Utah deputies find Idaho Falls native who disappeared as teen in California – East Idaho News

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 19-year-old who disappeared from his household’s house in California almost three years in the past has been present in Utah, bringing astonishment and aid to his dad and mom who feared they’d by no means see him once more.

Connerjack Oswalt was shivering and chilly when sheriff’s deputies got here throughout him Saturday sleeping in a comfort retailer in Summit County, recognized for its ski areas, stated Sheriff Justin Martinez. Oswalt appeared to have been residing on the streets there for about two weeks.

His household had looked for him for years, handing out fliers, scanning social media and desperately chasing down fruitless leads. They even moved again to the city of his start, Idaho Falls, hoping he would finally make it again there.

“Any hints at one thing that remotely resembled him, we’d comply with up on it,” stated his stepfather, Gerald Flint. “It’s been an actual nightmare.”
Oswalt, who has been recognized with autism and different psychological well being situations, was 17 when he left the household’s house from Clearlake, California. His mom, Suzanne Flint, remembered making quesadillas, however when it was time for lunch he was gone.

“I by no means stopped on the lookout for him. There wasn’t a day I wasn’t trying to find him, in some kind or vogue,” she stated. The precise circumstances of his disappearance and whereabouts over the past two years are underneath investigation, police stated.

What his household does know is that after deputies discovered Oswalt on the Utah comfort retailer, they requested if he wish to come of their patrol automotive and heat up. He agreed, and finally let officers take a fingerprint.

That led them to an excellent warrant from February in Nevada.

“The deputies simply felt that there was one thing there, one thing past a felony warrant. There was a humanitarian effort that wanted to be explored additional,” Martinez stated.

The officers set to work shifting by way of paperwork, on the lookout for reviews of lacking and endangered youngsters. About 16 pages in, they discovered a 2019 lacking particular person report from Clearlake, California. Although it had a barely completely different title spelling from the Nevada warrant, the pictures matched and so they referred to as his household.

When the Flints first obtained the decision, they frightened their son had been discovered lifeless. After his spouse confirmed the identification by way of a start mark, Gerald Flint left work, jumped in his automotive and drove 4 hours to Utah.

“Everybody within the room was in tears. They went above and past, put hours of labor,” he stated. “They may have dismissed it, however they didn’t and that made all of the distinction on the earth.”

Social staff educated about autism took over Oswalt’s care after the reunion along with his household, stated Summit County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright. His household is hoping to carry him again house quickly.

“We didn’t deal with him as a felony. We handled as someone that has one thing deeper that we wanted to dig into,” Martinez stated. “That instinct is what actually reunited this household.”