Martin was last seen between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. on August 12, 1984 in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. He was preparing to start delivering his morning newspaper route at the time. He normally delivered the papers with his older stepbrother, but his stepbrother was not with him that day. Witnesses saw Martin talking to a man between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. at southwest 12th Street and Highview Drive. The man is described as clean-cut, and he appeared to be in his thirties. He has never been identified. They were reportedly engaged in friendly conversation.

Martin's route manager called his family at approximately 7:15 a.m. to report that Martin's newspaper sack had not been retrieved from the corner of southwest 14th and Highview Streets. The manager called the family back 15 minutes later around 7:30 a.m. and reported that the papers were still unclaimed. Martin's father then called the authorities. Martin has not been seen nor heard from again.

Martin disappeared from the same vicinity where John Gosch was last seen in 1982. It is not known if the two cases are related, but both boys were newspaper carriers in the Des Moines area. Martin enjoyed football, fishing, skating, watching television and playing video games at the time of his disappearance. His mother has died, his father and stepmother are now divorced and his father is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. His case remains unsolved.