Elleda Wilson: 'Wishing we knew why'
Feb. 16—Martha "Marty" Lavonne Benthin Evans has been missing for 33 years. According to The Doe Network, Evans, 33, left the High Climber Room Lounge in Knappa on Feb. 10, 1990, driving a 1984 brown Ford Ranger truck, license plate number PNB116, and vanished.
"Law enforcement at the time told (our) family that she had voluntarily disappeared and refused to take a missing person report," her sister, Linda Benthin-Weirup, recalled.
This was despite the fact that Evans didn't take her purse, and the only known clothing she had with her was the bridesmaid dress she was wearing and a jacket. She and her truck were last seen at a gas station outside Astoria, where she was talking on the phone, upset and crying.
"No missing person report equals no investigation into someone's disappearance," Benthin-Weirup said, and no one was even questioned at the time of Evans' disappearance. In fact, Evans wasn't even listed as officially missing until around 2005. Benthin-Weirup and her mother gave DNA samples so they could be matched to any unidentified remains that were found.
"It is also possible that Marty misjudged the road," Benthin-Weirup said, "and ended up in the Brownsmead Slough — which has some pockets of extremely deep water." And, there are rumors of a truck being at the bottom. But in 2020, a volunteer diver made three dives, but he "never found anything solid," Benthin-Weirup said.
If you know anything about what happened to Marty, call Detective Jim O'Connor of the Oregon State Police at 503-325-5515 or email ospmissingpersons@osp.oregon.gov. The case number is SP9002679.
