DNA Breakthrough Leads to Arrest in 1977 Murder of Honolulu Teen

Former classmate Gideon Castro, 66, charged with second-degree murder nearly five decades after Dawn Momohara's death at McKinley High School.

Dawn Momohara, 16, was found sexually assaulted and strangled at McKinley High School in Honolulu on March 21, 1977.
Gideon Castro, a former classmate of Momohara, was arrested at a Utah nursing home and charged with second-degree murder.
The arrest was made possible by advancements in DNA testing, which linked Castro to evidence collected from the crime scene.
Investigators reexamined DNA evidence in 2019, leading to the identification of Castro through testing of his and his family’s genetic profiles.
Castro is currently in custody in Utah and awaiting extradition to Hawaii, with police crediting the resolution to decades of investigative collaboration.