Autistic boy who went missing almost 3 years ago in California found

A 19-year-old who disappeared from his family's California home nearly three years ago was found on Saturday in Utah after wandering the area with a market cart for several weeks.

Connerjack Oswalt was shivering from the cold when he was found by police officers, who said he had been sleeping in a Summit County tent for two weeks.

Deputies headed to a gas station on the morning of April 9 in the greater Park City area after "many in our community called us about a homeless person wandering around the Kimball Junction area, pushing a shopping cart," according to a Facebook post from the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

"Officers began investigating who this young man was," the release continues. Eventually, they were able to determine that it was Connerjack, an autistic boy who was reported missing in California in September 2019.

His family had been searching for him for years, handing out flyers, posting ads on social media, and chasing down any clues that might lead to his whereabouts. They even returned to the city of Idaho Falls, where Connerjack was born, hoping to find him there, reports Telemundo 51.

The young man was diagnosed with autism and other mental health conditions. At 17, he left his family home in Clearlake, California. His mother returned at lunchtime to find that Connerjack was no longer in the house.

"I never stopped looking for him. There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't looking for him, in some way, shape or form," his mother said.

After the officers found Connerjack in Utah, his family learned that they asked him if he would like to get into the patrol car and warm up. The young man agreed, allowing the officers to take his fingerprints to identify him, the television station continued.

Police also found that the Connerjack had an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Nevada from February.

In the car, officers also searched for reports of missing and endangered children. After searching 16 different pages, they found a 2019 missing person report from Clearlake. The photos matched despite having a slightly different name than the Nevada warrant.

Social workers knowledgeable about autism took over Connerjack's care after meeting with his family, Summit County Sheriff's Lt. Andrew Wright said, according to CNN. His family hopes to bring him home soon.