Missing California teen found safe in Utah years later

PARK CITY, Utah (KSTU) - Connerjack Oswalt, an autistic teenager who went missing in California in 2019, was recently found in Utah.

After years of fearing for his safety, the family is overjoyed.

Connerjack was 16 years old when he was reported missing from Clear Lake, California.

After his disappearance, his family didn’t see or hear from him.

A few weeks ago, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office started receiving reports about a man pushing around a shopping cart. One concerned citizen reported the same man sleeping in front of a store.

Body camera video shows officers approaching Connerjack in front of the store and asking if he would like to sit in the car to warm up after a very cold night.

In the car, Connerjack would not tell the officers his name, but he allowed deputies to scan his finger and with technology, it showed that he had a warrant out of Nevada.

Sheriff Justin Martinez said the officers felt there was something more to his story.

“There’s something more, this individual being resistant, reluctant to communicate,” he said.

The officers took it upon themselves to comb through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database. After nearly 20 pages of scouring through names and photographs and trying to find something that might match up, his name came up.

Deputies then called his family, who had moved from California to Idaho.

Connerjack’s stepfather, Gerald Flint, immediately drove from Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Park City, Utah.

After fearing the worst for nearly two years, his family was finally reunited with Connerjack.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” Martinez said. “They’ve been reunited with this individual they haven’t seen for three years when he was 16. He’s now 19.”