Overview
- Officials confirmed the identities on Thursday, ending the investigation with no evidence of a crime.
- Othram scientists built a DNA profile using single nucleotide polymorphisms, which was matched to relatives to confirm Kenneth Martin, while Barbara and Barbie were identified through context and an anthropological assessment.
- Private diver Archer Mayo found the family’s Ford station wagon in 2024 in a catch-basin at Cascade Locks about 50 feet down after years of searching.
- Only the frame and some attached parts could be lifted in early 2025 because the car was encased in sediment, and later that year the diver turned over human remains to the medical examiner.
- Next of kin have been notified and asked for privacy, underscoring how advances in forensic genetics can close very old missing-person cases even when most DNA is too degraded to sequence.