Police and recovery crews worked most of the day Thursday to retrieve the car that is believed to belong to the Martin family, who disappeared in December 1958.
The crane is visible from the Cascade Locks Marine Park on Thursday, March 6. The park is currently closed to the public as crews continue to work on Friday.
Police and recovery crews worked most of the day Thursday to retrieve the car that is believed to belong to the Martin family, who disappeared in December 1958.
Noah Noteboom photo
The crane is visible from the Cascade Locks Marine Park on Thursday, March 6. The park is currently closed to the public as crews continue to work on Friday.
CASCADE LOCKS — Friday, March 7: A Thursday evening update from the Hood River County Sheriff's Office (HRCSO) said that crews were unable to retrieve the vehicle that is believed to belong to the Martin family due to "significant debris." The Martin family vanished in 1958 and recent findings have prompted police to take action on the 66-year-old cold case.
Archer Mayo, an independent diver, has been helping salvage crews unearth the buried vehicle. Police have a large crane operating in the Cascade Locks, but on Thursday were unsuccessful in pulling the car from the river bed. According to reports, crews are working to remove and relocate sediment from around the car in an attempt to retrieve the vehicle in once piece.
They have been working since Thursday morning and the HRCSO said there is no timeline for recovery.
The Cascade Locks Marine Park is closed to the public until further notice.
This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
Thursday, March 6: On the morning of March 6, Hood River County Sheriff’s Office (HRCSO) announced it was conducting a recovery mission on a 1954 Station Wagon, believed to belong to the Martin family, who disappeared on Dec. 7, 1958.
HRCSO reportedly received notice from an independent diver who was able to recover an emblem and piece of a license plate tag from a vehicle. The person who discovered the vehicle was diving near Cascade Locks, and has reportedly been working on the missing persons case for a number of years.
An HRCSO public information officer said they cannot confirm the vehicle belonged to the Martin family until they are able to inspect the vehicle on dry land. He continued to say that favorable weather and river conditions provided police an opportunity to conduct the recovery.
A Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, reiterated some facts from the 1958 police report filed by a neighbor of the Martin Family:
“On December 7, 1958, MCSO took a report after a neighbor reported missing, Kenneth and Barbara Martin, along with their three daughters, ages 11, 13, and 14. The family had told neighbors they planned to visit the Columbia River Gorge to gather greenery for Christmas wreaths but never returned home,” said the report.
At the time, investigators believed the family’s car had entered the river. This prompted extensive dive operations from the Multnomah County and Hood River County sheriff’s offices.
It is unclear what they found upon first examination, but months later, the bodies of Virginia, age 13, and Susan Martin, 11, were discovered — one near Camas, Washington, and the other near Bonneville Dam.
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