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

[charminglane]

Just some random thoughts as this really perplexes me.


I absolutely do not believe Dave made it to his destination. It doesn't add up.



Travel time from the Marker 126 Truck Stop to the intersection of Highway 20 and U.S. 71 is 40 mins per Google. Assuming he drove directly from Point A to Point B, that would imply he left the truck stop at approximately 11:38pm.

VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS

1 month later: Where the search stands for missing Iowa man David Schultz

Volunteers have searched over 100,000 acres of land while the Sac County Sheriff's Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigate his disappearance.

www.kcci.com

And that implies he left at approximately 11:31pm. There's a 7 minute discrepancy there, but that's absolutely not enough time to get to his destination and back to this intersection that's at least 5 minutes away. It's far more plausible to explain those 7 minutes as the time it takes to get that big rig turned around, out of the parking lot, turn onto Highway 20, and get up to speed. I would be certain that he drove that stretch with no interruption.

Nothing is weird about that drive until he turns North on U.S. 71 - to get to his destination he should have turned South.

But I note that had he turned south, he would have arrived at his destination about 5 minutes after turning onto US 71 south. He would have arrived at approximately 12:23 am. He was running 23 minutes behind schedule already. I'm wondering if perhaps his route was right on schedule for the midnight eta until he stopped at the Marker 126 Truck Stop. If that stop wasn't planned or allotted for, that would explain why he was running behind.

But this...



And this...


From the intersection of Highway 20 and U.S. 71 to the location where his truck was found is roughly 4.4 miles, approximately a 5 minute drive putting him there at approximately 12:23am. If he didn't reach the point where his truck was found until 12:40am, it took him 22 minutes.

I've got to speculate that something went very wrong before the point where his truck ended up. Somewhere shortly after turning North on US 71. At some point did he realize he was going the wrong direction? If so, there's not a lot of opportunity to get a big rig pulled over or turn around. It would make sense to turn off on one of those cross roads and loop back around. The roads there are laid out in 1 mile grids, so maybe he tried that?

View attachment 470955

I don't know, I've got nothing.

@SharonNeedles
Good to see you here for David.

 

[SharonNeedles]

In thinking about the facility where he was supposed to unload the pigs I thought I have read here from people who have worked with pigs that the drivers do not load or unload the pigs. Is that correct? Because the information we have would seem to indicate that nobody was going to be at the location where the pigs would be unloaded. Why else talk about dropping off paperwork at a box?

From my own experience working at an Iowa hog farm - that was 24 years ago, but I assume this much is unchanged:

Biosecurity is a huge priority. When loading from barn to truck, the workers inside the barn move the pigs to the loading chute, but they don't go beyond that. When loading from truck to barn, the driver backs up to the chute but doesn't enter the barn. I don't think it's possible for a driver to deliver and unload solo without some really unacceptable biosecurity risks.

 

[B4igo2it]

Were areas south of Hwy 20, near Weichman part of the 100,000 acres searched? I recall N of Hwy 20 searched and Brushy Creek. If DS is being held against his will or restrained, time may be running out and he needs to be found. In earlier searches, there was no snowfall. I hoped more would have been organized, including another Iowa State Patrol Air Wing thermal imaging search (link below). The ground will soon be snow covered for the next 3-4 months and chances of locating him even slimmer.
o/t: I recently visited MN, it's cold up

ISP Air Wing | Iowa Department of Public Safety

History

dps.iowa.gov

 

[iusedtofloat]

Were areas south of Hwy 20, near Weichman part of the 100,000 acres searched? I recall N of Hwy 20 searched and Brushy Creek. If DS is being held against his will or restrained, time may be running out and he needs to be found. In earlier searches, there was no snowfall. I hoped more would have been organized, including another Iowa State Patrol Air Wing thermal imaging search (link below). The ground will soon be snow covered for the next 3-4 months and chances of locating him even slimmer.
o/t: I recently visited MN, it's cold up

ISP Air Wing | Iowa Department of Public Safety

History

dps.iowa.gov

I will leave it at this: I appreciate your optimism

 

[abanddb123]

So at the closed truck stop David supposedly stopped at for 16 minutes, are we sure this is him. If it is him, he called someone, or someone called him? Maybe? 16 minutes is a long phone call to me if you are up to something. Moo. Wild theory, but maybe someone was already in the truck with him somehow. Whatever was going to happen, started there. Why would he pull in the truck stop for 16 minutes? Was he even on his phone? Did he get out for any reason? The only thing this could be, is he really did leave on his own, or someone wanted him gone. I have no clue, getting more and more confused. This sounds really crazy, but on Sarah's Facebook posts, some of the posts tag David in them, like for him to see. Did he leave for financial gain? I can't see this happening, u would get caught. What are the few things people get disappeared for? Love, money, jealousy, drugs, and suicide. What else, I'm sure there are more. Sorry for the rambles, but I'm really wondering about this one. Not my first. Won't be the last. Moo

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

It just occurred to me, though, that often you can buy a little inexpensive “cigarette lighter to USB” adapter so it’s possible he could charge a phone in the cab with one, assuming the cab had a cigarette lighter…

A cigarette lighter adapter could also be the "phone charger" found in the ditch.

As with so much on this case, we're told things that don't really tell us anything at all. Was it the kind of phone charger you would expect to remain in the truck, or the kind that you would expect to be carried around in a pocket? Was it normal for Dave to be carrying it around?

The kind of phone charger doesn't really matter, except that it would help to know if it should have been outside the truck at all.

 

[TL4S]

Just some random thoughts as this really perplexes me.


I absolutely do not believe Dave made it to his destination. It doesn't add up.



Travel time from the Marker 126 Truck Stop to the intersection of Highway 20 and U.S. 71 is 40 mins per Google. Assuming he drove directly from Point A to Point B, that would imply he left the truck stop at approximately 11:38pm.

VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS

1 month later: Where the search stands for missing Iowa man David Schultz

Volunteers have searched over 100,000 acres of land while the Sac County Sheriff's Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigate his disappearance.

www.kcci.com

And that implies he left at approximately 11:31pm. There's a 7 minute discrepancy there, but that's absolutely not enough time to get to his destination and back to this intersection that's at least 5 minutes away. It's far more plausible to explain those 7 minutes as the time it takes to get that big rig turned around, out of the parking lot, turn onto Highway 20, and get up to speed. I would be certain that he drove that stretch with no interruption.

Nothing is weird about that drive until he turns North on U.S. 71 - to get to his destination he should have turned South.

But I note that had he turned south, he would have arrived at his destination about 5 minutes after turning onto US 71 south. He would have arrived at approximately 12:23 am. He was running 23 minutes behind schedule already. I'm wondering if perhaps his route was right on schedule for the midnight eta until he stopped at the Marker 126 Truck Stop. If that stop wasn't planned or allotted for, that would explain why he was running behind.

But this...



And this...


From the intersection of Highway 20 and U.S. 71 to the location where his truck was found is roughly 4.4 miles, approximately a 5 minute drive putting him there at approximately 12:23am. If he didn't reach the point where his truck was found until 12:40am, it took him 22 minutes.

I've got to speculate that something went very wrong before the point where his truck ended up. Somewhere shortly after turning North on US 71. At some point did he realize he was going the wrong direction? If so, there's not a lot of opportunity to get a big rig pulled over or turn around. It would make sense to turn off on one of those cross roads and loop back around. The roads there are laid out in 1 mile grids, so maybe he tried that?

View attachment 470955

I don't know, I've got nothing.

Exactly what bothers me, and I'll add that him accidentally making a wrong turn doesn't add up, either, because it doesn't account for the 22 minutes to drive 4 miles, and if he needed a good road to turn on to take a route back the right direction (vs making a u-turn), then he passed the best road (190th) and kept going north to where the truck ended up.

I don't think he made it to his destination because cell data and camera footage don't support that, according to LE. Doing the math, there would have only been about 5-7 minutes for something to happen to him at the delivery location.

I also got nothing. No scenario works.

 

[Seattle1]

I find the "friend almost hitting his semi at 5:30am" thing the most strange aspect out of every detail I have seen this far... like... what? They saw it and didn't call in a deserted semi in the road? Did they not know what Dave's semi looked like?
Weird.

I think the statement by Sarah S. is being taken out of context: She said the friend was traveling to feed their own animals and allegedly passed David's rig twice at 5:30 AM and around 7:30AM -- truck was stopped on the road with no lights/flashers -- i.e., explaining how they almost hit the rig in the dark.

Fortunately, the truck was moved by Dave's mechanic once it was located and it would not be a hazard at nightfall.

The comment came after-the-fact and the friend assumed the truck probably had a mechanical malfunction and Dave was handling it as they all expected of him. It caused no alarm until after Dave was deemed missing.

 

[TL4S]

So at the closed truck stop David supposedly stopped at for 16 minutes, are we sure this is him. If it is him, he called someone, or someone called him? Maybe? 16 minutes is a long phone call to me if you are up to something. Moo. Wild theory, but maybe someone was already in the truck with him somehow. Whatever was going to happen, started there. Why would he pull in the truck stop for 16 minutes? Was he even on his phone? Did he get out for any reason? The only thing this could be, is he really did leave on his own, or someone wanted him gone. I have no clue, getting more and more confused. This sounds really crazy, but on Sarah's Facebook posts, some of the posts tag David in them, like for him to see. Did he leave for financial gain? I can't see this happening, u would get caught. What are the few things people get disappeared for? Love, money, jealousy, drugs, and suicide. What else, I'm sure there are more. Sorry for the rambles, but I'm really wondering about this one. Not my first. Won't be the last. Moo

In one of her interviews, Sarah described that stop, and said it was for sure DS, and nothing seemed unusual. She said he scrolled on his phone and walked around the truck like a normal check. What I find odd is that she never specifically says if he was filling up his truck with gas. Maybe she takes for granted that people know that since he was at a gas station? IDK. I'm guessing he was getting gas because that would be one reason for stopping despite running late. Nothing was said about him making a phone call.

It's so weird. It just doesn't sound like someone who plans to leave his life, one way or another, imo.

 

[katydid23]

I don’t think drugs have anything to do with this either, but what if the scenario was a personal drug buy rather than him transporting?
“many truck drivers who know they must drive too long are turning to illegal drugs to force themselves to stay awake. One study uncovered that truckers use cocaine more than any other drug. Because trucking companies are not required to do hair tests, the number of truckers guilty of this seems to be largely underreported.”

Truck Drivers Use Dangerous Measures to Keep Awake - Merkel & Cocke, P.A.

Truckers are driving under the influence of cocaine more often. Call the Mississippi truck accident attorneys at Merkel & Cocke if you were hurt in a crash with an impaired trucker.

www.merkel-cocke.com

While the article mostly refers to long haul truckers, the short haul folks get exhausted, too, especially if they are making many runs a day. David’s wife said he was always exhausted, always running. So much so that she sometimes didn’t speak to him for a couple of days at a time.
My problem with this scenario is that if David’s disappearance is the result of a drug deal gone bad, why was his wallet with $2000.00 in cash left at the scene and why no evidence, (as far as we know), of any kind of a struggle? Furthermore, a dealer teaching a lesson would not cart off a dead body when he was already in the middle of nowhere.
I am in no way implying that David was involved in any kind of drug use, just trying out various scenarios to see what might fit.

Your questions above---of why a dealer would cart off a body, or even kill a customer, and leave all the cash in his wallet behind, as you point out---those things seem confusing if it was a drug deal.

The one type of meet up which might make sense, would be if he was meeting up with a romantic interest. Maybe he did have someone he was involved with. Could a jealous husband or BF have followed her and seen DS meeting up with her?

Or did a woman lure him away into some kind of a trap? Again, all the money left behind makes that also seem unrealistic.

The money left behind makes me lean towards self harm---like it's being left for his family. But I think 'voluntarily missing' is still on the table too. And maybe he left the money on purpose, to help the family for a minute?

 

[Alwaysplatinum]

I think the statement by Sarah S. is being taken out of context: She said the friend was traveling to feed their own animals and allegedly passed David's rig twice at 5:30 AM and around 7:30AM -- truck was stopped on the road with no lights/flashers -- i.e., explaining how they almost hit the rig in the dark.

Fortunately, the truck was moved by Dave's mechanic once it was located and it would not be a hazard at nightfall.

The comment came after-the-fact and the friend assumed the truck probably had a mechanical malfunction and Dave was handling it as they all expected of him. It caused no alarm until after Dave was deemed missing.

I just cant wrap my head around the police having the mechanic move the truck. Even though he was called in as a possible medical emergency (according to one of Sarah’s interviews), once Dave wasn’t in the truck or nearby, it should’ve been treated as a crime scene.
…and even in the pure dark, driving by an obvious red and white striped truck, you’d question it, I’d think…. And maybe give Dave and or Sarah a call..

 

[neesaki]

IMO, this has to be the most arrogant Sheriff Interview I've ever listened to. Keyboard detectives, Perry Mason, seriously?...

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7313265999040761134

And unfortunately his arrogant, narrow minded attitude will be a hinderance to solving the case and finding DS. Hopefully DCI has taken over.

 

[Valiant]

I find the "friend almost hitting his semi at 5:30am" thing the most strange aspect out of every detail I have seen this far... like... what? They saw it and didn't call in a deserted semi in the road? Did they not know what Dave's semi looked like?
Weird.

She apparently came from behind the stopped truck. She would not have seen that it was DS truck from that angle, only when going beside or looking back - where there would have been little light to see.
Trucks stopped on the road/roadsides are more common in farming country like this, though the lights/flashers are usually on.

 

[Seattle1]

She apparently came from behind the stopped truck. She would not have seen that it was DS truck from that angle, only when going beside or looking back - where there would have been little light to see.
Trucks stopped on the road/roadsides are more common in farming country like this, though the lights/flashers are usually on.

Exactly -- the was County Road flanked by cornfields on each side, and one house nearby. This was no busy thoroughfare.

 

[tarabull]

"He had to do another Seaboard load from Eagle Grove to Sac City," she said.

Sarah made the comment above....anyone ever wonder, what does it mean??

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

"He had to do another Seaboard load from Eagle Grove to Sac City," she said.

Sarah made the comment above....anyone ever wonder, what does it mean??

Home - Seaboard Foods

Since the early 1990s, we’ve been building a uniquely connected food system, linking each step of the process from before the farm to beyond the fork. We strive for the highest levels of innovation, continuous improvement, and quality in everything we do.

www.seaboardfoods.com

I think this is what Sarah was talking about. Wiechman's may be a supplier for Seaboard, or Sarah may have been mistaken about who Dave was delivering to.

 

[tarabull]

Home - Seaboard Foods

Since the early 1990s, we’ve been building a uniquely connected food system, linking each step of the process from before the farm to beyond the fork. We strive for the highest levels of innovation, continuous improvement, and quality in everything we do.

www.seaboardfoods.com

I think this is what Sarah was talking about. Wiechman's may be a supplier for Seaboard, or Sarah may have been mistaken about who Dave was delivering to.

Yep. There's something to that. MOO OINK

I myself doubt Sarah is mistaken

 

[Joe Friday]

An ex of mine's dad was a trucker for years - he paid using a company card. Not sure if this is common, he is the only trucker I have known.

Large trucking firms will give drivers a company card to pay for fuel. Did your ex's dad drive for someone or own his own truck?

Since David owned his own truck he could have had a separate account (card) he used for company expenses such as fuel, but I think Sarah should have had knowledge of and access to that account to know if fuel was purchased at Marker 126 that morning.

Video would have likely shown if David purchased fuel as well if it was questioned.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Were areas south of Hwy 20, near Weichman part of the 100,000 acres searched? I recall N of Hwy 20 searched and Brushy Creek. If DS is being held against his will or restrained, time may be running out and he needs to be found. In earlier searches, there was no snowfall. I hoped more would have been organized, including another Iowa State Patrol Air Wing thermal imaging search (link below). The ground will soon be snow covered for the next 3-4 months and chances of locating him even slimmer.
o/t: I recently visited MN, it's cold up

ISP Air Wing | Iowa Department of Public Safety

History

dps.iowa.gov

I recall seeing a map at one point early on, on Jake Rowley's page, with a lot of circled areas and markings on it. I'll see if I can find it. It is by no means complete - just an image he posted randomly. I'd love to see complete maps of all the searched areas, esp areas along the Raccoon River (although someone here commented that they're in a drought, so it isn't really currently a "river" at all).

 

[mst]

I just cant wrap my head around the police having the mechanic move the truck. Even though he was called in as a possible medical emergency (according to one of Sarah’s interviews), once Dave wasn’t in the truck or nearby, it should’ve been treated as a crime scene.
…and even in the pure dark, driving by an obvious red and white striped truck, you’d question it, I’d think…. And maybe give Dave and or Sarah a call..

We actually don't know if the police insisted mechanic move it. They may have given Sarah the option of towing it and driving it would be cheaper