Nevada arrest warrant helps reunite missing California teen with family

A yearslong search for an autistic teen who disappeared in California came to a heartwarming end last week, thanks in part to a warrant for his arrest issued in Goodsprings.

Connerjack Oswalt, now 19, disappeared from his home in Clearlake, California, in September 2019.

“I never stopped looking for him. There wasn’t a day I wasn’t searching for him, in some form or fashion,” Oswalt’s mother, Suzanne Flint, told The Associated Press.

Just after 5 a.m. on April 9, nearly three years after Oswalt disappeared, deputies with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office in Utah found an unidentified man in front of a convenience store in the Park City area. Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said deputies persuaded the man to get into their patrol car.

“He was cold and shivering. It was a very cold morning,” Wright told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday. “They offered to get him into their patrol vehicle. It was simply a kind gesture to help him get warm.”

Inside the patrol car, deputies persuaded the man to give them his fingerprint, which then was run through a police database, Wright said. Deputies learned that the man was wanted in Goodsprings under the name “Conner Oswald” on charges that he attempted to assault a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper with a rock along Interstate 15 in October.

An online search by a dispatcher then determined that “Oswald” was actually Oswalt, and the missing man was reunited with his family.

“It turned out to be a very miraculous encounter,” Wright said.

Encounter on I-15

Exactly what Oswalt has been doing and how he survived since he went missing is a mystery. What is known is that a trooper encountered him on Oct. 19, 2021, at 2:21 p.m. along the right shoulder of the northbound lanes of I-15 near Goodsprings, according to an arrest report written by Trooper Chris French.

“I was concerned for the subject’s welfare because he was walking near the solid white fog line and appeared oblivious to his surroundings,” French wrote in the report.

French pulled over and attempted to make contact with the man later identified as Oswalt. French said Oswalt continued to walk away from him.

“The male subject seemed to be distraught and angry and appeared to be in some type of distress,” the trooper wrote. “His behavior was that of a person unable to care for themselves or provide proper shelter for himself.”

French said it appeared Oswalt was starting to cry, but then he took a posture indicating he wanted to fight the trooper. French warned Oswalt that he would use his Taser if necessary but Oswalt ignored the trooper’s commands, French said. Oswalt then bent over, picked up a large rock and threw “the rock at my head barely missing me,” French said.

French said he used the stun gun on Oswalt with little effect. French briefly pulled out his firearm but was able to apprehend Oswalt by instead ordering him to the ground. Another trooper also helped put Oswalt in handcuffs and an ambulance was called to the scene for an evaluation.

Booked as a John Doe

Oswalt gave the trooper three different names: Conner Jack, Conner Stray and Conner Oswalt with two different dates of birth. Authorities could not immediately verify his identity. He was later booked at the Clark County Detention Center as a “John Doe” on charges of assault on protected person and attempted battery. He was charged under the name “Conner Oswald,” according to Goodsprings Justice Court records.

Although Oswalt had been reported missing in California, this would not have come up when Oswalt was booked at the Southern Nevada jail unless his fingerprints were entered into a police database when he was initially reported missing, Las Vegas police spokesman Larry Hadfield said.

Wright said it appears there were no fingerprints on file in police databases from the California missing persons case because Summit County authorities only got a hit on the “Conner Oswald” arrest and warrant out of Clark County.

Court records indicate that it was quickly clear to authorities in Goodsprings that mental health issues were at play in Oswalt’s prosecution.

Clark County public defender Shannon Phenix notified the court that her client did not appear to understand the charges, he was unable to display appropriate courtroom behavior or provide relevant information to his attorney.

Oswalt was sent to Lakes Crossing in Sparks where mentally ill defendants are examined to determine if they are competent to stand trial.

Oswalt pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of assault. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges a guilty verdict is likely if the case were to go to trial.

Oswalt was ordered to pay a $500 fine or complete 50 hours of community service with a suspended six-month jail sentence. On Feb. 8 the court learned Oswalt had not been in touch with his attorney. By Feb. 22, a bench warrant was issued in Goodsprings for his arrest.

‘Not a dry eye in the room’

Wright said prior to the Summit County deputies’ encounter with Oswalt outside the convenience store, law enforcement had multiple encounters with Oswalt. Concerned citizens repeatedly called the sheriff’s office to report a homeless man pushing a shopping cart in an area where the overnight temperatures regularly dip below freezing.

“Each of those times our deputies went and made contact with him,” Wright said. “He was reluctant to give any information but our deputies didn’t have any reason to press for more information for his identity because he wasn’t violating the law.”

Wright said deputies repeatedly offered the unidentified man help but “everything that we offered to him he refused. He said he was fine.”

After Oswalt was taken to a patrol car to get warm outside the convenience store — and after police realized he was wanted under the name “Conner Oswald” in Clark County — a dispatcher started searching online records from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

”Sixteen pages in she comes across the name Connerjack Oswalt with a t,” Wright said. “They looked at the photo on the missing person flier, of course they have him, they are interacting with him, and they were like ‘My goodness, we think this is him.’”

Oswalt’s family was then notified.

“Our deputies met with the stepfather and grandfather, showed some photos, and we had mom on the phone,” Wright said. “Pretty emotional meeting with our deputies. Not a dry eye in the room.”

Oswalt was taken to a hospital and reunited with his family, Wright said, but Oswalt did not want to go home with them. Local authorities in Utah are now providing resources to Oswalt and his loved ones.

“One of our local social workers on crisis outreach has basically been a liason between medical care workers and the family,” Wright said.

Wright said deputies there were honored to try and get help to Oswalt.

“We are happy that Connerjack was found alive,” he said.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.