An autistic 19-year-old who went missing from California in 2019 was found sleeping alone in a cold parking lot in Utah. With the help of deputies, he has since been reunited with his family.
“When our deputies made contact with Connerjack on the morning of April 9, 2022, he was cold and alone at the Jeremy Store gas station in the greater Park City area,” Administrative Lieutenant Andrew Wright, of Summit County Sheriff’s Office, told The Epoch Times. “We'd had several previous interactions with Connerjack, but were unable to identify him because he refused to tell us who he was.”
Connerjack Oswalt was not in violation of the law, so despite receiving multiple reports about him pushing a cart in the area, the deputies never demanded his information.
However, on April 9, Wright said: “[He] agreed to sit in the front seat of one of our police cruisers, where he warmed up. The deputy scanned his finger with a fingerprint scanner, and an arrest warrant popped up.”
Concerned and wanting to help the displaced teen, deputies and dispatchers dug deeper. A 911 dispatcher searched the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website and, 16 pages in, came across a flyer for a Connerjack Oswalt who went missing from his home in Clearlake, California, in September 2019.
Deputies made contact with Connerjack’s mother, Suzanne Flint, who claimed her son had a distinctive birthmark on his neck.
“Deputies looked, and saw the described birthmark,” said Wright. “The family was very emotional when they found out we located him; you can hear the mother on the phone on the deputy’s body cam.”
When Connerjack’s identity was confirmed, said Wright, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
“This is a very rare call for us to experience in Summit County, mostly because we are a mountain community that gets very cold at night,” he reasoned. “Additionally, we don’t have a lot of resources for transient people, so it’s an uncommon encounter.”
Since Connerjack went missing, his family didn’t stop looking for him for even a day. They handed out fliers, looked through social media, and even made an effort to move back to his birthplace of Idaho Falls, Idaho, hoping he would show up there.
Praising the deputies who reached out to the family, Connerjack’s stepfather said, “They could have dismissed it, but they didn’t and that made all the difference in the world.”
After being alerted that Connerjack was found, his stepfather and grandfather went to Park City, Utah, to identify the missing teen in person and finally reunite with him. They met him at a local hospital, where he was receiving the care and resources he needed, Wright told The Epoch Times.
Wright praised Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez for being instrumental in the teen’s ordeal.
He told The Epoch Times: “We truly believe Sheriff Martinez’s approach to law enforcement has greatly impacted the way our deputies police. That includes serving with compassion, common sense, and with the community’s best interests in mind.
“The State of Utah passed legislation last year that requires law enforcement to do annual training on autism awareness and mental health awareness. Not only have we done that training, but we have taken it to heart.”
Finding Connerjack was the “cherry on top” for the sheriff’s office, and during April’s Autism Awareness Month, they were able to drive home the importance of compassionate policing and using their training in real-world scenarios.
“We are grateful for the outcome of this case,” said Wright. “We are grateful we were able to get Connerjack the resources he needs to live a healthy and happy life, and we are also happy we were able to bring closure to the family.”
