IA IA - David Schultz, 53, Wall Lake, 21 November 2023 #2

[Joe Friday]

ETA: Here's a link to a study of illness in long-haul truckers.



Health Risks of American Long Distance Truckers: Results from a Multi-Site Assessment

JMVHO.

I wouldn't consider David a "long-haul trucker". Long-haul Trucker or Over the Road Truckers (OTR) are living on the road for weeks at a time and eat fast food, convivence store/truck stop food all of which are not all that healthy. OTR drivers sit in their seat driving until they reach their destination or run out of hours, then sleep, get up and do it again. No exercise, no sports, no activities, only work and sleep, day in and day out. Until they get home and spend a few days there relaxing and then it's back out on the road again. Very unhealthy lifestyle.

David was likely home more than a few days a week, and had meals at home when able. Pictures of David show he is not overweight, unlike a lot of OTR drivers are.

I think David's comment about not being able to take this might have had more to do with being run ragged, more so than not being able to take it because of his health. Everyone gets burned out if pushed to hard. It sounds like the guy David hauled for pushed the guys he had hired pretty hard since David needed to run three loads that day, even knowing his family was in town visiting. I think David is the kind of guy that can't say "No, I need to take sometime off".

JMO

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I don't know. Her recent interview seems convincing, but little things still bother me. I'm pretty self reliant, what on earth does this have to do with your missing husband. Why wasn't any of his family there with her during interviewing to give her support? Rub her back, touch her hand? Maybe they can't get around, I don't know. Remember, this is all my opinion. Going out to dinner with your daughter? What? I'm weird with this one. The very beginning of all this, she's frantic, but u went to dinner. I'd be, daughter , I love but..I'm going to go look for my husband. Maybe she felt there wasn't much for her to do. I know, I know, everyone reacts differently. But I still don't believe everything she says. But I am still trying to give her the benefit of doubt. Ps. I couldn't see any tears, but my phone stinks.

Tears were one of the first things I looked for before deciding she looked genuine. The quality of the video makes it difficult to see, but there are real tears.

<modsnip - not victim friendly>

 

[B4igo2it]

If law enforcement pulls over a trucker, would the trucker shut off the semi or leave it running?
Did someone here post that the window on the drivers side was not closed?

 

[B4igo2it]

Dec 16, 2023 Sioux City Journal interview with Missing Trucker's Wife
She shows a coat similar to what Dave was wearing. Another great interview. IMO, she looks worn out. I noticed she is not wearing any jewelry.

Wife of missing Wall Lake truck driver David Schultz: 'I want my husband. It's exhausting. It's awful'

"I want my husband. It's exhausting. It's awful," Sarah Schultz said sobbing, as she clutched a plaid flannel shirt jacket that belongs to her husband, missing Wall Lake trucker David Schultz. A similar jacket was found near his abandoned truck.

siouxcityjournal.com

 

[Valiant]

If law enforcement pulls over a trucker, would the trucker shut off the semi or leave it running?
Did someone here post that the window on the drivers side was not closed?

First thing that would happen in that case would be truck flashers put on. Second the truck would be left idling unless instructed otherwise. It takes little fuel to idle a diesel so they are kept running in situations where a person might shut off a car.

 

[digworms]

This Dec 16, 2023 Sioux City Journal article- what is of note to me anyway are the captions of their photos for where "Where David Schultz's truck was found" just north of the intersection of County Road N-14 and D-15, and the sheriffs mention of a K-9, which tracked David's scent to a "field drive", the SCJ photo (titled "North of the intersection of County Road N-14 and D-15") of the possible field drive is approx. 400 ish feet farther north of where the truck was found. If the Sioux City Journal's photo locations are to be believed as accurate, I find it interesting that David's scent had him traveling even farther north after the truck was parked to the field drive depicted. Could lead one to suspect an awaiting vehicle was parked at the field drive and the truck stopped when nearing the vehicle.

 

[Ozzie]

As more information comes out, my thoughts have slightly changed. I believe self harm shouldn't be ruled out. Nor should the walking away theory. What doesn't really make sense is if David self harmed, where is he? If he walked to a barn, they probably would've found him since apparently they searched alot of the barns in the vicinity of the truck.

Also, if he committed suicide, how would he have done so? Not to mention the items found strewn in the ditch? Why wouldn't he just leave those in the truck. Cell phone charger but the cell phone itself was already in the truck?

 

[mst]

I'm assuming a field drive is an entrance to a field for tractors and trucks? If the scent ended there, it's likely he got into another vehicle either willingly or forcibly. I could go either way. The items they mentioned that were found are interesting. I wonder if anything was on the towel. Was it used to clean pig poop off of him before getting into a vehicle? Did the jacket get ditched for the same reason? The cell phone charger, was it used to restrain him possibly? Maybe it went to a different phone or had been in the jacket pocket? I know a lot of truck drivers had mentioned that they normally remove their coat before getting into the truck and put it on when they get out.

I can't remember if this is the article mentioning the passenger side window being down. The only reason I can think of it being down would be to speak to someone on the side of the road. It was kinda cold so doubtful he was just driving with it that way.

 

[geevee]

So now we have a jacket, pocket knife, phone charger and towel found in the ditch and not gloves and a muck boot? Why are the items changing? Wasn't it a previous interview where she said it was gloves and a boot found with the coat? I'm so confused.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Dec 16, 2023 Sioux City Journal interview with Missing Trucker's Wife
She shows a coat similar to what Dave was wearing. Another great interview. IMO, she looks worn out. I noticed she is not wearing any jewelry.

Wife of missing Wall Lake truck driver David Schultz: 'I want my husband. It's exhausting. It's awful'

"I want my husband. It's exhausting. It's awful," Sarah Schultz said sobbing, as she clutched a plaid flannel shirt jacket that belongs to her husband, missing Wall Lake trucker David Schultz. A similar jacket was found near his abandoned truck.

siouxcityjournal.com

I saw a question about a lack of a wedding ring somewhere else, possibly here a few days ago. I did notice that in the photo of her and her family in the pinned Venmo post, she isn't wearing one. A lot of women don't wear them all the time.

 

[dalsglen]

Just a thought, and trying to look at this from a different perspective.

The truck wasn't found and nobody began searching until 14 hours after the truck was parked at 12:40am.

If the darkness in the area would make it difficult to walk away across fields, what about waiting until sunrise at 7:00am? There would still be 8 hours before the truck was found at 3:00pm. Can we even be 100% certain there was nobody in the truck when it was spotted at 5:30am?

It makes you wonder when Sarah expected David to be home? Surely he wouldn't keep working all the next day so why wasn't she already looking for him by that point?

 

[digworms]

So from the Sioux City Journal article as well:
"When asked whether David stopped anywhere before arriving in Eagle Grove and why he was late, McClure responded, "No. I can't definitively say either way."
Sarah said her husband parks the truck and trailer at his friend's mechanic shop in Wall Lake. So, after leaving home, she said he stopped there and probably spent some time talking to his friend, who was fixing up a yellow semi David had just bought."
So the sheriff doesn't have a definite idea of where David was after leaving home but before picking up the pigs in Eagle Grove, but Sarah does?

 

[mst]

So from the Sioux City Journal article as well:
"When asked whether David stopped anywhere before arriving in Eagle Grove and why he was late, McClure responded, "No. I can't definitively say either way."
Sarah said her husband parks the truck and trailer at his friend's mechanic shop in Wall Lake. So, after leaving home, she said he stopped there and probably spent some time talking to his friend, who was fixing up a yellow semi David had just bought."
So the sheriff doesn't have a definite idea of where David was after leaving home but before picking up the pigs in Eagle Grove, but Sarah does?

I don't know that it's definite. I think she's speculating that he was chit chatting

 

[digworms]

And wouldn't Sarah ask David's friend who was fixing his semi, did David stop by your place the night he disappeared? Wouldn't LE want to ask the friend that too?

 

[neesaki]

And wouldn't Sarah ask David's friend who was fixing his semi, did David stop by your place the night he disappeared? Wouldn't LE want to ask the friend that too?

Right? Why say probably? Would that not be a known by now?

 

[Alwaysplatinum]

And wouldn't Sarah ask David's friend who was fixing his semi, did David stop by your place the night he disappeared? Wouldn't LE want to ask the friend that too?

Especially since she said that’s who she brought with her when they went to find see the truck on the road. She says the truck sits there and it was at that guys shop after it was found on the road but before the police processed it.

I’m thinking she grabbed him to go with because she knew he could drive the truck.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Tears were one of the first things I looked for before deciding she looked genuine. The quality of the video makes it difficult to see, but there are real tears.

<modsnip - not victim friendly>

It’s also been three weeks, so I imagine the tears don’t come quite as rapidly especially after having to give countless interviews repeating the same story. Maybe you build up a bit of a tolerance.

 

[MntnHiker]

Some thoughts after the reading the Sioux City Journal article:

-Has LE talked to the friend where David likely stopped to pick up his truck that night? That seems it could be important re: his mental state, what he talked about, if it was a normal visit like all the others, etc.

-This is maybe far-fetched but Sarah mentioned he would call her sometimes at work if he was going to take a nap while on a route so she could wake him up in an hour or whatever. Was he so tired, he realized he was not safe to keep driving, so he pulled off somewhere after exiting the highway to take a nap and someone entered his truck at that time? Maybe he didn't want to call her to ask for her to wake him up because it would have been late at night at that point and she likely was asleep. But then, my questions are: Would there have been a place for him to safely pull off the road to nap in that area? And what would have been the motive for someone to get in his truck and abduct him? 2K in cash was left in his wallet so robbery must not have been a motive.

-I haven't ruled out medical event but if that happened, I would have expected him to be found dead in his truck. Was there cell phone reception where his truck was found? I would think if he'd be able to leave his truck and walk anywhere during a medical event, he could get off a call to either 911 or his wife. OK, maybe he wasn't thinking clearly and maybe that also led him to turn the wrong way down the road. So he gets out to try and walk to help but then, why would he have not been found by all these searches? If having a medical event, I doubt he went far. And why throw his jacket, cell charger, towel and other stuff on the ground?

Nothing is making sense to me. MOO

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

As more information comes out, my thoughts have slightly changed. I believe self harm shouldn't be ruled out. Nor should the walking away theory. What doesn't really make sense is if David self harmed, where is he? If he walked to a barn, they probably would've found him since apparently they searched alot of the barns in the vicinity of the truck.

Also, if he committed suicide, how would he have done so? Not to mention the items found strewn in the ditch? Why wouldn't he just leave those in the truck. Cell phone charger but the cell phone itself was already in the truck?

<modsnip - not an approved source>

Could he have called a taxi from a burner phone to pick him up where the truck was found? How far away are taxi services in that area? (Guessing quite a distance away.)

I’d like to think if such a scenario occurred, the driver would, by now, let LE know he had a strange long distance pickup that night, but maybe he was paid well to stay quiet. All MOO of course.

 

[Joe Friday]

A taxi coming from a long distance away to a rural county road would likely want a credit card to ensure they got paid just in case when they arrived and there was no one there