Barbara disappeared with her family: her husband Kenneth, and three daughters, Barbie, Susan, 12, and Virginia, 10. The Martins disappeared from their hometown of Portland, Oregon on December 7, 1958. They lived on northeast 57th Avenue They set off that day in their nine-passenger cream and red 1954 Ford sedan station wagon with license plates numbered 1G-7156, en route for Columbia Gorge, where they planned to collect greenery to decorate their home for Christmas. They bought gasoline at Cascade Locks late that afternoon. They were seen leaving a restaurant in Hood River, Oregon late in the afternoon, on the way back to Portland. They never arrived home.

In February 1959, a searcher discovered tire tracks matching the Martins' vehicle, heading off a cliff into the Columbia River, near The Dalles, Oregon. In May of that year, a river drilling rig near the site of the tire tracks hooked something heavy and metal on its anchor. Before the item could be pulled to the surface, it came loose. It may have been the missing Ford. A couple of days later, Susan and Virginia's bodies were found downstream, near Bonneville Dam. They had both drowned. Kenneth, Barbara and Barbie's remains have never been recovered.

Police believe the entire family either perished after they accidentally drove their car into the river, or possibly they were were abducted and pushed inside their car off the cliff. An attempt was made to search the water for additional evidence, but the search was called off when a diver nearly died. No further searches were made and the case was closed. Kenneth, Barbara and Barbie remain missing, however, and their cases are unsolved.