March 18, 2025
On March 21, 1977, 16-year-old sophomore student Dawn Takeyo Momohara was found murdered on school grounds.
Dawn was born December 28, 1960, in Honolulu. She was a student at McKinley High School where she was a member of the Leo club, the science Club, and Moonlight Memories.
She was found dead and partially clothed in a corridor on the second floor of the English department. It was a teacher who made the discovery at around 7:30am before classes started. An orange cloth was tied around her neck and police said her dress was pulled up over her head.
Momohara’s body was examined and it was revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
Her funeral was held on March 23, 1977, at Hosi Garden Mortuary. Her family would later publish a thank you in the local paper for the flowers and floral arrangements sent by friends and family.
DNA samples were collected from the scene and preserved, but it wouldn’t be tested until decades later.
According to homicide Lt. Deena Thoemmes, on the night of the murder, a witness driving past the school noticed a man and a vehicle on a patch of grass outside the English Department. By the time they drove back around for a second look the vehicle had left.
A composite sketch of the person of interest, as well as the suspect’s vehicle, were circulated by the Honolulu Police Department.
A sketch of the vehicle was published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on March 25, 1977. It was described as maroon with a white top, likely a two-door Pontiac Sedan with louvered opera window.
The vehicle was seen Sunday night at around 9:30p.m, in the area that Dawn's body was found. The driver was described as an Asian man, 5'5 - 5'7 in height, with a slender build and shoulder-length hair. He was described as having a beer in his hand, and wearing a short-sleeved pullover, in blue, or possibly gray, and dark trousers.
The article also mentioned that officers were searching for a man who placed an advert in an issue of the newspaper the week before that read: “Dawn, I love you.”
Friends, family, and acquaintances were interviewed by police, they were unable to identify a suspect, however learned that on the morning of her murder an unidentified man had called her. She had plans to go a shopping at Ala Moana Centre with her friends, plans that she shared with her mother.
According to an article published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on Mar 22, 1977, Dawn was last seen by her mother, Mabel, at their home on 1270 Elm Street in Pawaa.
Both the school and the shopping center were in walking distance of the victim’s home.
She left at around noon on Sunday, the day before she was found dead.
Dawn was reported missing by her mother at midnight when she failed to return home. Friends and family drove around the local area looking for her, including through the school campus. That night, there was a concert at an adjoined building, the Neal Blaisdall Centre, and the school parking lot was used by attendees.
A fellow student later told the Johnson City Press that, unaware of what had transpired, the victim's sister arrived at school and was called into the office to be informed that Dawn had been murdered.
Investigators believed dawn had been dead for around eight to twelve hours by the time she was found.
One of the people questioned that day was former classmate, Gideon Castro. Castro was arrested in January 2025 at the age of 66. He was apprehended at a nursing home by police in Utah and was charged with second degree murder.
Advances in DNA technology allowed police to identify Castro as the perpetrator. Castro graduated from McKinley High School in 1976 and went on to join the U.S Army Reserve.
The DNA evidence taken from the scene from the victim's shorts was analyzed again in 2019. The following year a DNA profile was developed.
It wasn't until 2023 that information was forwarded to police pertaining to two potential suspects, brothers who had been initially questioned in 1977.
Castro was interviewed during the initial investigation, where he said he and Momohara met for the first time at a school dance. He claimed the last time he saw her was in February 1977 at a carnival that was held on the school campus.
His brother, William, told a similar story of his first time meeting the victim. According to Thoemmes, investigators travelled to the home of William in Chicago, and obtained the DNA of one of his children, who is an adult.
Using the DNA investigators concluded that Castro's brother was not the suspect, however DNA later obtained from Castro pinned him as a suspect in the slaying.
Castro appeared in court via video link at the end of January 2025. He appeared from his hospital bed in the medical wing of the Utah jail.
He is being held at on a bond of $250,000.
March 11, 2025
