HONOLULU -- A Circuit Court jury on Wednesday found a man guilty in the slaying of a man who disappeared in 1992.

The state said Gennaro Torres killed Ruben Gallegos, who was a cashier at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange.

Torres was arrested in 2005 after Navy investigators found a witness in California who said Torres confessed to her.

The jury found Torres guilty of second-degree murder after two days of deliberating.

Authorities arrested Torres and searched his car on May 1, 1992, the day Gallegos vanished with $80,000 from the Navy Exchange. Authorities found the money and a gun with spent rounds, but did not find Gallegos' body.

The defense argued that Gallegos left the islands and there was no physical evidence that Torres killed anyone.

"Ruben Gallegos was murdered 15 years ago and his family has been waiting for justice for 15 years. This was an extraordinaryly difficult case to prosecute," Attorney General Mark Bennett said.

Gallegos' sister tearfully thanked prosecutors and the cold case squad for finally bringing justice.

"From my entire family, we are so grateful that we finally got justice. We thought this day would never come. We are so grateful and we thank you very much," Blanca Gallegos Lerma said.

Torres could go to prison for life when he is sentenced on May 29.