extract the car, but they only managed to recover the chassis and the engine. They could not find the vehicle identification number (VIN), which would have confirmed its ownership. Despite this, the color of a part matched the Martin's car, leading authorities to suspect it belongs to the family. The sheriff’s office said they will not search for more parts of the vehicle. They believe the rest of the car is likely buried under sediment and rocks, making further recovery efforts too difficult.