Teen Got Call from an Unknown Man 47 Years Ago Before Being Raped, Strangled. A Suspect Was Just Arrested

A nearly 50-year-old Hawaii cold case murder might have finally been solved following the arrest of a suspect in a Utah nursing home. 

Dawn Momohara, 16, was found dead on the second floor of McKinley High School in Honolulu on March 12, 1977. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled, with an orange cloth found tightly wrapped around her neck, Honolulu police Lt. Deena Thoemmes said at a press conference on Jan. 21.

The morning before she was killed, Dawn reportedly received a phone call from an unknown male. Later, she told her mother that she was going to a local shopping center with her friends. Her mother never saw her again, police said at the press conference.

For decades, no suspect was charged in connection with Dawn’s murder, despite a sketch of his face and a description of his possible vehicle, a 1974 or 1975 Pontiac Lemans with a maroon body and white vinyl top.

Now, Honolulu police say a DNA match has led them to arrest Gideon Castro, a 66-year-old man living in a Utah nursing home.

According to Thoemmes, Castro had graduated from McKinley High School in 1976 and had met Dawn at a school dance that same year.

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DNA samples from the investigation were tested by a lab in 2019, leading to Castro and his brother being identified as potential suspects, Thoemmes said.

Castro’s brother was eventually excluded as a suspect after further testing, leading to Castro’s arrest.

It is not immediately clear if Castro has been formally charged.