A break in a decades-long cold case has finally come after an independent diver discovered remains in a car submerged in the Columbia River.

On December 7, 1958, the Martin family, parents Kenneth and Barbara, hopped in the car with their three daughters to go Christmas shopping, but never returned.

The bodies of the two youngest daughters, Virginia, 13, and Sue, 11, were found floating in the river the following year, but the oldest daughter, Barbara, 14, and the girls' parents were never found.

The mystery gripped the nation for years, and crime junkies have spawned theories ever since as to what led to the Martin family's tragic fate.

Some believe they drowned after the car backed into the river accidentally. But there is also evidence that at least one of them was shot dead.