Episode 80: The Martin Family

The 1958 Christmas holiday was quickly approaching, and the Martin family of five set out on a quiet Sunday drive to collect greenery for their holiday decorations. They waved goodbye to their neighbors, never to return. Months later, the bodies of two of the children, Susan and her older sister Virginia, were found in Oregon’s Columbia River, but the rest of the family was never found. Their sudden, mysterious disappearance sparked decades of rumors and whispers, many of which may now, finally, be laid to rest with a shocking new development—a potential discovery of their car. Could this lead to the answers that have eluded investigators for over six decades? The best way to support our work in calling attention to missing and unidentified women is to hit subscribe or share this episode.  Join us on Patreon! Your support helps us continue to shine light on America’s missing and unidentified women. Flashlight level members also get access to additional content like Behind the Poem, a weekly conversation about the episode’s featured poem, and our monthly true crime/mystery book club. Our March 2025 selection is The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson. Join Aimee and Vanessa on the app StoryGraph for a readalong, a social way of reading our monthly selections with you all! You can find us on Instagram and Facebook. To buy Aimee’s book, Doe, it’s available now with University of Akron Press, at Bookshop.org, and Amazon. Need more women-centered true crime content? Get Aimée’s newsletter GIRLHUNT delivered to your inbox weekly.