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

[Joe Friday]

Is anyone here more familiar with livestock trucking? My brother drives truck in Iowa but not for livestock but I know he usually drives the cab home and picks up trailers. Would David have had to go pick up the "Brown" livestock trailer before going to the Eagle Grove pick-up? I did some searching around and there's a "B Bar R Livestock Transportation" owned by someone with the last name of Brown whose address is near Denison nearby. I wonder if he went there first and then to pickup. That would have added an hour to travel time from his house to pick-up, putting it at 2.5 hours after 7:30 to arrive at the earliest, so 10p.

It would probably depend on if David had room to park his truck and trailer at his house or somewhere close by.

There are some pictures on David's FB account of his truck and the trailer he used. Unfortunately those pictures don't show if the truck is parked at his house. Some pictures show the truck parked close to other trucks and other cattle trailers so I don't think that would be at his house and is likely where the company that owns the trailer lets drivers park their trucks.

JMO

 

[Joe Friday]

It's possible that some sort accident happened at the drop off location that resulted in injury and the employee(s) got scared and moved the truck to make it appear that he never arrived there. Or like I mentioned before that location is vey close to his home (less than 20 miles) in a rural area. I'm sure he knows the farmer/persons where he was to deliver and likely delivered there in the past. So possibly he and the employee(s) at that location had some kind of personal issues with each other and an argument occurred and maybe went too far. Those are just my thoughts on the possibilities at the drop off location.

I think David's cell phone data would show if he was ever at the location where he was to deliver. Hopefully the phone was on up until what ever happened to David.

David's wife reported early on that she tried calling David's phone Tuesday morning but got no answer. She didn't say the phone went directly to voice mail, which leads me to believe the phone was powered on.

She called her husband repeatedly Tuesday morning but got no answer, she told the Journal.

DCI joins case of missing Sac trucker - Storm Lake Times Pilot

The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation has taken up the search for David Schultz, a Wall Lake man who’s been missing for more than a week. Iowa DCI will assist the Sac County Sheriff’s Office and the Lake View Police Department in the search for Schultz. Authorities made no further...

www.stormlake.com

JMO

 

[mst]

BOLO: Missing Dad of Twin Boys Mysteriously Vanishes, Truck Found in Middle of Road

Iowa police are searching for a father of twin boys who inexplicably disappeared while driving his work truck in the Sac County area. According to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, 53-year-old David Schultz, of Wall Lake, was last heard from on November 21. His wife, Sarah Schultz, told The Sioux...

www.crimeonline.com

The part about kissing everyone good bye except for one child is odd

 

[Joe Friday]

I thought that as well but then thought maybe he didn't have the wife's cell phone number and if DS wasn't answering his he decided to drive all the way to their home. If he was looking for DS why go to his house and not where the drop off was supposed to be or did he go to both? DS heading slightly north instead of south as that was where Sac City appears to be on the map now doesnt seem as odd if you think of the surrounding areas where a farm would be located being referred to as Sac City as it is the closest so maybe it was a farm just north of Sac City. But did his 'the guy he hauls for' not know where the drop off was or not go there first to see what was going on?

The guy that David hauls for told David's wife when he knocked on the door that David didn't deliver his load.

One can assume that this guy was likely contacted by the location where David was to deliver and told that David never delivered his load. Unless this guy calls every place his trucks are to deliver to see if the loads arrived, which I kind of doubt.

I would also assume that when this guy was contacted and told that David didn't deliver his load, he called the location in Eagle Grove to see if David picked up his load of piglets, which apparently he was told David did, since David's wife reported that David would never pull over to sleep while loaded.

That sort of takes the mystery out of something happening to David at the loading or unloading locations IMO.

“The next day I hadn’t heard from him, which is not unusual, you know I don’t know when he’s loading and unloading. The guy he hauls for knocked at my door saying hey we can’t find david have you heard from him. He said he didn’t unload the hogs I said so he’s loaded? And that alerts me right there cause he would never pull over to sleep load, he just wouldn’t,” said Sarah.

Wife pleads to help find husband who went missing in Sac County

The Lake View Police Department is requesting assistance in locating a 53-year-old man.

who13.com

 

[LC2]

BOLO: Missing Dad of Twin Boys Mysteriously Vanishes, Truck Found in Middle of Road

Iowa police are searching for a father of twin boys who inexplicably disappeared while driving his work truck in the Sac County area. According to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, 53-year-old David Schultz, of Wall Lake, was last heard from on November 21. His wife, Sarah Schultz, told The Sioux...

www.crimeonline.com

The part about kissing everyone good bye except for one child is odd

So many things about this story are odd. It seems as though the information is so inconsistent. Do that many news outlets get their facts wrong?

 

[TL4S]

The guy that David hauls for told David's wife when he knocked on the door that David didn't deliver his load.

One can assume that this guy was likely contacted by the location where David was to deliver and told that David never delivered his load. Unless this guy calls every place his trucks are to deliver to see if the loads arrived, which I kind of doubt.

I would also assume that when this guy was contacted and told that David didn't deliver his load, he called the location in Eagle Grove to see if David picked up his load of piglets, which apparently he was told David did, since David's wife reported that David would never pull over to sleep while loaded.

That sort of takes the mystery out of something happening to David at the loading or unloading locations IMO.

Yeah...I tend to agree. Something happening at either the pick up or drop off sites, and someone else driving the rig to that location, just doesn't jive for me. That's JMO, although I won't discount it altogether since we're all just guessing here.

But the search dog thing really stands out to me, because I think the dog probably trailed his scent from the cab to the coat, rather than just smelled the coat randomly, on a windy day, then led the handler to it. I have some experience with this, which is why I tend to think this way, but the true circumstances could have been very different. JMO. But I do think DS was outside his truck at that location, at least as far as the ditch where his coat was found.

Is it possible, due to hauling livestock, DS might have chosen a route less traveled? This route I've mapped only adds about 10 minutes, so it isn't that out of the way, and puts him right at the intersection the truck was found. It still doesn't explain him heading north, if that is truly the position the truck was in, but is it possible he went south on that road and for some reason, turned back around? A detour? He thought something had come off the truck? IDK...just spitballing. And I know it's difficult to turn a rig around, but I'm desperate for an explanation for him heading north.

Do we know for sure he filled up for gas at that gas station off 4? And if so, are we sure it was after he'd picked up the haul, and not on his way there? It seems more likely he would take 20 on his way, with an empty trailer (if the trailer was even on there yet). JMO. That would account for the gas stop and the Brushy Creek area. Again, JMO, and not a knowledgeable one!

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The guy that David hauls for told David's wife when he knocked on the door that David didn't deliver his load.

One can assume that this guy was likely contacted by the location where David was to deliver and told that David never delivered his load. Unless this guy calls every place his trucks are to deliver to see if the loads arrived, which I kind of doubt.

I would also assume that when this guy was contacted and told that David didn't deliver his load, he called the location in Eagle Grove to see if David picked up his load of piglets, which apparently he was told David did, since David's wife reported that David would never pull over to sleep while loaded.

That sort of takes the mystery out of something happening to David at the loading or unloading locations IMO.

Unless people at the unloading or loading sites aren't being truthful.

 

[mst]

If something happened at the unload site and someone drove the truck to where it was, you would think they would have unloaded the pigs to make it look less suspicious. If you need to dispose of a truck, why leave it in the middle of the road?

 

[TL4S]

Here's another route, even shorter. It still brings the truck to the intersection where it was found. There's also a few things of interest along the way. I know NOTHING about livestock hauling, so not sure if these places, like the Lynch Livestock Scale, would be used in the middle of the night, or at all by DS...

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Maybe an accident at the unloading site and those that were scared trying to cover it up by moving his truck? However, the jacket in the ditch is perplexing and I feel like someone would have confessed by now if it were an accident. Hope LE tried to get some DNA from the truck…

It's possible that some sort accident happened at the drop off location that resulted in injury and the employee(s) got scared and moved the truck to make it appear that he never arrived there.

Can anyone think of examples of a fatal accident that could realistically happen at the site and be covered-up, though?

 

[darring21]

Driving 17 to new 20 is too easy to take another route and four lane divided highway is much more pleasant to drive. They searched Brushy Creek and they know he picked up the load, so he was probably near Brushy Creek on the way back. One of the searches mentioned ping data... pay attention to the search activities, they likely have the most information.

 

[Ravenmoon]

I am starting to feel like something happened during the loading of the pigs. No idea what, or who could be involved, but if it was self harm - I feel like they would have found him.

JMO

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

If something happened at the unload site and someone drove the truck to where it was, you would think they would have unloaded the pigs to make it look less suspicious. If you need to dispose of a truck, why leave it in the middle of the road?

Thinking about this further... if something like that happened and they unloaded the pigs first before driving the rig away, they'd have to explain to LE that he HAD been there and that he unloaded first. A million questions would follow. What was he wearing? Did he seem like anything was bothering him? What time did he arrive and leave? Etc. Easier to say that they hadn't seen him at all, I think. Although they would risk losing the trailer of pigs as well. But, maybe, IF something like this happened hypothetically speaking, they thought that by leaving the trailer in the road, it would be found and reported much sooner.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I don't know how wet it was when David went missing, but with the number of deep drainage ditches in the area he could potentially have been swept into any number of nearby rivers or creeks: Cedar Creek, North Raccoon River, etc.

 

[Joe Friday]

Unless people at the unloading or loading sites aren't being truthful.

If there was a conspiracy to cover up what ever happened at the unloading site I don't think someone there would have called the guy who is responsible for setting up the trucks hauling the loads, if that is how he was informed David didn't deliver his load, to say David never showed up with the load of Little Oinkers.

I guess someone at the loading site could say "Yep, loaded here and left around midnight", but to get everyone there to commit to that would be task. When LE starts interviewing employees there would be so many inconsistency it would become apparent right away they were on the right track.

MO

 

[TL4S]

Driving 17 to new 20 is too easy to take another route and four lane divided highway is much more pleasant to drive. They searched Brushy Creek and they know he picked up the load, so he was probably near Brushy Creek on the way back. One of the searches mentioned ping data... pay attention to the search activities, they likely have the most information.

I can completely appreciate this. And it really does make the most sense.

For me, the location his truck was found is an odd detail that I'm just trying to reason out. It doesn't make sense for it to be there based on what little information we know, which is why I suggested an alternate driving route. I'm not satisfied with that explanation, though, either, tbh. A more likely scenario is that there was a legitimate reason for him to be there, we just don't know what it is yet.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I wish we had more information about his phone pings, too. And did he have any apps that also have tracking, like Google Maps? Was his phone turned off when LE located it in the truck? Had it been turned off at any point during the evening/next day? Did it ping along a route that made perfect sense as to his work plans, or were there strange turns, odd gaps where it may have been turned off, and so on...

 

[Joe Friday]

I can completely appreciate this. And it really does make the most sense.

For me, the location his truck was found is an odd detail that I'm just trying to reason out. It doesn't make sense for it to be there based on what little information we know, which is why I suggested an alternate driving route. I'm not satisfied with that explanation, though, either, tbh. A more likely scenario is that there was a legitimate reason for him to be there, we just don't know what it is yet.

There is always the possibility that someone was hired to murder him and they just happened to ditch the truck there.

 

[flossieflo]

I don't know how wet it was when David went missing, but with the number of deep drainage ditches in the area he could potentially have been swept into any number of nearby rivers or creeks: Cedar Creek, North Raccoon River, etc.

Definitely not that wet in this part of Iowa.

 

[TL4S]

Aren't there rules about load weights? I mean, would DS have had to be weighed before he left the pick up site? I'm asking as someone who knows nothing.

I don't see any weigh stations between Eagle Grove and Sac City, but would he avoid a major highway if he knew or suspected he was overweight? I'm not meaning to suggest DS did anything wrong, I'm just unsure about livestock hauling rules as an industry.