4 October 2024
BROOKSTON — Nearly seven months since Peter Martin went missing from the Fond du Lac Reservation, law enforcement agencies have yet to share any hard evidence or theories explaining his disappearance.
As time passes and the prospect of locating Martin grows more dim, friends and family in search of answers have taken the search into their own hands.
“The only thing that gives me hope is that we’re still out here trying the hardest we can,” said Kayla Jackson, an ex-girlfriend who dated Martin for eight years.
Martin, then 31, was last seen at his home in the Mahnomen neighborhood of the Fond du Lac Reservation on March 8. When police responded to a welfare check, they found a smashed-in television, holes in the wall and blood spots throughout the house, according to search warrants.
Since then, law enforcement agencies have searched over 1,000 acres surrounding Martin’s home in the Brookston area by land, water and air. Law enforcement and volunteers have used drones, sonar and cadaver dogs to search for Martin; however, they are no closer to locating him.
The investigation remains open and active, with police still trying to determine whether Martin’s disappearance is criminal. Tony McTavish, a deputy with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and lead investigator on the case, said he doesn’t have evidence that would lead to opening a criminal investigation. But, as long as Martin is declared missing, police will treat it as suspicious.
I won’t ever stop talking about it.
“He’s missing and there’s just really no good, solid information at all for where he might have gone,” said Sgt. Eric Sathers, who oversees the sheriff’s office’s investigation division in Duluth. “It was abnormal behavior for him to just disappear like this.”
The vast majority of missing person cases are solved within days, according to Sathers. Martin is now classified as a long-term missing case, which is much less common.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension have been assisting the Fond du Lac Police Department in the search. The Fond du Lac Police Department did not respond to the Pine Journal’s requests for comment.
‘He wouldn’t just walk away’
Jackson said she has searched nearly 1,400 miles for Martin, sometimes with Martin’s family or law enforcement, and sometimes taking her kayak to search waters alone.
Martin was struggling with drug addiction and was consequently prone to paranoia, according to Jackson. Still, she described Martin as a deeply caring person who wouldn’t just leave his family and skip town.
“I know he’s not just missing. He’s not just out there in another town or he just walked away from his family, or his daughter,” Jackson said. “He wouldn’t just walk away like that.”
That sentiment is shared by Sathers, who characterized Martin as a homebody who doesn’t fit the description of a person who goes missing.
“We deal with some missing persons cases where this is more normal and typical for the individual to go off and disappear for long periods of time,” Sathers said, “whether they’re using drugs or they just go off on their own, doing their own thing, whatever it is. But for Peter, that wasn’t the case.”
The area surrounding Martin’s home is vast and sparsely populated. After Martin was declared missing on March 11, law enforcement organized large searches. Friends and family went on to organize their own searches and continue to coordinate and share information with law enforcement.
Around 50 people initially regularly assisted in the search, according to Martin’s niece, Izzy Martin. Over time, though, interest has waned. The core of the group searching for Peter now consists of Izzy and her brother, Ian Martin, their mother and Jackson.
As the searches fail to unearth any insight into Peter’s disappearance, Izzy worries that people will lose interest and forget about him. She is determined not to let that happen.
“I won’t ever stop talking about it,” Izzy said.
To continue bringing attention to Martin’s disappearance, his sister and the group have created yard signs, posters and T-shirts with his photo. They put up a billboard on Interstate 35 with Martin’s photo urging motorists to contact the Fond du Lac Police Department or the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office with information.
At a saturation point
However, the tips don’t come in as frequently as they used to, and law enforcement are left pursuing theories and rumors.
Regardless of how far-fetched a tip may seem, Sathers said the sheriff’s office continues to pursue any tips it receives.
“We don’t want to shut one down that might have some truth in it just yet. We’re keeping our mind as open as possible in this case to try and bring Peter home,” Sathers said.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office has executed 15 search warrants and interviewed 37 people regarding Martin. However, Sathers described the investigation as reaching a saturation point, with the sheriff’s office having pursued all the investigators’ possible leads. They are now waiting on new information that might push the investigation in a different direction.
Physical evidence found in the initial days of the search has been scattered. The day after Martin was declared missing, search warrant applications state that one of his neighbors living nearly a mile up the road reported finding clothing and a black iPhone at the end of his driveway. A black jacket was found hanging from a tree with Martin’s phone in the pocket.
For Jackson, it doesn’t add up. Though the sheriff’s office has yet to uncover hard evidence suggesting criminal activity, Jackson feels that someone is directly responsible for Martin’s disappearance.
“Because I was so close to him. I just feel like — I wholeheartedly feel like — something happened to him and somebody is responsible for it,” Jackson said.
Seeking closure
Jackson hopes her searches will lead her to evidence that brings justice for Martin. She said she is just doing what he would have done if she went missing.
“Somebody just can’t get away with this and think it’s OK,” Jackson said.
Turning up evidence remains logistically difficult due to the terrain surrounding Martin’s home. The northern portion of the Fond du Lac Reservation is remote and consists of thick forests, swampy terrain and bogs.
“It’s such a thick forest out there that it’s, I mean, there’s so many places where Peter could be,” McTavish said.
Hunting season has traditionally helped aid searches for missing people, and Sathers is hopeful. However, time is limited.
“Once the snow flies, then things become immensely more difficult because now you can’t see evidence on the ground,” Sathers said.
As time goes on, the grief and the anger brought on by Martin’s disappearance continue to afflict his friends and family who just want closure.
“At the end of the day, it’s really hard to keep faith that we’re going to because it’s been so long that I feel like it’s just not real anymore,” Izzy said. “It’s just hard. It really is.”
Peter’s nephew, Ian Martin, a singer who performs at ceremonies and powwows, remains focused on healing and looking after his community’s spiritual well-being. He has organized healing ceremonies, awareness walks and most recently, a smudge walk for Peter.
“My only goal, my first priority, that comes first is getting closure, finding my uncle’s body and sending him home,” Ian said.
Ian is still holding on to hope Peter is found alive.
“We’ve had our ceremonies that told us a lot of things as a family,” Ian said. “But just the love that I have within me, I still do have that hope that he’s here with us walking.”
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