Summit County, Utah, authorities in the United States heard about a young man wandering around the area with a shopping cart for several weeks.
When they found him last Saturday, they discovered he had been missing for nearly three years in Northern California, more than 1,100 kilometers away.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a gas station on the morning of April 9 in the Park City metro area after a “concerned community member” reported seeing the man sleeping there, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. a post on Facebook. The area is about a 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City.
Officers offered the man to sit inside one of their vehicles to warm up and began researching who he was, the sheriff’s office said. “Through previous interactions and Saturday’s interaction, it was clear to deputies that the man communicated differently,” the sheriff’s office said, and also included an autism awareness hashtag in its Facebook post.
A dispatcher began perusing the pages of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website and, on more than a dozen pages, found a missing Connerjack Oswalt poster.
Oswalt, now 19, was reported missing in September 2019 from Clearlake, California, northwest of Sacramento and about an 11.5-hour drive from Summit County.
Authorities believed it was the same person they found shaking at the gas station.
“Officers started making calls and were able to get in touch with Connerjack’s mother,” Lt. CNN by email.
His mother told authorities that Oswalt had a distinctive birthmark on his neck. Deputies found the mark on Oswalt, Wright said.
Although officials had previous interactions with Oswalt prior to that day, he had not shared who he was and the police “had no reason to demand his information because he was not breaking the law,” Wright said.
Oswalt’s stepfather and grandfather went to Park City, Utah, to personally identify him and meet, Wright told CNN.
In one of two body camera videos sent to CNN from the sheriff’s office, Oswalt’s stepfather is seen exclaiming in disbelief as the police show him a photo of Oswalt to confirm it was the same person. Wright told CNN that Oswalt had a previous arrest warrant.
“It’s him?” Oswalt’s mother could be heard over the phone, which was on speakerphone.
“A little older, but yes,” replies Oswalt’s stepfather.
“My love is alive,” the mother is heard saying, while sobbing into the phone. “Can you go get him, please?”
Oswalt’s mother and stepfather have moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho, since he disappeared, officials said.
Oswalt was still receiving care and resources and had not yet made it to Idaho, Wright said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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