There were no updates in the case until 2019 when cold case detectives asked a forensic biology unit to examine several items of evidence from the scene, including Momohara's underwear

The unsolved death of a teenager in 1977 haunted students and staff at Honolulu's McKinley High School for nearly half a century.

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

Dawn Momohara was 16 years old when her body was found on the second floor of McKinley High School in Honolulu in 1977. For decades, detectives had failed to identify a suspect in the murder case but now, thanks to a breakthrough in DNA technology, they have arrested a former classmate, police confirmed.