Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History

Dawn Momohara murder. McKinley High School murder. Honolulu cold case. Hawaii true crime. In this Beneath the Palms episode, we revisit the 1977 killing of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara, found dead on campus at McKinley High School on March 21, 1977. Nearly 48 years later, advances in DNA testing helped investigators arrest former McKinley student Gideon Castro in Utah. Then the case shifted again, leaving Dawn’s family, classmates, and Honolulu still waiting for a final courtroom ending.

This episode traces Dawn’s life, the night she vanished, the evidence left behind, the long cold-case silence, the DNA breakthrough, the Utah arrest, the extradition decision, and the release that pushed the case back into uncertainty. If you’re searching for Dawn Momohara, Gideon Castro, McKinley High School murder, Honolulu murder case, Oahu cold case, or Hawaii cold case DNA arrest, this episode is built to give you the clearest public-record timeline we have right now.

If this story stays with you, follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify and wherever you listen. If you know something that has never been said out loud, CrimeStoppers Honolulu is 808-955-8300.

Sources:

Honolulu Police Department — Dawn Momohara cold case page — https://www.honolulupd.org/cold-case/dawn-momohara/

Hawaii News Now — Suspect arrested in 1977 cold case murder of McKinley High student — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/01/22/suspect-arrested-1977-cold-case-murder-mckinley-high-student/

Hawaii News Now — Suspect in 1977 murder of McKinley High student will be extradited to Hawaii — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/02/27/suspect-1977-murder-mckinley-high-student-will-be-extradited-hawaii/

Hawaii News Now — Judge orders release of McKinley High cold case murder suspect — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/03/14/judge-orders-release-mckinley-high-cold-case-murder-suspect/

Honolulu Civil Beat — Grim Memories Resurface After Police Arrest Suspect In 1977 Hawaiʻi Murder — https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/01/grim-memories-resurface-after-police-arrest-suspect-in-1977-hawai%CA%BBi-murder/

Honolulu Civil Beat — Utah Judge Orders Release Of Suspect In 1977 Hawai‘i Killing After Prosecution Stalls — https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/03/utah-judge-orders-release-of-suspect-in-1977-hawaii-killing-after-prosecution-stalls/

Courthouse News Service — Honolulu won’t extradite suspect in 1977 murder case, needs more time to investigate — https://www.courthousenews.com/honolulu-wont-extradite-suspect-in-1977-murder-case-needs-more-time-to-investigate/

Associated Press — Grim memories resurface after DNA advances lead to arrest of suspect in Hawaii teen’s 1977 murder — https://apnews.com/article/6c877c9d710a44e7ab57ca42edfed988

The Pinion — Dawn Momohara — https://mhspinion.com/features/2025/03/21/dawn-momohara/

#DawnMomohara #GideonCastro #McKinleyHighSchool #HonoluluTrueCrime #HawaiiColdCase #OahuTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimePodcast #ColdCase

In this revisited episode, we return to one of Hawaii’s most haunting unsolved maritime mysteries: the 1979 disappearance of the Sarah Joe and the five Hana men who never came home. What began as a calm-day fishing trip out of Hana Bay became a story of violent weather, a massive search, years of silence, and a discovery on remote Taongi Atoll that raised as many questions as it answered.

This episode follows the disappearance of Benjamin Kalama, Ralph Malaiakini, Scott Moorman, Patrick Woessner, and Peter Hanchett; the Coast Guard search across tens of thousands of square miles; the 1988 discovery of the Sarah Joe more than 2,000 miles away in the Marshall Islands; and the identification of Scott Moorman’s remains near a grave marked by driftwood and stones. It is a story about the ocean, but even more than that, it is a story about Hana, memory, and the families who were left to live with silence.

If you’ve heard this case before, this revisited version stays closer to the people at the center of it and the facts we can actually hold onto.

Sources used in this episode:

“40 years later, mystery still surrounds the Sarah Joe and its five Hana fishermen who didn’t return” — The Maui News

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2019/02/40-years-later-mystery-still-surrounds-the-sarah-joe-and-its-five-hana-fishermen-who-didnt-return/

“Lost fishermen still cast shadow 30 years later” — Honolulu Star-Bulletin

https://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20090220_Lost_fishermen_still_cast_shadow_30_years_later

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“Lost Hawaiian Fishermen” — Unsolved Mysteries

https://unsolved.com/gallery/lost-hawaiian-fishermen/

“Adventurer Eulogized 10 Years After Being Lost in South Seas” — Los Angeles Times

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-06-me-455-story.html

Mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.”

#SarahJoe #Hana #Maui #HawaiiTrueCrime #MissingAtSea #UnsolvedMystery #ScottMoorman #BenjaminKalama #RalphMalaiakini #PatrickWoessner #PeterHanchett #BeneathThePalms

The Diane Suzuki disappearance remains one of Hawaii’s most haunting cold cases. In July 1985, 19-year-old University of Hawaii student, Rainbow dancer, and part-time dance instructor Diane Suzuki vanished in broad daylight after finishing class at the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy in Aiea, Hawaii. Her purse, keys, and car were left behind, and her body has never been found.

This episode revisits the Diane Suzuki case with a deeper, fact-based look at the tight timeline, the island-wide search across Oahu, the later discovery of blood in the studio bathroom, the long focus on a person of interest, and the grand jury process that still ended without charges. Where the record is strong, we stay with it. Where the record thins, we say so plainly.

If you remember Aiea, Pearl City, Halawa, the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy, or anything connected to Diane Suzuki’s disappearance on July 6, 1985, even a small memory may still matter. Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon, and share this episode with someone who remembers Hawaii in the mid-1980s.

Sources used:

University of Hawaii student Diane Suzuki, 19, vanishes in broad daylight — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/09/university-hawaii-student-diane-suzuki-19-vanishes-broad-daylight/

A major break in the case turns Diane Suzuki’s disappearance into a homicide — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/09/major-break-case-turns-diane-suzukis-disappearance-into-homicide/

‘Unexplained fingernail scratches’ lead to person of interest, backyard search for Diane Suzuki — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/09/unexplained-fingernail-scratches-lead-person-interest-backyard-search-diane-suzuki/

Grand jury reviews evidence in Diane Suzuki’s murder case — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/09/grand-jury-reviews-evidence-diane-suzukis-murder-case/

Can new technology help authorities find who killed Diane Suzuki? — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/09/can-new-technology-help-authorities-find-who-killed-diane-suzuki/

40 years after Diane Suzuki’s disappearance, her high school sweetheart opens up about the painful loss — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/08/40-years-after-diane-suzukis-disappearance-her-high-school-sweetheart-opens-up-about-painful-loss/

Whatever Happened... Lack of evidence halts Suzuki case — https://archives.starbulletin.com/2000/05/03/news/whatever.html

Diane Yayoe Suzuki — https://charleyproject.org/case/diane-yayoe-suzuki

What School You Went? Diane Suzuki — https://www.pbshawaii.org/wsyw02022022-dianesuzuki/

#DianeSuzuki #HawaiiColdCase #Aiea #UnsolvedMurder

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we revisit the unsolved murder of Leilani Castro Kim, a 44-year-old mother of three who had recently moved from Hilo to Kona and just started a new job at the Kona Hilton, now the Royal Kona Resort. On August 1, 1978, she was found murdered in her hotel room bathtub in Kailua-Kona. More than four decades later, the case remains unsolved.

This is a fact-based retelling built on the public record. We stay close to what Hawaii Police says happened, where the timeline is clear, and where it still isn’t. We also step carefully into the public chatter around the case, but only with clear boundaries between what is verified and what is not.

Leilani was known as an outgoing and successful businesswoman. Before Kona, she had owned a jewelry store at Hilo Mall and worked as a top sales agent for an insurance company in Hilo. She had gone to her high school reunion just days before her death. Then, in the middle of starting over, her life was cut short.

If you were on the Big Island in the summer of 1978, knew Leilani, worked at the Kona Hilton, or remember anything that may matter now, Hawaii Police still wants to hear from you. Unsolved Homicides Division: (808) 961-2380. Crime Stoppers: (808) 961-8300.

Sources used in this episode:

Hawaii Police Department — Leilani Kim Murder (B-24897)
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/leilani-kim-b-24897/

Hawaii Police Department — Unsolved Homicides
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/news-and-media/unsolved-homicides/

Hawaii Police Department — Submit a Tip About an Unsolved Homicide
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/news-and-media/unsolved-homicides/submit-a-tip-about-an-unsolved-homicide/

Honolulu Civil Beat — The Miske Criminal Enterprise May Be Gone But Other Powerful Crime Networks Remain
https://www.civilbeat.org/2024/07/the-miske-criminal-enterprise-may-be-gone-but-other-powerful-crime-networks-remain/

#LeilaniCastroKim #UnsolvedMurder #KonaHilton #HawaiiTrueCrime

Lisa Au murder. Hawaii cold case. Oahu unsolved murder. Tantalus Drive.

Lisa Uhiwaimama Au was 19 years old when she left Kailua, drove into heavy Oahu rain, and never made it home. Her car was found near Maunawili. Ten days later, her body was found off Tantalus Drive. More than 40 years later, her murder remains one of Hawaii’s most haunting unsolved cases.

This is Episode 01 Revisited of Beneath the Palms. Lisa’s story was the premiere episode when the show first launched, but this revisit goes deeper. Not just into the evidence, the fake-police-officer theory, the public fear, or the investigation that may have gone wrong from the beginning, but into Lisa herself, her family, and the people left carrying questions that never stopped hurting.

Original newspaper coverage described Lisa as bright, cheerful, responsible, and expected home. Her parents, Pat and Chester Au, pleaded publicly while she was still missing. Volunteers, Marines, friends, family, church members, and searchers from across the community tried to bring her home. Later, her family kept pushing for answers through grief, legal setbacks, and the long silence that follows when a case stays unresolved.

This episode follows the verified timeline: Lisa leaving Susan Beers Salon in Kailua, the rainy drive from Makiki toward home, the abandoned Toyota near Maunawili, the fear around blue lights and possible police impersonation, the discovery on Tantalus, the grand jury that returned no indictment, and the later questions raised about the original investigation.

If you know anything about the Lisa Au case, contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300 or submit a tip at www.honolulucrimestoppers.org. Even after all these years, one detail could still matter.

Sources:

• Hawaii News Now - 37 years ago, her murder gripped Oahu. But from the start, the investigation went astray - https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/04/17/years-ago-her-murder-gripped-oahu-start-investigation-went-astray-2/
• Hawaii News Now - Buried Evidence: Special report unearths new evidence in death that gripped Oahu - https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/04/17/buried-evidence-special-report-unearths-new-evidence-death-that-gripped-oahu/
• Hawaii News Now - PODCAST: On The Other Side of Paradise, the ongoing quest for the truth in Lisa Au’s murder - https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/05/26/podcast-other-side-paradise-explores-what-ex-police-chief-will-encounter-prison-4/
• The Daily Beast - Lisa Au murder in Oahu, Hawaii still haunts Honolulu Police Department - https://www.thedailybeast.com/lisa-au-murder-in-oahu-hawaii-still-haunts-honolulu-police-department
• Honolulu Police Department - Cold Cases - https://www.honolulupd.org/information/cold-cases/
• CrimeStoppers Honolulu - https://www.honolulucrimestoppers.org/

#LisaAu #HawaiiColdCase #HawaiiTrueCrime #OahuTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms