2025.1.21 Man arrested in Utah in connection with Honolulu 1977 cold case
SALT LAKE CITY – A man was arrested in Utah on Tuesday in connection with a 1977 Honolulu cold case. He was identified using DNA testing.
Gideon Castro, 66, was arrested at approximately 10:40 a.m. at a nursing home in Millcreek by the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, according to confirmed reporting by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. A spokesperson with the Honolulu Police Department told KSL TV Castro was a resident of the nursing home.
On March 21, 1977, Dawn Momohara, 16, was found dead on the second floor of a building on the McKinley High School campus, according to a release from the Honolulu Police Department. Police said Momohara was sexually assaulted and strangled, and an autopsy ruled her death as a homicide.
DNA collected at the crime scene was determined to be “seminal fluid with the presence of sperm,” according to reporting. Police said they collected DNA from Castro’s son and found the sample confirmed he was “a biological child of the unknown male.”
Investigators with the Honolulu Police Department then reportedly flew to Utah and “covertly acquired” a DNA sample from Castro that matched the DNA found on Momohara’s shorts.
Police said Castro was interviewed in March 1977, when he told police he knew Momohara and met her at a school dance. He was later identified as a suspect, according to police.
Castro is being held in Utah on a fugitive from justice – warrant of arrest.
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