After Three Years, Missing California Teen With Autism Finally Found Safe In Utah

An autistic teenager who was reported missing from Northern California in 2019 was recently found in Summit County, Utah. Connerjack Oswalt, who was diagnosed with autism in 2014, was 16 years old when he was reported missing from Clear Lake, California, on Sept. 29, 2019. He was last seen in nearby Willows, California, roughly one week after he was reported missing. His family’s years-long search for their son has finally come to an end.

According to FOX 13 News, in recent weeks, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office began receiving reports about a young man who had been seen pushing a shopping cart in the area. While officials met him a number of times, they checked on his well-being but never learned of his name and did not do anything else as he wasn't committing a crime. “As we’ve dealt with this individual he has never been aggressive towards law enforcement but he’s been resistant towards law enforcement,” said Sheriff Justin Martinez with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

They also received a report of a man sleeping outside of a store in Jeremy Ranch over the weekend. “Deputies [were] dispatched early in the morning and it’s the same individual we’ve been dealing with the past couple of weeks,” said Sheriff Martinez. “This morning he’s very cold, he’s shivering, he’s obviously had a rough night.” Authorities eventually approached the man and asked him if he wanted to get in their car to get warm. He accepted although he did not give his name but consented to a finger scan. Officials learned that the teen had a warrant out of Nevada but they believed there was something else.

“The Deputies again felt there’s more to this story, there’s something more this individuals being resistant, reluctant to communicate,” said Sheriff Martinez. “After about 16 pages of scouring through names and photographs and trying to find something that might match up, came up with the name, Connerjack Oswalt,” Martinez said. There was a discrepancy in the spelling of his last name, so they reached out to his family for confirmation. The family had moved from California to Idaho after their home was badly damaged in a wildfire.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the room and we’re talking law enforcement, family members, they been reunited with this individual they haven’t seen for three years when he was 16, he’s now 19,” said Sheriff Martinez. Oswalt's mother and stepfather have been through a rough couple of years without news of their child. “We’re just grateful that he’s safe and he’s alive and we have our son back. That’s the most important thing ever for us,” said mom Suzanne. “It’s the compassion, it’s the empathy, it’s looking at the bigger picture and feeling that there’s something here,” said Sheriff Martinez of his deputies. “Although he had a warrant, there was a something deeper that these individuals, my deputies felt like they needed to explore.” The teen is now safe in a treatment facility. “We’ve had a lot of false hope over the last two and half years,” Gerald Flint, Oswalt’s stepfather told FOX 13. “Honestly, I’m still dumbstruck by the whole situation. To find him alive is incredible.”