Honolulu Police say modern forensic tests allowed them to identify and arrest a suspect in Dawn Momohara's 1977 murder.

Before Dawn Momohara was killed, she got a call from an unknown male and told her mother she was going to a shopping center. That was the last time her mom saw her, police said.

Dawn Momohara, 16, was partially clothed, with an orange cloth tightly wrapped around her neck, police said. She appeared to have been sexually assaulted and strangled.

DNA evidence helped lead long-stymied detectives to a suspect in the murder of Dawn Momohara, 16, who was strangled and found dead at her high school.

Nearly a half-century after Dawn Momohara’s body was found, Gideon Castro, 66, was arrested in a Utah nursing home and charged with her murder.

Dawn Momohara, 16, was found dead inside McKinley High School on Monday, March 21, 1977, according to Honolulu police. Photo from Honolulu Police Department ...

Police have finally arrested a suspect in a nearly 50-year-old cold case in which a Hawaii teenager was found dead at her high school. Dawn Momohara was 16 years old when her body was found on the ...

Dawn Momohara, 16, was found dead inside McKinley High School on Monday, March 21, 1977, according to Honolulu police. Photo from Honolulu Police Department ...

Dawn Momohara, 16, was found dead inside McKinley High School on Monday, March 21, 1977, according to Honolulu police. Photo from Honolulu Police Department ...