Connerjack Oswalt, the now-19-year-old who disappeared from his family home in California in 2019, has been found in Utah.
Connerjack, who has autism and has also been diagnosed with other mental health conditions, vanished from his family's home in Clearlake, California, aged 17.
His parents never stopped looking for their son, however, and thanks to tireless help from the authorities, the Flint family have now been reunited.
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His mother, Suzanna, had been making quesadillas on the day her son disappeared, but by the time lunch was ready, Connerjack was nowhere to be found.
"I never stopped looking for him. There wasn't a day I wasn't searching for him, in some form or fashion," the devoted mother told CBS News.
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As years passed, the hopes of finding Connerjack seemed to be fading – that is, until authorities in Utah were tipped off to reports of a homeless man wandering about the streets.
Taking to Facebook to share the news, the Summit County Sheriff's office said: "Over the past couple weeks, many in our community called us about a homeless person wandering around the Kimball Junction area, pushing a shopping cart.
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"Deputies responded each time and offered services to the young man, who was NOT violating any laws - he refused any help. Finally, on Saturday April 9th, a truly concerned community member contacted us after seeing the young man sleeping at the Jeremy Store in Jeremy Ranch. Summit County Sheriff’s Deputies quickly responded and found a cold young man. They got him in their warm patrol vehicle and began digging to find out who the man was."
Deputies continued their search, taking the young man's fingerprints and finding an outstanding arrest warrant from February in Nevada, but they didn't stop there.
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Sheriff Justin Martinez said: "The deputies just felt that there was something there, something beyond a criminal warrant. There was a humanitarian effort that needed to be explored further."
With Connerjack's name obtained from the warrant, the officer began filling through paperwork on missing and endangered children.
That's when the officers found a 2019 missing person report from Clearlake, California, and while the name on file was slightly different from the warrant, the photos matched.
The authorities then contacted Suzanna in a call she'd been hoping to receive for years.
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She confirmed it was Connerjack by telling authorities about her son's birthmark, and her husband Gerald made the four-hour journey to see his son again.
"Everyone in the room was in tears. They went above and beyond, put hours of work," Gerald said of the long-awaited reunion.
"They could have dismissed it, but they didn't, and that made all the difference in the world."
Connerjack is currently under the care of social workers, with his family hoping to welcome him home soon.
Details about where the young man was all this time are currently being investigated.
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