Found Deceased IA - David Schultz, 53, Wall Lake, 21 November 2023 #3

[OldAce]

Any new developments?

This from May 10

Funeral services held Friday for David Schultz; family says they'll have second autopsy done

David Schultz's funeral services are this morning in Wall Lake. His family this week confirmed that they would have a second autopsy done after a preliminary autopsy showed no signs of trauma or serious injury.

www.kcci.com

Not as I know of. Probably waiting on/working on raising enough money or arranging the supposedly pro bono offer. Like so many facets of this mystery, time drags on between bursts. Seems as a lot of stalling on both sides is continuing to go on, SS and LE. Just hope the "final " in process is revealing.

 

[neesaki]

I don’t get it. He just walked out into a field and laid down and died?
Why is there no reports as to what happened to this mam?

 

[SharonNeedles]

I don’t get it. He just walked out into a field and laid down and died?
Why is there no reports as to what happened to this mam?

Waiting on the toxicology report to answer that question.

 

[Onebest]

I don’t get it. He just walked out into a field and laid down and died?
Why is there no reports as to what happened to this mam?

‘A preliminary autopsy in April showed no signs of trauma or serious injury. Schultz's family said this week that they'll have a second autopsy done, according to the Sioux City Journal.’ Funeral services held Friday for David Schultz; family says they'll have second autopsy done

This was already posted but I’m guessing until the toxicology comes back they really won’t have any more information besides this. I’m reading they just can’t see anything traumatic. I’m also guessing that since he was out there that long there was probably gonna be a lot of dissipation of any fluids that could give them high value info. Again, I’m just guessing. Do you suppose he could have just gotten sick and walked out there and died? I think thats possible but I sure would like to know more about the phone records, conversations, and who he was talking to prior to this event. That the toxicology would make me feel a lot better about finding him out in the field so close to his truck.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Anything that causes confusion could result in a person wandering off for seemingly inexplicable reasons.

An overdose of something could easily explain it, but so could something like a slow-bleeding stroke. Depending on the level of decomposition of the brain, I'm not sure how easy a stroke would be to spot after so long.

 

[OldAce]

Anything that causes confusion could result in a person wandering off for seemingly inexplicable reasons.

An overdose of something could easily explain it, but so could something like a slow-bleeding stroke. Depending on the level of decomposition of the brain, I'm not sure how easy a stroke would be to spot after so long.

I have wondered. What do you see/to examine for "showed no signs of trauma or serious injury."
on a body which (supposedly) lay face up, uncovered, in open wind blown field,during a fairly cold winter. for the unreported 155 days?
I would envision a somewhat mangled skeleton of missing parts. What do they have to work with on the physical exam? Strangulation would not show due to decomposition nor would particular head injury internal to the head. Tough task.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I have wondered. What do you see/to examine for "showed no signs of trauma or serious injury."
on a body which (supposedly) lay face up, uncovered, in open wind blown field,during a fairly cold winter. for the unreported 155 days?
I would envision a somewhat mangled skeleton of missing parts. What do they have to work with on the physical exam? Strangulation would not show due to decomposition nor would particular head injury internal to the head. Tough task.

Good question, and the only people who know the answer are those who have examined David's body.

If he was almost skeletonized, I think the most they could probably say was that he didn't have broken bones, a gunshot wound to the skull, knife marks on the bones, or that sort of thing. They could also look at his clothing for signs of penetrating wounds.

But if he had been frozen or mummified to some degree, his body could have been more preserved than might be expected. Marks such as strangulation marks might still be easily visible if that's the case. Sadly the brain, if I remember correctly, is usually one of the first things to decompose.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

If he had some type of medical emergency or left his truck due to being disoriented, why would he have turned the lights out and switched the engine off? That's the bit I don't get?

I could believe that the level of stress and duress plus long hours could lead to a medical event - brain aneurism / stroke / heart attack... all sorts of issues, even some form of mental break and psychosis but none of that stacks up in terms of parking the truck dark. Also the suggestion he could have taken his own life really makes no sense to me.
JMO MOO

 

[nhmemorymaker]

If he had some type of medical emergency or left his truck due to being disoriented, why would he have turned the lights out and switched the engine off? That's the bit I don't get?

I could believe that the level of stress and duress plus long hours could lead to a medical event - brain aneurism / stroke / heart attack... all sorts of issues, even some form of mental break and psychosis but none of that stacks up in terms of parking the truck dark. Also the suggestion he could have taken his own life really makes no sense to me.
JMO MOO

Medical could be so true. I have a girlfriend who changed her career to be a long hauler, when her husband, a long hauler had a huge stroke while driving his rig. He's still not well enough, but her hope is that he will be able to travel with her.

But she has explained just how much medical danger does arise from driving these rigs. They have more developed exercise, and therapy programs on the road now.

 

[Valiant]

If he had some type of medical emergency or left his truck due to being disoriented, why would he have turned the lights out and switched the engine off? That's the bit I don't get?

I could believe that the level of stress and duress plus long hours could lead to a medical event - brain aneurism / stroke / heart attack... all sorts of issues, even some form of mental break and psychosis but none of that stacks up in terms of parking the truck dark. Also the suggestion he could have taken his own life really makes no sense to me.
JMO MOO

Yes, it would seem a habit for a driver to put the flashers on and leave the truck lit when exiting in a situation such as this.
But someone taking their own life rarely makes sense to anyone but the person doing it.
Likewise expecting someone under extreme mental duress to behave logically is not realistic.
Even physical distress can make a person behave in ways that seem unreasonable in other situations.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

I have wondered. What do you see/to examine for "showed no signs of trauma or serious injury."
on a body which (supposedly) lay face up, uncovered, in open wind blown field,during a fairly cold winter. for the unreported 155 days?
I would envision a somewhat mangled skeleton of missing parts. What do they have to work with on the physical exam? Strangulation would not show due to decomposition nor would particular head injury internal to the head. Tough task.

BBM

I think strangulation in a partially/fully skeletonized body could show as a broken hyoid bone. (Asphyxia - Autopsy & forensics)

Hopefully the full autopsy report (including toxicology and microscopic findings) will clarify the cause of death and that in turn may also explain some of the odd circumstances around the disappearance (why the wrong turn, why the unusual way the truck was parked, why he didn't deliver the pigs first, etc..)

 

[Onebest]

BBM

I think strangulation in a partially/fully skeletonized body could show as a broken hyoid bone. (Asphyxia - Autopsy & forensics)

Hopefully the full autopsy report (including toxicology and microscopic findings) will clarify the cause of death and that in turn may also explain some of the odd circumstances around the disappearance (why the wrong turn, why the unusual way the truck was parked, why he didn't deliver the pigs first, etc..)

And we still have no official word on cell phone records. Who and when he talked to folks then and in the recent past. I believe that could be enlightening. JMO

 

[Penny4YourThoughts]

Any recent news surfacing? Unpopular topic: If David is not the sole human involved in this accident/tragedy, who else was & how? If others were involved in his intentional death, WTF for? Why him?

 

[SharonNeedles]

Any recent news surfacing? Unpopular topic: If David is not the sole human involved in this accident/tragedy, who else was & how? If others were involved in his intentional death, WTF for? Why him?

There is nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved or that his death with intentional. Still waiting on the toxicology results, that should clear things up.

 

[Trobeld1]

There is nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved or that his death with intentional. Still waiting on the toxicology results, that should clear things up.

Not just toxicology but also final analysis ie blot clot or aneurysm. These things are not known in initial autopsy, takes further analysis to find. Big question may be how was he not found sooner if was a medical or drug induced result?

 

[dulcinea]

Not just toxicology but also final analysis ie blot clot or aneurysm. These things are not known in initial autopsy, takes further analysis to find. Big question may be how was he not found sooner if was a medical or drug induced result?

Interesting thought about a blood clot. Aren't they more common in trucker drivers because of all the sitting? It would explain why he was seemingly fine when he stopped and was seen on camera, then shortly after appeared to have issues. He could have pulled over in pain or confusion, exited his truck, became disoriented, and was found months later with no apparent signs of foul play.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

My main argument against the concept of a medical event etc is that he parked up, turned the lights and the engine off. That's surely not normal in any circumstances as it endangers other road users and would be surely counter-intuitive to a trucker no matter how unwell or confused they felt? Also, it requires additional actions than just jumping out the cab so it's proactive as opposed to passive. JMO

 

[KooshBall]

Interesting thought about a blood clot. Aren't they more common in trucker drivers because of all the sitting? It would explain why he was seemingly fine when he stopped and was seen on camera, then shortly after appeared to have issues. He could have pulled over in pain or confusion, exited his truck, became disoriented, and was found months later with no apparent signs of foul play.

I just feel like the normal reaction would be to reach for his phone to call 911, or even his wife, not get out of the truck and walk away.

 

[dulcinea]

I just feel like the normal reaction would be to reach for his phone to call 911, or even his wife, not get out of the truck and walk away.

I agree, but he might not have been in his right mind or might have just thought he needed some cool, fresh air.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I'm not sure how helpful this is, but I recently read a news story (which I'm afraid I can no longer find) about a man who suffered a stroke whilst out shopping. He said he started to become confused, and was wandering around the shop for about 15 minutes, still trying to shop, before a store worker recognised his symptoms and called an ambulance.

It just goes to prove that kind of medical emergency isn't always immediately incapacitating.