Cold Case Crack: 1977 Murder of Hawaiian Teenager Solved Through DNA Evidence

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Law enforcement officials apprehended 66-year-old Gideon Castro at a nursing home in Utah on charges related to the 1977 murder of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara in Honolulu, Hawaii. The breakthrough in the decades-old cold case came after modern DNA technology linked Castro to the crime.

Momohara, a sophomore at McKinley High School, was reported missing on March 20, 1977, after she did not return home from a planned outing. Her body was discovered the following morning on the school campus, with the autopsy revealing that she died from asphyxia due to strangulation, along with signs of sexual assault.

During the early investigation, Castro, who had graduated from the same high school one year prior, was interviewed but was not initially considered a suspect. It was only years later, as detectives revisited the case with advanced DNA testing, that Castro emerged as a suspect. DNA evidence taken from the scene matched that of Castro after samples were collected from him and his family.

At a press conference, Lieutenant Deena Thoemmes expressed gratitude to the agencies involved in solving the case and reiterated the commitment to achieving justice for Momohara and her family. Castro is currently awaiting extradition to Hawaii to face charges of second-degree murder.

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