HONOLULU (KHON2) -- The murder of a Honolulu teen in 1977 was solved after an arrest was made thousands of miles away. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The body of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara was found at McKinley High School in March 1977. She was partially clothed and was pronounced dead at the scene, with an orange cloth wrapped around her neck. An autopsy later showed that she had been murdered by strangulation. Fluids were recovered from her body at that time. A witness said he and his girlfriend saw a car and a male at the high school the night before Momohara was found. Witnesses said the man was walking out from the ground floor steps. The witnesses described the man they saw as Asian, late teens to early 20s, with shoulder-length, wavy combed back hair. They also described the car as a 2-door two-toned car. Police seek help to solve decades-old murder of McKinley High School student The description was circulated but no clues came of it. HPD interviewed friends and family, including Gideon Castro, who said he had met Momohara at a school dance. The case went cold after investigators were unable to identify a suspect at that time. In 2019, evidence was sent to the HPD forensics lab in a renewed bid to solve the case. A partial DNA profile was identified after being obtained from Momoharaʻs shorts. Gideon and his brother were identified as the possible contributors in September 2023, however, his brother was excluded after a sample from the brotherʻs child was compared to the evidence. A sample from Gideon was collected and was determined that it was a match to evidence from the crime scene. Lt. Deena Thoemmes credits the closure of the case to the technological advancements in DNA. Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here Castro was arrested on suspicion of murder in the second degree at a nursing home Tuesday morning at 7:40 a.m. in Utah. Castro is awaiting extradition to Honolulu.