Missing California Teen Found Safe in Utah Over 2 Years Later

A family’s years-long search for their autistic son has finally come to an end.

According to KTLA, 19-year-old Connerjack Oswalt was found safe last week in Park City, Utah, about 700 miles away from his home in Clearlake, California. The teen, who was diagnosed with autism eight years ago, was just 16 when his family reported him missing in September 2019. They would spend the next two and half years searching for their son, who reportedly had a “history of running away.”

In recent weeks, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office began receiving reports about a young man who was seen pushing a shopping cart as well as sleeping in front of a store. Authorities eventually approached the man and asked him if he wanted to get in their car to get warm. He accepted the offer, but refused to give his name, prompting officers to run a finger scan. It was at that time when deputies discovered the teen had a warrant out of Nevada; however, they were convinced there was something more to the story.

Officers decided to look through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database, and eventually found what they believed to be a match. According to outlets, there was a discrepancy in the spelling of Oswalt’s name, so they reached out to his family confirmation. His stepdad, Gerald Flint, immediately drove from the family’s new home in Idaho to Summit County, Utah, and confirmed the young man was, in fact, their missing son.

“We’ve had a lot of false hope over the last two and half years,” Flint told FOX 13. “Honestly, I’m still dumbstruck by the whole situation. To find him alive is incredible.”