An autistic child missing from California since 2019 was reunited with his family Saturday after being located in Utah.
Bodycam footage captured the emotional exchange between police and Connerjack Oswalt’s mother as she was notified that her autistic son, now 19-years-old, was found shivering outside of a gas station just 700 miles away, according to CNN. The mother sobbed and said, “My sweetheart’s alive,” according to the bodycam footage. “Can you go get him please?” she said, according to the video.
Oswalt was reported missing from Clearlake, California, in September of 2019, according to CNN.
Summit County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright confirmed he had interacted with Oswalt at a gas station in the greater Park City area April 9, after receiving reports from a “concerned community member” that there was a man sleeping at that location, according to CNN.
He had been spotted wandering the area with a shopping cart for several weeks, CNN reported. Police indicated that at the time, he had not violated any laws, and therefore had not been asked to identify himself, the outlet reported. (RELATED: US Marshals Say They Rescued 16 Missing Children, Some In Suspected Sex Trafficking Ring)
After encountering Oswalt again Saturday, Wright said that police offered the shivering boy a chance to warm up in the front seat of their vehicle and continued to try to identify him, according to CNN. An eagle-eyed dispatcher scoured through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website and spotted Oswalt’s image, the outlet reported.
Oswalt’s mother described a unique birthmark on her missing son’s neck, which was used to confirm the missing boy’s identity, according to Mediaite.