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

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I wonder if we’ll hear any further comments from Jake Rowley?

I’m not surprised drug use was involved. The way Sarah described Davids work pace, it makes sense. Maybe she didn’t recognize the signs? But JMO, from the jump she seemed to think he wasn’t coming home, hence the immediate ask fir financial help.
 
I wonder if we’ll hear any further comments from Jake Rowley?

I’m not surprised drug use was involved. The way Sarah described Davids work pace, it makes sense. Maybe she didn’t recognize the signs? But JMO, from the jump she seemed to think he wasn’t coming home, hence the immediate ask fir financial help.
It would also explain why there were no recent pics of him posted. Meth changes the way people look.
 
It sure would be interesting to see David's phone records.

He bought the Meth from someone. Who was that? I think David's phone records would tell who he purchased the drug from. There was some talk about Sarah's relatives relating to drugs. Did David purchase the Meth from one of them?

Did David have the drugs with him or did David may have called (texted) someone and set up a buy when he stopped at the MM126 truck stop when he was seen on surveillance video scrolling and looking at his phone. David could have planned on meeting this person at the Hwy 20 exit where he possibly parked waiting for this person to arrive and then used the drug explaining the extended amount of time it took to drive from the exit to where the truck was found parked in the middle of the road.

The big question in my mind now is if Meth or paraphernalia found in the truck, when the truck was found parked in the middle of the road. Was Meth found in the jacket, found in the ditch. Was Meth found in David's pants pocket when his body was found lying in the field. I think there had to be more Meth than just what was in his system. Did LE know all along that Meth may have played a part in this?

JMO
 
This was discussed right when he disappeared, he wasn't even wearing a coat and the temperature was too low for him not have passed within hours, assuming he was out in the open. Record low on the 21st, -10, on the 22nd the low was 19 degrees.
David was reported missing on the 21st. The evening of the 20th, early morning of the 21st, would have been when he was exposed to the elements. On that evening (early morning) the low was 39 degree Fahrenheit.

 
It's likely a moot point to argue about the temperature on the night David went missing. The primary risk is exposure, and that can happen at temps well above freezing.

From this article:
Most cases occur in air temperatures of 30 to 50 degrees. But people can succumb to overexposure even at 60 or 70 degrees. This is especially true when it is windy, because wind can carry away more heat than the body can generate, or when people get wet or land in water, because cold water accelerates heat loss 25-fold.
 
Most likely David took the meth at the final truck stop, began to feel the effects as he drove along the highway, and could no longer keep going once he reached the intersection. He probably pulled off onto the quieter Union Avenue thinking he could sleep it off or would feel better in a few minutes.

He may have been falling in and out of consciousness, explaining the long time it took for the truck to reach its final destination. He may even have been looking for a house with lights still on, or a property where he knew the owners. We'll probably never know the details. But sadly he froze to death in a field.

I just hope he wasn't still alive when the searches first started. It would be tragic if he could have been saved but was missed.
That's exactly what I had been thinking at one point. Perhaps he felt he didn't want to show up at the unloading site in that state, even if he didn't expect anyone to be there, so perhaps he thought he could sleep it off in a quiet area not too far away and then go deliver the pigs in an hour or two. Although I guess "sleeping it off" isn't something you could do while under the influence of that, being a stimulant, so maybe he left the truck to try to walk or run off some overly high energy.
 
It sure would be interesting to see David's phone records.

He bought the Meth from someone. Who was that? I think David's phone records would tell who he purchased the drug from. There was some talk about Sarah's relatives relating to drugs. Did David purchase the Meth from one of them?

Did David have the drugs with him or did David may have called (texted) someone and set up a buy when he stopped at the MM126 truck stop when he was seen on surveillance video scrolling and looking at his phone. David could have planned on meeting this person at the Hwy 20 exit where he possibly parked waiting for this person to arrive and then used the drug explaining the extended amount of time it took to drive from the exit to where the truck was found parked in the middle of the road.

The big question in my mind now is if Meth or paraphernalia found in the truck, when the truck was found parked in the middle of the road. Was Meth found in the jacket, found in the ditch. Was Meth found in David's pants pocket when his body was found lying in the field. I think there had to be more Meth than just what was in his system. Did LE know all along that Meth may have played a part in this?

JMO

Exactly, all of these questions and more.

It's not acceptable to say there were drugs in his system and that's it IMO.
Are LE saying this was a fatal dose of meth, how did he use it? smoke it? And when? If he was using an amphetamine to help him stay alert for work then he wasn't aiming for a recreational 'high' I assume? What did he get, where from, when did he take it? Was it laced with something unusual or was he even targeted maliciously with a tampered substance. So confusing.
 
It's likely a moot point to argue about the temperature on the night David went missing. The primary risk is exposure, and that can happen at temps well above freezing.

From this article:
Most cases occur in air temperatures of 30 to 50 degrees. But people can succumb to overexposure even at 60 or 70 degrees. This is especially true when it is windy, because wind can carry away more heat than the body can generate, or when people get wet or land in water, because cold water accelerates heat loss 25-fold.
I was just pointing out that it was not as cold as what you posted so people don't get the idea that is was colder than it actually was. Someone exposed to -10 °F temps would not last long without the proper clothing.

Also the latest article about the medical examiner's findings reported that the temperature was no where near that cold.

Perhaps you were looking at the wrong date. In Iowa it usually doesn't get below zero °F until around January.

Temperatures on Nov. 20, the night Schultz disappeared, dipped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The low the following day, Nov. 21, was 35 degrees. During the week that followed, the overnight low temperature at one point fell as low as 11 degrees. For three straight nights that week, the low temperature was 18 degrees. Death certificate: Trucker David Schultz died from hypothermia related to methamphetamine intoxication
 
It just all brings up more questions, as these things often do.

Was he new to using? Or a novice who just did too much?

If he was having a medical emergency, it's been pondered as to why he didn't call 911. This could be why, if that was the situation. Maybe he thought he could ride it out because going to the hospital and having this sort of thing on his record could risk his job, I assume? I doubt a hospital is required to report substance use to employers, but he may not have known that.

If they didn't find any evidence of this sort of thing in his truck or near his body, perhaps he got rid of it at that truck stop, or tossed it out the window anywhere en route.
 
It just all brings up more questions, as these things often do.

Was he new to using? Or a novice who just did too much?

If he was having a medical emergency, it's been pondered as to why he didn't call 911. This could be why, if that was the situation. Maybe he thought he could ride it out because going to the hospital and having this sort of thing on his record could risk his job, I assume? I doubt a hospital is required to report substance use to employers, but he may not have known that.

If they didn't find any evidence of this sort of thing in his truck or near his body, perhaps he got rid of it at that truck stop, or tossed it out the window anywhere en route.
David was self employed.
 
Your welcome, now I wonder if he was part of a larger random pool and how long meth stays in your system?
I wonder as well. Is it something that can be detected in bones or hair, for example, and would it show if someone took an unusually large amount, esp after 5 months. Or would it just show regular mild use, say, compared to what a toxicology test would show if someone were found deceased immediately.
 
David was reported missing on the 21st. The evening of the 20th, early morning of the 21st, would have been when he was exposed to the elements. On that evening (early morning) the low was 39 degree Fahrenheit.

People can develop hypothermia at surprisingly high temperatures, if they have inadequate shelter or clothing, are malnourished (quite likely, if he was a meth user), or it's raining.
 

Death certificate: Trucker David Schultz died from hypothermia related to methamphetamine intoxication​

---
Dr. Kelly Kruse, a state medical examiner, listed Schultz's manner of death as an accident, according to the death certificate, a copy of which was obtained by The Journal.
The immediate cause of death was listed as: "Hypothermia In the Setting of Acute Drug (methamphetamine) Intoxication." In the "description of injury line," the medical examiner listed: "Ingested drug and exposed to environmental cold."
---

This is infuriating, pathetic, sad, ... and I keep circling back to infuriating putting so many people's lives in danger. My empathy meter just went way down. RIP
 
RIP David. I hate being right about this one. The most obvious answer turned out to be the correct answer.

Generally speaking, it takes chronic use of meth to work one's way up to hallucinating. Thinking you're being chased or followed, abandoning your vehicle in a panic and running from those hallucinations, shedding one's coat along the way because you get super hot in that condition. I've known addicts who have done all these things. It was also drizzling rain that night, so real-feel got much lower than the simple air temp -- he was wet in a white t-shirt and jeans, running full speed from his hallucinations, exhausting himself, out in those fields for a long time, until he just couldn't run anymore.

With meth, it's rarely an overdose that kills the user ... it's the meth lifestyle that catches up with them. In fact, I've not personally known anyone to actually OD on meth, and I've known my fair share of meth users (snorters, mostly smokers, and sometimes shooter-uppers). David is a case in point. He was not a bad person, I'm sure he was a good person (most addicts I've known are good people), he loved his family, he worked hard, I'm 100% sure he tried to get off the stuff many times and just couldn't, he was caught up in something he had lost control over. He had an addiction. And it killed him.

You don't know people like you think you do.
 

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