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Mystery of Oregon family who vanished in 1958 while going to get a Christmas tree is finally solved [The Martins]
Daily Mail ^ | 17 April 2026 | By JENSEN BIRD

Posted on 04/17/2026 2:52:38 PM PDT by Ezekiel

Detectives finally discovered the fate of the family who vanished in their car almost 70 years ago on their way to find Christmas decorations in Oregon.

The group of five went missing in December 1958 in a case that gripped America.

Two of the children were found dead months after the disappearance, but the other members had not turned up.

But now, parents Kenneth and Barbara, and daughter, Barbie Martin, have been identified from human remains found in the Columbia River, officials said.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Travel
KEYWORDS: barbaramartin; barbiemartin; coldcase; columbiariver; kennethmartin; martinfamily; mystery; oregon
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1 posted on 04/17/2026 2:52:38 PM PDT by Ezekiel
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To: Ezekiel

The Martians?


2 posted on 04/17/2026 3:08:52 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Ezekiel

Car went into thee river for some reason.

Sheesh. They make you read every word


3 posted on 04/17/2026 3:18:01 PM PDT by stanne
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To: Ezekiel

Terribly sad story.....whole family lost right at the holidays. SMH


4 posted on 04/17/2026 3:19:39 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America....so great even the people that hate it, won't leave)
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To: Ezekiel
The group of five went missing in December 1958 in a case that gripped America.

I don't remember it. But I was three years old at the time.

The first thing I remember that "gripped America" was the kid who fell into the open vertical pipe. I think that was before the Kennedy assassination.

5 posted on 04/17/2026 3:26:32 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: Ezekiel

Maybe Dad was a family annihilator and drove into the river on purpose.


6 posted on 04/17/2026 3:29:01 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam ( "Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away". - B. Franklin)
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To: BenLurkin

Sicko thats what I read to let me ask Nick Pope ....oh nevermind


7 posted on 04/17/2026 3:30:33 PM PDT by al baby
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To: Steely Tom

Baby Jessica.

She just got arrested for something.


8 posted on 04/17/2026 3:31:46 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: Ezekiel

I saw a video on YouTube about finding their car in the river about nine months ago.


9 posted on 04/17/2026 3:32:22 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono
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To: Steely Tom

Are you thinking of “Baby Jessica”? That was in the early 80s.


10 posted on 04/17/2026 3:32:47 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: telescope115

No, it was way before that. In the early ‘60s.


11 posted on 04/17/2026 3:34:30 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: Steely Tom

Baby Jessica! I was RIVETED. I could NOT look away from the TV...everything stopped. What an amazing rescue!

I guess her life didn’t turn out all that great, though. Arrested 3 days ago. :(

‘Baby Jessica,’ who made headlines when she fell down a well, arrested

A Texas woman who grabbed national headlines after being stuck in well three decades ago when she was just 18 months old has been arrested on domestic violence charges.

Jessica McClure Morales, who became a household name, known as “Baby Jessica,” was picked up Saturday night following a reported domestic disturbance at her home in Midland County, police said.

Officers arrived at the residence just before 10 p.m., according to arrest records, and Morales, 40, was reportedly taken into custody at the scene.

She has been charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence, according to KMID, though further details are limited.

The Independent has contacted the Midland County Sheriff’s Office for more information on the incident.

Morales garnered widespread attention in October 1987 when she fell into a well in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, Texas. She became lodged in a pipe that was just eight inches wide and was 22 feet underground.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/baby-jessica-who-made-headlines-when-she-fell-down-a-well-arrested/ar-AA20RXDx


12 posted on 04/17/2026 3:35:14 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: al baby

The old peepers aren’t what they used to be.


13 posted on 04/17/2026 3:37:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Ezekiel
Another thing I remember "gripping the country" (other than assassinations) was the Oven Forks Mine Disaster. But that was in 1976, and I wasn't a child anymore.

Funny how things like that seem to have happened earlier in life than they did.

14 posted on 04/17/2026 3:37:45 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: MayflowerMadam

Wow you have the nasty mode up at full sped today

Had two girls missing after an evening shift quite a while ago.

10 years later during a dry spell their car aerial stuck out of the water.

They had slid in and down a wetland of a river when navigating a corner.

Finally the heat was off a boyfriend who was looked at with nastiness and suspicion by people just like you. No evidence. Just overactive negativity.


15 posted on 04/17/2026 3:38:18 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: V_TWIN

I remember reading about this case some years ago and had similar thoughts. Some of my fondest childhood memories were of mom and dad getting us kids together in the station wagon and driving out into the cold winter to find and cut down our Christmas tree for the year. Horrible to think the family left the house full of Holiday excitement and expectations not knowing they had mere hours left in this world.


16 posted on 04/17/2026 3:43:07 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Steely Tom

That sounds like a typical Lassie tv episode


17 posted on 04/17/2026 3:47:10 PM PDT by SteveH
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To: Fledermaus; Steely Tom

Can’t be Jessica. That was in 1987. My oldest was roughly her same age.

The first Kennedy assassination was in 1963. The second one was in 1968.


18 posted on 04/17/2026 3:49:05 PM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: SteveH
That sounds like a typical Lassie tv episode

Perhaps that's what I'm remembering.

19 posted on 04/17/2026 3:51:03 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: FamiliarFace

I missed that. Thanks.

I was 3. Don’t remember.


20 posted on 04/17/2026 3:51:06 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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