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

[imstilla.grandma]

"He works and he comes home, and that's it," Schultz said by phone Friday afternoon of the 53-year-old Wall Lake man, who went missing earlier this week under mysterious circumstances. "This is suspicious. Something's wrong. This is not something David would do. He would never leave. His family is his life."

"He had to do another Seaboard load from Eagle Grove to Sac City," she said. "He just washed up and changed and gave me a kiss and ran out the door. He's always in a hurry."
Schultz said David was eager to get his work done and come back home, since her daughter and grandson were visiting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. However, on Tuesday morning, Schultz found the man whom David hauls livestock for on her doorstep. David was supposed to transport a load of baby pigs from Eagle Grove to Sac City, but they never arrived.

"He said, 'Have you spoken to Dave?'" Schultz recalled. "I said, 'No.' He said, 'No one can get ahold of him and the pigs haven't been dropped off yet.'"

Wall Lake trucker's wife makes plea for help after his disappearance

"He works and he comes home, and that's it," Schultz said by phone Friday afternoon of the 53-year-old Wall Lake man, who went missing earlier this week under mysterious circumstances.

siouxcityjournal.com

 

[Inthedetails]

Just tossing an idea out here....could someone else have been driving when the truck was abandoned, someone who managed to drive it but without the skills to pull over and park on the side of the road? Maybe David isn't near the truck but somewhere else, like at a truck stop, roadside rest stop, etc.

It is very strange for an experienced truck driver to leave the truck like it was. Well, maybe an experienced truck driver didn't leave it like that.

speculation, jmo.

 

[Knox]

Why Wall Lake?

It’s where he lives and left from, read the news accounts from wife.

 

[Knox]

There was a request for financial help made on day one, might have been day two. I wonder if the family was struggling?

 

[Snoopster]

Possible timeline:

• shortly before 7:30 pm arrives home; gets change of clothes
• 7:30pm leaves home in Wall Lake
• 9:00pm arrives in Eagle Grove (90 minute drive from Wall Lake; presumes he doesn't stop on the way there)
• 9:30 leaves Eagle Grove after loading piglets (how long would it take to load?)
• 11:15 pm would have been earliest expected arrival in Sac City if he didn't make any stops there or back
• "early morning hours" - last heard from (mentioned in article)
• after 3:30 am truck abandoned on hwy 71 5 miles north of #20, facing northbound (this location is about a 15-20 minute drive past Sac City)

So where was he for those missing hours? He was heard from in the early morning hours. Even if he stopped for dinner on the way to Eagle Grove surely that wouldn't have taken several hours. His wife implied that he would never leave his loaded trailer, so where would he have gone?

Here's a map. (Note that his truck was found a couple of miles south of Juniata by my estimate.)
google maps - Wall Lake - Eagle Grove - Juniata

 

[Inthedetails]

Possible timeline:

• shortly before 7:30 pm arrives home; gets change of clothes
• 7:30pm leaves home in Wall Lake
• 9:00pm arrives in Eagle Grove (90 minute drive from Wall Lake; presumes he doesn't stop on the way there)
• 9:30 leaves Eagle Grove after loading piglets (how long would it take to load?)
• 11:15 pm would have been earliest expected arrival in Sac City if he didn't make any stops there or back
• "early morning hours" - last heard from (mentioned in article)
• after 3:30 am truck abandoned on hwy 71 5 miles north of #20, facing northbound (this location is about a 15-20 minute drive past Sac City)

So where was he for those missing hours? He was heard from in the early morning hours. Even if he stopped for dinner on the way to Eagle Grove surely that wouldn't have taken several hours. His wife implied that he would never leave his loaded trailer, so where would he have gone?

Here's a map. (Note that his truck was found a couple of miles south of Juniata by my estimate.)
google maps - Wall Lake - Eagle Grove - Juniata

Great timeline - thank you.

It's been reported that the truck was in the opposite direction of his drop-off location. From looking at this time line, it seems like the truck overshot the drop off spot and was heading away from it (not that the truck was traveling in the opposite direction from an earlier location).

If his truck was somehow taken from him (not a fact, just thinking aloud), it continued in the same direction he was heading.

From the spot where he picked up the hogs to the spot where he was supposed to drop them off, is there a turn he had to make?

thinking aloud, jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Great timeline - thank you.

It's been reported that the truck was in the opposite direction of his drop-off location. From looking at this time line, it seems like the truck overshot the drop off spot and was heading away from it (not that the truck was traveling in the opposite direction from an earlier location).

If his truck was somehow taken from him (not a fact, just thinking aloud), it continued in the same direction he was heading.

From the spot where he picked up the hogs to the spot where he was supposed to drop them off, is there a turn he had to make?

thinking aloud, jmo

Adding...I'm now looking at the map @Snoopster provided. Thank you!

I was expecting perhaps a fork in the road or a turn off would provide some clue. But, nope.

Helpful map.

Back to the drawing board. jmo

 

[Knox]

When hogs are loaded into the livestock trailer, the driver helps. It’s been said the clothing/boots Dave wore in that process were not found in the truck. Drivers don’t wear ‘loading clothes/boots” in the cab. Removed before they begin driving because they get dirty & stinky.

Based on that particular detail and Dave’s driving habits per his wife’s statements in the media. It’s not a stretch to assume something happened between loading and departure (late Monday night/up to 3:30 am Tuesday morning). His wife doesn’t believe Dave drove the truck to the location it was found.

The search has already began at Brushy State Recreation area. Hoping the Cajun Navy finds some answers for his wife today. Curious what led them there to begin with.

 

[charminglane]

I'm guessing no baby pigs were missing from the load.
And that the load was locked up when found.
Or I'm just assuming that since I have not read those details anywhere.

 

[Snoopster]

When hogs are loaded into the livestock trailer, the driver helps. It’s been said the clothing/boots Dave wore in that process were not found in the truck. Drivers don’t wear ‘loading clothes/boots” in the cab. Removed before they begin driving because they get dirty & stinky.

Based on that particular detail and Dave’s driving habits per his wife’s statements in the media. It’s not a stretch to assume something happened between loading and departure (late Monday night/up to 3:30 am Tuesday morning). His wife doesn’t believe Dave drove the truck to the location it was found.

The search has already began at Brushy State Recreation area. Hoping the Cajun Navy finds some answers for his wife today. Curious what led them there to begin with.

This is helpful. I know nothing about hog farming.

I did come across this video that shows them loading feeder pigs onto a tractor trailer. They are leaving the farm where they were nurseried and heading to a farm that will fatten them up. (a feeder farm?) The loading starts at 6:00 in the video.

 

[Knox]

This is helpful. I know nothing about hog farming.

I did come across this video that shows them loading feeder pigs onto a tractor trailer. They are leaving the farm where they were nurseried and heading to a farm that will fatten them up. (a feeder farm?) The loading starts at 6:00 in the video.

Seemed like a pretty streamlined process. I've seen comments that it takes anywhere from 25 minutes to two hours to load a stock trailer of pigs. Probably depends on the set-up.

Our kids did pigs in 4-H until moving on to steers/breeding heifers. I'm a softie, enjoyed the process until it came to auction day, saying goodbye and knowing their ultimate fate. I also can't eat what we grow/harvest - I see faces

 

[charminglane]

I wonder if hauling hogs was a normal job/trip for David.
As in a regular routine drive someone may have scoped out.
Is a typical workweek many different hauls from all over?
Are there any hauls David would turn down?

 

[Tealgrove]

The pigs weren’t taken. The truck wasn’t taken.

Dave was taken. It appears to me that Dave was targeted.

Why?

 

[Inthedetails]

Wouldn't the truck have GPS? Or his phone? I'm thinking he stopped somewhere after loading the hogs - to get food? Use the restroom? If his stuff isn't in the cab, it could have been discarded anywhere along the route.

It's also possible something happened at the load-in site, but I would assume there would be witnesses if so?

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Wouldn't the truck have GPS? Or his phone? I'm thinking he stopped somewhere after loading the hogs - to get food? Use the restroom? If his stuff isn't in the cab, it could have been discarded anywhere along the route.

It's also possible something happened at the load-in site, but I would assume there would be witnesses if so?

jmo

Or pick up someone who needed/wanted to ride with him and it went bad? jmo

 

[Snoopster]

Wouldn't the truck have GPS? Or his phone? I'm thinking he stopped somewhere after loading the hogs - to get food? Use the restroom? If his stuff isn't in the cab, it could have been discarded anywhere along the route.

It's also possible something happened at the load-in site, but I would assume there would be witnesses if so?

jmo

His phone and wallet (with money) were found in the truck. His jacket was found in a ditch across the road from his truck.

I had wondered if he stopped for gas and possibly some food along the way. Along the route from Eagle Grove to Sac City there was only one obvious place to me for a truck to stop for gas. It's a Sinclair gas station with Sparky's One Stop convenience store and a Godfather's Pizza. The parking lot is very large and practical for tractor trailers. It's at the Hwy 20 Road 4 exit to Rockland about 3/4 of the way back to Sac City.

 

[neesaki]

This is helpful. I know nothing about hog farming.

I did come across this video that shows them loading feeder pigs onto a tractor trailer. They are leaving the farm where they were nurseried and heading to a farm that will fatten them up. (a feeder farm?) The loading starts at 6:00 in the video.

So Sad. Maybe I’ll stop eating pork.

 

[charminglane]

His phone and wallet (with money) were found in the truck. His jacket was found in a ditch across the road from his truck.

I had wondered if he stopped for gas and possibly some food along the way. Along the route from Eagle Grove to Sac City there was only one obvious place to me for a truck to stop for gas. It's a Sinclair gas station with Sparky's One Stop convenience store and a Godfather's Pizza. The parking lot is very large and practical for tractor trailers. It's at the Hwy 20 Road 4 exit to Rockland about 3/4 of the way back to Sac City.

Perhaps that location has a camera.

 

[Ravenmoon]

Someone in my family drove long haul for many years. I asked him what he thought could have happened.

He said that if something happens with the braking system, you have very little time before the breaks lock up completely, and if there was not an appropriate place to pull off, it's possible stopping in the road would be the only choice.

Other possibilities:

He wanted to check the livestock, perhaps worried that something wasn't secured.

Someone flagged him down for help.

If this was a company vehicle and he worked for a company:
Believe it or not some drivers will walk away from their truck because they are tired of being away from their families during the holidays. *This is unlikely because they will almost always finish their deliveries and leave the truck empty at a lot*
Not to mention, he left his wallet behind.


JMO

 

[detectivewannab]

Just tossing an idea out here....could someone else have been driving when the truck was abandoned, someone who managed to drive it but without the skills to pull over and park on the side of the road? Maybe David isn't near the truck but somewhere else, like at a truck stop, roadside rest stop, etc.

It is very strange for an experienced truck driver to leave the truck like it was. Well, maybe an experienced truck driver didn't leave it like that.

speculation, jmo.

Yes, his wife has also said that. I guess livestock haulers have coveralls and boots that they take off before getting back in their semi. There were not located in the semi. Many people think something happened while loading. Today the are searching a state park near Eagle Grove. Praying they find him.