Campaign to Recover the Martin Family Car

In December 1958 the Martin family, two parents and their three young daughters, took a holiday drive from Portland an hour east to Hood River. They were never seen again.

After a 6-year search, I found the long-lost car in the Columbia River at Cascade Locks, buried 7 feet beneath the river bed. The local authorities attempted to recover the car in March 2025, but because of time and budget constraints they were only able to bring up the car's chassis. The body of the car and its contents were left deep under the river.

In cooperation with authorities, I will lead a private effort to recover the remainder of the car and its contents. The divers will volunteer their time but support staff will be paid.

I am intimately familiar with this part of the river and the car's condition. I believe that with proper planning and methodical execution, the car body can be removed from the river bottom and, along with any remains inside it, can be delivered to authorities, finally and definitively solving the Martin family mystery.

This effort will be difficult and slow. It will require the following: custom-designed tools, pumps, and apparatuses for freeing the car body; a custom external frame with which to lift the car safely to the surface in an intact manner; fuel for the dredge pump; compressed air for the divers; safety equipment, and pay for the assistants managing the equipment on the boat.

While there is never a guarantee of success in this difficult and dangerous environment, I have seen enough of the car to believe that there are human remains and personal property that can be recovered safely and successfully.

Join the team and help us bring the remaining members of the Martin Family home, and help difinitively close one of the northwest's oldest cold cases.