Autistic teen who went missing from California in 2019 just found shivering and cold in Utah
A heartwarming story is being shared out of Utah after the Summit County Sheriff’s Office reported being contacted over the past couple weeks by concerned community members who called to report a homeless person who was “wandering around the Kimball Junction area, pushing a shopping cart.” Deputies responded each time and offered services to the young man, who was “NOT” violating any laws and who refused any help, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Finally, on Saturday, April 9, a truly concerned community member contacted deputies after seeing the young man sleeping at the Jeremy Store in Jeremy Ranch.
Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies responded again and found the shivering young man. They got him in to their warm patrol vehicle and began investigating to try and figure out his identity.
Through past interactions and their most recent interaction on April 9, it became clear to deputies that the man communicated differently. As officials continued their investigation, they discovered that the homeless person wandering around their community pushing a shopping cart was Connerjack Oswalt, who was reported as an autistic teen that had gone missing from California back in September 2019.
Oswalt was reported missing when he was 16-years-old from Clearlake, California, which is approximately a 700 mile, 11.5 hour drive from where he was found in Summit County, according to CNN. Deputies were able to touch base with the teen’s mother who confirmed her son’s identity by describing a unique birth mark on his neck. Oswalt’s stepdad and grandfather made the trip to Park City, Utah, to be reunited with their missing family member.
CNN shared the dialogue caught on the phone call between Oswalt’s mother and stepfather after he arrived in Park City:
“Is it him?” Oswalt’s mother can be heard from the phone, which was on speaker.
“A little bit older, but yeah,” Oswalt’s stepfather responds.
“My sweetheart’s alive,” the mother is heard saying, while sobbing on the phone.
Fox 13 News reported that Oswalt is now “safe in a treatment facility and his family is relieved to know that he is OK.” There was no word from the family or the authorities on how Conner came to be missing in the first place. For now, everyone is celebrating his safe return.
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source and Connerjack Oswalt Missing poster image: Summit County Sheriff)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
