Emily Brown
Bodycam footage filmed by officers in Utah shows the moment they found missing teenager Connerjack Oswalt.
Connorjack, who is now 19 years old, was reported missing by the Clearlake Police Department on 29 September, 2019, and it wasn't until this month that he was found sitting and shivering outside a petrol station in Summit County, roughly an 11.5-hour drive away from his home.
The teen was diagnosed with autism in 2014, and police managed to identify him on 9 April by searching the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database.
See how police approached Connorjack below:
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In the days leading up to Connorjack being identified, residents of Summit County described seeing a man in the area pushing a shopping trolley. Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputies had been in contact with the man, but never learned his name as he wasn't committing a crime.
Speaking to Fox 13 Now, Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez explained: "As we’ve dealt with this individual, he has never been aggressive towards law enforcement, but he’s been resistant towards law enforcement."
It was after receiving reports of a man sleeping outside a shop in Jeremy Ranch that the above bodycam footage was filmed, showing officers noting that Connorjack looked like he was shivering and asking if he wanted to sit in the patrol car to warm up. After confirming he wasn't going to be 'taken anywhere', the teen agreed and took a seat in the car. Once there, he consented to a finger scan which returned a warrant for his name, which they used to explore the missing children's database.
Officers were able to inform Connorjack's family that he had been found, with his stepfather Gerald Flint describing himself as 'dumbstruck' by the situation. Later bodycam footage showed the moment the teen's mother heard the news over the phone.
She could be heard expressing her shock as she cried and said, "My sweetheart's alive. Oh my God."
Martinez said there 'wasn't a dry eye in the room' as the family learned that Connorjack was okay, saying: "We’re talking law enforcement, family members, they had been reunited with this individual they haven’t seen for three years when he was 16. He’s now 19."
"We’re just grateful that he’s safe and he’s alive and we have our son back. That’s the most important thing ever for us,” said Connorjack's mother, Suzanne Flint.
The teenager was taken to a treatment facility after being found.
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