Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: The Martin Family Mystery 2

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

After two of The Martin Family children were found in the Columbia River, investigators feared the worst and started asking tougher questions. In this episode, we explore the theories surrounding the Martins’ disappearance, the troubling behavior of their surviving son, and the shocking discovery, more than 60 years later, that may finally reveal what happened on that December day. Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Murder: True Crime Stories! Instagram: @murdertruecrimepod | @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Carter. If you're loving murder, true crime stories, you won't want to miss our fellow Crime House original show. Conspiracy theories cults and crimes. Every Wednesday, you'll get to explore the true stories behind the world's most shocking crimes, deadly ideologies, and secret plots, from mass suicides and political assassinations to secret government experiments and UFO cults. Follow conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.

And for ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is Crimehouse. How far would you go to solve a mystery? In 1958, the Martin family vanished along the Columbia River Gorge, an 80-mile stretch of water that cuts through the Cascade Mountains. But after decades without any new developments, it seemed like the truth was just out of reach. Until more than 60 years later,

when a local man breathed new life into the investigation by plunging into the Columbia River's icy depths. In 2018, an artist and amateur diver named Archer Mayo became determined to get to the bottom of the Martin family mystery. Just a few years later, he embarked on a one-man search operation, and before long, he'd done the impossible. But the question was, would it be enough to close the case once and for all.

People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real. ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios that releases every Tuesday and Thursday. At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by

rating, reviewing, and following Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your murder true crime stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get ad-free listening, early access to every two-part series, and exciting bonus content. This is the second of two episodes on the Martin family. In December 1958, they left their home in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, and were never seen again.

The mystery of what happened to them has haunted the Pacific Northwest ever since. Last time, I introduced you to the Martins and described the moments leading up to their disappearance. I explained how investigators struggled to make progress until a shocking discovery in the Columbia River changed everything. Today, I'll reveal what detectives learned after finding Sue and Virginia Martin's bodies. I'll also explore the many theories about what happened to the family that day, including the possibility that Ken and Barbara's own son might have been responsible. And finally, I'll share the bombshell development that seemed to blow the case out of the water. All that and more coming up.

On December 7, 1958, the Martins set out from their home in Portland, Oregon to hunt down Christmas greenery along the Columbia River Gorge. But instead of bows and branches, they found tragedy. In the wake of their disappearance, over a thousand volunteers joined the authorities to comb through every inch of the 80-mile-long Columbia River, hoping to find any sign of the family. But it seemed like the Martins had truly vanished without a trace. Even then, family and friends held out hope that Ken, Barbara, and their three daughters, Barbie, Virginia, and Sue would come home. But police weren't so sure. They knew the more time that passed, the less likely the Martins would be found alive. Sadly, they were right. On May 3,

1959, nearly five months after their disappearance, the body of 11-year-old Sue was found on the edge of the river near an area called Camus Loo. Given how discolored she was, authorities believed she'd been floating in the water for some time, but they couldn't tell where she'd come from, until the body of a second girl was discovered further upstream at the Bonneville Dam. Her face was bloated and distorted beyond recognition. The river had done enough damage that both girls could only be identified by their dental records. Eventually, though, authorities were able to confirm the second body was that of 13-year-old Virginia. These were huge developments, but there was still a long way to go, because 14-year-old Barbie

and her parents, Ken and Barbara, were still missing. The next step was to track them down, and it wasn't long before detectives got a promising lead. After hearing about Sue and Virginia, a young married couple came forward. According to them, they'd seen the bodies on May 2nd, the day before Sue was found. Their sighting took place in the historic Cascade Locks, 30 miles up river from where Sue was discovered, but only five miles from the Bonneville dam. The couple explained they'd gone to the locks to fish at around six that morning. The husband spent a few minutes setting up his gear.

Afterwards, he glanced up at the river when something caught his eye. It looked like debris, except it was pretty big. The man hurried to the walkway near the water to get a better look, and that's when he realized he was looking at two. bodies. He followed as they floated along the canal and into the open river. A few moments later, they disappeared out of view and he ran back to the car to tell his wife what he'd seen. Hoping to catch sight of them again, the couple drove about half a mile west to a nearby bridge. They parked and watched the rapids below. This time, both husband and wife saw the bodies as they

passed under the bridge. It looked like the larger body was heading towards the Bonneville Dam, while the smaller one moved in the other direction toward the free-flowing Washington side of the river. The couple was in such shock. They convinced themselves they must have imagined it, until they read the papers the next day and realized they'd seen the missing Martin girls. The eyewitness accounts helped detectives narrow down the scope of their investigation to the Cascade locks. After finding Virginia and Sue, they knew at least two of the Martins had gone into the river. Now they had a better sense of where they might have entered, especially because by that point, police had already recovered a receipt from a gas station in a nearby town.

It made sense. Back in 1896, the Cascade locks were created to allow passage through a treacherous stretch of water called the Cascade Rapids. The locks were like an elevator for boats. Using a system of walls and doors, they made it possible for ships to enter the rapid area and be raised or lower to the water level at the other end. In 1938, the Cascade locks were flooded and put out of course. commission when the Bottomville Dam was constructed, but locals continued to go there to fish or take in the view of the river. It was exactly the type of place that Ken and Barbara would have taken the girls who were every bit as outdoorsy as their parents. It wasn't necessarily the safest

place to explore, though. In 1958, there were no fences or guardrails around the parking area which perched right over the river. It was entirely possible the station wagon could have gone over in some sort of tragic accident. So although the locks had been searched pretty thoroughly back in December, the efforts started back up after the girls' bodies were found that May. The old lock system was 90 feet wide and ran for 3,000 feet along the riverbank.

The locks were 42 feet deep on their own. own and had gotten even deeper once they were flooded. Even something as big as a station wagon could easily go unnoticed. Add to that, the constant rush of water passing through, and it made for a complicated search. A Portland-based salvage company brought out grappling hooks and magnets to drag along the bottom of the canal, hoping to snag the car. Divers swam from end-to-end, visually scanning the depths. Once again, they came up empty, which meant investigators had to rely on the evidence they did have, Sue and Virginia's bodies. Despite visible deterioration, the ice-cold river had preserved the contents of both girls' stomachs. The autopsies showed that they had eaten

hamburgers and French fries about two hours before their deaths. The results confirmed a previous witness statement from the afternoon of December 7, 1958, just before the Martins went missing. That day, a waitress named Clara York was in the middle of her shift at the Paradise snack bar in Hood River, about 20 miles east of Cascade Locks. At around 4.15 p.m., she saw, served the Martin family. According to Clara, the restaurant wasn't busy at the time, so she chatted with them for a while. The girls especially stood out to her. Clara remembered them

pleading with Ken to have soda with their meal. He refused and insisted on milk, something he was known to be a stickler about. Not only that, but Clara recalled that their bill came to $4.15 for hamburgers and fries. When detectives had initially heard Clara's account, they were hesitant. At that point in the investigation, Hood River was at the farthest edge of the search area. Authorities found it hard to believe the family would have driven that far for Christmas greenery. But the autopsy showed Clara had been telling the truth. It made Detective Walter Graven, who was leading the investigation, wonder if any other clues had been left behind.

lined at the Paradise Snack Bar. His instincts were spot on. Detective Graven spoke to the owner of the restaurant. The man agreed with Clara. They hadn't been particularly busy that afternoon. Still, there were other patrons there, including two men who might be of interest to the authorities. They were shady characters, both ex-convicts,

And they hadn't just been at the restaurant at the same time as the Martins. They mysteriously vanished with them, too. In May 1959, Detective Walter Graven got a new lead in his investigation into the Martin family's disappearance. After speaking with the owner of the Paradise Snack Bar and Hood River, Oregon, Detective Graven learned the Martins may have crossed paths with a pair of convicted criminals on the day they disappeared. Graven was intrigued. While most people thought the Martins had lost their lives in a tragic accident,

he wasn't so sure. He thought foul play might have been involved and that someone had forced them into the river. Up to that point, his primary suspect was, and Barbara's own son, 28-year-old Donald. There was a problem with this theory, though. Don was across the country in New York at the time his family went missing. The only way he could have been involved with their disappearance

was if he had help from some locals. Detective Graven wondered if the two men at the Paradise Snack Bar were those missing links. The owner of the restaurant said their names were Lester Price and Roy Light. There wasn't much information available about them, but Detective Graven managed to learn they'd first met at San Quentin, a prison in Northern California.

Shortly before the Martins disappeared, Roy was in Los Angeles. At some point, he stole a car and used it to visit family in Hood River. Coincidentally, Lester was also in the area and the old friends met up at the Paradise snack bar. Not long after, Lester's car, a white 1951 Chevrolet, was found abandoned on Highway 30 along the Columbia River Gorge. The Chevy was yet another promising lead that had fallen through

the cracks early on. It was first reported to the Hood River County Sheriff's Office as early as December 8th, 1958, just one day after the Martins disappeared. But for some reason, Highway Patrol didn't report seeing it until after 10 p.m. on Wednesday the 10th. According to reports, it was parked on a lookout called Trotter Point, about nine miles upriver of Cascade locks. The doors were locked, and the keys were in the ignition. Plus, there was still gas in the tank, meaning the vehicle had been purposely left behind.

Maybe its driver didn't need the car anymore because they'd gotten their hands on a different vehicle, like the Martin's station wagon. Despite multiple reports to the Hood River Sheriff's Office, the Chevy remained untouched for 10 days before it was towed to a nearby service station. By the time Detective Graven learned about it, authorities had lost track of the car entirely. We don't know if Roy Light or Lester Price were ever questioned in connection to the Martins. Lester was last seen on Christmas morning in 1958. He was taking a bus south from Portland, though his final destination was unknown.

After that, he seemed to disappear entirely. As for Roy, Detective Graven learned he'd been staying in a motel in the Dals, about 20 miles up river of the Paradise Snack Bar and Hood River. But that was months ago. By May 1959, Roy was nowhere to be found either. It seemed like yet another dead end for Detective Graven. But luckily, he still had a smoking gun, literally. Back in January, 19th,

about a month after the Martins disappeared, a 38-caliber cult commander had been found along the highway near Cascade Locks. Even though it appeared to be covered in dried blood, the Hood River County Sheriff had dismissed it. When Detective Graven learned about the weapon, he wasn't so quick to move on, though. By then, the gun had been wiped clean. There was no physical evidence to be taken from it. but it was certainly still circumstantial evidence, especially because it was the very same gun that Don Martin had stolen from the Myr and Frank department store

several years prior. Since Don had been in New York when his family went missing, there was no way he'd used the gun on them himself, but maybe he'd gotten someone else to do it for him. Maybe one of the ex-cons who crossed paths with them in Hood River. Detective Graven was chomping at the bit to question Don, but the only surviving member of the Martin family

was conspicuously absent during the search for his loved ones. A lot of people found it awed. Reporters even asked Don why he hadn't come home to help look for his family. Don said that his aunt, Ken's sister Charlotte, told him to wait until he felt wrong. ready. But according to Charlotte, that wasn't true. She'd never said that and had no idea why Dawn hadn't come around yet. He could only keep his distance for so long, though. Charlotte arranged for a private service for Sue in Virginia on June 2, 1959, about a month after their

bodies were found. Even then, honoring his dead sisters, wasn't a priority. On his way back to Oregon, Don stopped in Seattle. He didn't get to Portland until June 3rd, a day after their funeral. It only made Detective Graven even more suspicious. And now that Dawn was finally in his vicinity, he wasn't going to let him get away so easily. Whatever Dawn knew about his family's death and disappearance, Detective Graven, was determined to find out. Hi, I'm Mama Jules, your host of Ono Media's newest podcast, Rise and Crime,

your morning caffeine crime hit. If you're a true crime enthusiast who wants the newest details of current criminal cases, then get your crime caffeine hit with me on Mondays and Thursdays each week. On Rise and Crime, we will create a breakfast club. of sorts where we dive into the most recent details of the highest profile cases, as well as those current cases you may know nothing about. Rise and Crime will also provide you updates on those cases that just left that nagging. What happened after everyone stopped paying attention feeling? Let us scratch your need-to-know itch. The best part is Rise and Crime is available

everywhere. Watch us on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you catch your favorite podcasts. In June 1959, Detective Walter Graven finally got to question his primary suspect in the Martin family's disappearance. Ken and Barbara's son, 28-year-old Donald Martin. There was only one potential link between Dawn and what happened to his family. A 38-caliber cult commander. It had been found along the highway near Cascade Locks shortly after the Martin's disappearance. But before that, it had been stolen from the Myron-Frank department store by Don in September

1954. When Detective Graven asked him about the weapon, Don said he didn't know anything about it. He said it wasn't one of the items he'd stolen, though it may have coincidentally been stolen around the same time. According to Don, he had no interest in guns and didn't even like them, but he knew someone who did, his roommate at the time. According to Don, his roommate was friends with someone who worked in the sporting goods section of the store. Don implied that maybe the two of them had stolen the gun without Don's knowledge or involvement, but there was no way to prove it.

Since Detective Graven's entire theory hinged on connecting Dawn to this weapon, it seemed like he was now out of options. With nothing else to tie Don to his family's disappearance, he had to let him go without pressing any charges. Detective Graven wasn't the only one who was convinced that Dawn was involved, though. It took several decades, but eventually, someone else picked up where Graven left off. In 2019, an English professor in Portland local named J.B. Fisher wrote a book about the Martin family

called The Echo of Distant Water. During his research, he was given access to all of Detective Graven's personal archives on the case. Based on those, Fisher expanded on Graven's theory. It went back to the 1950s. Remember, when Don got caught stealing from Myron Frank, his excuse was that he'd recently come out to his parents and they didn't approve. At the time, being gay was a crime in many states, including Oregon, and lots of people, including Walter Graven,

thought this meant homosexuals were either criminals themselves or associated with them. Following this misguided line of thinking, Graven believed that Don had some sort of connection to Oregon's criminal underworld, and he thought Don had hired Lester Price and Roy Light, the two men who were seen at the Hood River restaurant, to kill his family. In a confidential report to his superiors, Graven alleged that Don wanted to inherit his parents' entire estate worth about $36,000. That amounts to about $400,000 today.

But Graven didn't stop there. He even claimed that Don blamed his parents for his homosexuality. Allegedly, Don called them both fat slabs and worried the girls would turn out the same. According to Graven, this was proof that Don hated his family enough to want them all dead. In the end, Graven's theory was nothing more than that. A theory. After his interview with Don went nowhere, the investigation died down and the case went cold.

And J.B. Fisher's book didn't do anything to change that. Until 2024, when a bombshell discovery thrust the Martin story back into the spotlight. That November, the Hood River Sheriff's Departive's Departive. got an unbelievable call. A local diver named Archer Mayo said he'd found the Martin car. From the moment Archer had heard about the Martin family, he couldn't get the mystery out of his head. And as an amateur diver, he had the skills to search for a key piece of evidence that had never been discovered, their station wagon.

By 2024, he'd been searching the Columbia River for seven years. In that time, he'd been able to put together clues no one else had. Archer believed the car had gone into the river near the Cascade Locks, right where Sue and Virginia's bodies were first seen. Unlike Detective Graven's wild and ultimately baseless homosexual crime ring theory, Archer didn't think any foul play was involved. He believed Ken Martin had misjudged the distance when he tried to park the car and it plunged into the water in a tragic accident.

Archer knew the area had already been searched multiple times, but he also knew diving wasn't perfect science. And it was possible the original investigators had passed over the vehicle. Archer searched and searched the area, but like those who came before him, he found nothing. Finally, in August 24, he decided to go back to the drawing board. That month, he went to the Oregon Historical Society Archives in Portland to research the locks. A lot of photographs had been taken while they were being constructed in the late 1800s. Archer carefully looked through them all

until one image made him stop in his tracks. The photo showed a cross-section of the middle set of doors. There was the concrete floor of the canal leading up to where the massive metal doors would swing close to hold back the entire force of the river. But something about it looks strange. In a typical lock system, shutting the doors sends the force of the water into the bedrock of the river floor.

This is what keeps the river from simply ripping the doors off and continuing to flow. The Columbia River is a special case, though. About 500 years ago, a massive rock slide cut the Columbia River in half. Huge slabs and boulders of basalt rocks spilled into the water, creating a natural dam, and flooding the gorge. for nearly 70 miles. By the time Lewis and Clark reached Oregon in 1805, the waters of the Columbia had finally managed to break through.

The result was the Cascade Rapids. But looking at the archives, Archer realized that ancient landslide didn't just create the rapids and falls that required a canal and lock system to get around. It also meant the bottom of the river in that particular stretch wasn't true bedrock and it couldn't be sure

to fully absorb the force of the water. To get around that, the engineers of the Cascade Locks had built a secondary wall under the center doors which created a gap in the floor of the canal just in front of them.

In the year since that photo was taken that gap had filled in with sand, shells, and other debris, which is why Archer had never seen it during his dives. That was where he'd find the Martin's car. He just knew it. But it wasn't as simple as going back to the locks and starting to dig. He had to buy a high-powered dredge, a piece of machinery that removes underwater sediment and debris. This new dredge was so big, Archer had to buy a... second boat just to tow it. And he had to hire an assistant to run things while he worked.

He also had to get over a hundred signatures, including from Native American tribes, and thousands of dollars worth of permits and certifications. Then he could start searching in the actual pit. All of that time, money, and energy was absolutely worth it, though, because on November 1st, 2004, Archer finally found what he'd been looking for, the Martin's car. After notifying the authorities, it took a few months to get the resources together, but by March of 2025, they attempted to pull the car out of the river. Unfortunately, over the decades, layers of sediment had compacted around it like concrete. In the end, it took a team of professional divers, a giant crane, and two days to dislodge the car.

And despite their best attempts to get the entire vehicle, the Ford broke apart under the strain. Only the undercarriage came out of the water, including all four tires and most of the engine compartment. The body of the car is still in the Cascade Locks pit. If Barbara, Ken, and Barbie were inside the car, they still are. In April 2025, Archer Mayo started a GoFundMe page to help him continue his search. But as of this recording, there are no official plans to dig any further. The conditions are too difficult. Like we always say on this show, people's lives are like a story.

And the story of the Martins ultimately ends in ambiguity. Maybe we'll never know what really happened that fateful December day. But we can take a little bit of comfort in knowing they left this world the same way they live their lives together. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next time for another story of a murder and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original, powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support.

If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories. wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad-free, and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two-part series,

you'll get access to both at once, plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back on Tuesday. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by me, Carter Roy, and is a crimehouse original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pertzowski, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Megan Hannam, and Russell Nash. Thank you for joining us.

If you love murder, true crime stories, tune into the Crime House original conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes for the world's darkest truths. Follow conspiracy theories, cults and crimes now wherever you get your podcasts. And for ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts.