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

[Interested_But_Confused]

Wife thinks foul play led Sac County hog trucker to vanish - Storm Lake Times Pilot

“He’s not on drugs. He doesn't have any enemies. He doesn't owe anybody money except the bank,” Sarah said. “He would never wake up and leave his family.”

www.stormlake.com

Sarah pulls up a picture on her phone. It’s Dave’s other truck, only steps away from being repaired at the mechanic shop in Wall Lake.

“He’s so proud of it,” Sarah said. “Why would he leave before he even got the chance to drive it?”

The article, interestingly, doesn't say "new" truck. It says "other" truck and "steps away from being repaired." To me it sounds like he was having the tornado-wrecked blue truck repaired--and possibly resprayed yellow judging by the image in the article.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Hogs look pretty alive in those stills.

I watched the video a few times and it seems to me that most of them are alive, walking around best they can. They probably got those temporary fences up around the truck as quickly as they could to try to get them out of the trailer.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

No worries. I followed-up and asked them if anyone had requested the videos since that might make them available. Got some more info:

I went back into our archives and found footage requested by law enforcement for this case. There are two issues that I see with it. First off, the only footage that I have 11:30pm 11/20 – 2am 11/21. Secondly, since law enforcement tagged this footage as potentially being fatal, I am unable to release it to you without their approval. I have reached out to them and will let you know if I hear anything else. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

Regards,

(name removed)
ITS Engineering CO-OP
Traffic Operations Bureau
Iowa Department of Transportation

Interesting that LE seemingly only requested 11:30PM-2:00AM. Presumably they know when David left the loading site and when he last had any contact, allowing them to narrow down when he would/should/could have been driving along Hwy 20.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

No worries. I followed-up and asked them if anyone had requested the videos since that might make them available. Got some more info:

I went back into our archives and found footage requested by law enforcement for this case. There are two issues that I see with it. First off, the only footage that I have 11:30pm 11/20 – 2am 11/21. Secondly, since law enforcement tagged this footage as potentially being fatal, I am unable to release it to you without their approval. I have reached out to them and will let you know if I hear anything else. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

Regards,

(name removed)
ITS Engineering CO-OP
Traffic Operations Bureau
Iowa Department of Transportation

Thank you for following up with that again! I am very glad to read that LE had requested the footage.

 

[cutter99]

I'm still ten pages back, but had a thought.

Is there anything that could have happened that would cause a driver to enter the trailer once en route?

Like some kind of ruckus among the piggies?

(Or something mechanical, but in the interior of the trailer?)

If he needed to stop the truck to check out what was happening inside the trailer, he wouldn't have felt the need to bring his wallet and phone with him, but he might have stopped outside the truck to put on his dirty loading jumpsuit before entering the trailer, to keep his driving clothes clean.

Then -- what? The pigs probably couldn't consume him with no evidence left in just a few hours. But what if the ruckus was something like a human stowaway? who then harmed/kidnapped DS?

MOO

As a former hog grower here, those little pigs were not of a size to do much harm, especially to anyone with experience handling hogs. If Dave had to enter the trailer, he would have carried either a hog “hurdle” with him or a piece of what we call “hog pipe”, which is usually a piece of shark bite pipe cut a 3’ or 4’ length, that you use to keep the pigs from biting at you.

Hog Slat® Pig Sorting Panels

https://www.cheshirehorse.com/p/weaver-pig-pipe---red/655137RD.html?gclid=CjwKCAiA98WrBhAYEiwA2WvhOjgf6dh8oBhc8Ye8E5xNsuyCtGq9FFnRjrjwJcs7E164Q8GBwMj_URoCpIwQAvD_BwE

If this were a truckload of finished hogs headed to a slaughterhouse, it would be another story. Finished hogs outweigh the average person and can cause serious problems.

But here is another thing- it sounds like Dave has been hauling hogs for awhile, and knows and understands them. He knows what is safe to do, and what is not.

My thoughts are he stopped for something in that road, and was set up. What if he stopped for a person, looking cold, pitiful and hurt in the road, got out of the truck to help and was jumped? But this wouldn’t explain why he was headed away from where he was delivering.

Or did someone approach him and get into the truck with him when he stopped for coffee and to check the truck?

Let’s be real in the fact there are people out there who will hurt others just for the thrill of it!

 

[Joe Friday]

On the request form to get archive videos there's a checkbox for the video footage being "potentially fatal"

I imagine LE checked the box since there's a chance of a relation between the footage and if he turned up deceased. I think it's more to make sure they don't release footage of fatal accidents improperly, but since they checked it, it's adds this layer of verification.

Good news to know that LE is on top of looking at that video.

Maybe write them back and say you don't necessarily want the footage but just want to know if a red Peterbilt truck with white stripes and a cattle trailer is seen on the footage between 10 PM and 3 AM and if so at what time. I doubt you will get anywhere but I'm surprised you got this far and they told you LE has requested the footage, ect. given the footage is potential evidence in this case.

Obviously the truck is seen on the footage or LE wouldn't have tagged it.

 

[cutter99]

Is someone still holding DS accountable for those dead hogs?
I wonder.

What dead hogs? I haven’t seen any mention of deads.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

What dead hogs? I haven’t seen any mention of deads.

I think the still photos from the tornado video are muddying the waters here. Some of those pigs appeared to be deceased from the trailer turning over, but there has been no mention anywhere of any health issues with the baby pigs he was transporting last month.

 

[cutter99]

I think the still photos from the tornado video are muddying the waters here. Some of those pigs appeared to be deceased from the trailer turning over, but there has been no mention anywhere of any health issues with the baby pigs he was transporting last month.

Thanks! I am still not seeing a bunch of deads, even in the tornado pictures. Situations like the tornado pictures are why hog companies and haulers carry insurance. That is an act of god- something the hauler has absolutely no control over.

There can always be loss in hauling situations. Hogs can be sensitive to both heat and cold, and most companies as well as haulers, schedule loads to accommodate the comfort of the hogs to prevent loss.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Thanks! I am still not seeing a bunch of deads, even in the tornado pictures. Situations like the tornado pictures are why hog companies and haulers carry insurance. That is an act of god- something the hauler has absolutely no control over.

There can always be loss in hauling situations. Hogs can be sensitive to both heat and cold, and most companies as well as haulers, schedule loads to accommodate the comfort of the hogs to prevent loss.

If you watch the tornado video, to me it looked like a few were not moving, but maybe they were injured. Seems like a moot point, though, as that was a few years ago.

 

[24Roses]

DBM

 

[B4igo2it]

Why did Sarah state 3:30 a.m.????
Early on, WSrs estimated Dave's Eagle Grove (EG) pick-up and Sac City delivery s/b completed around Midnight. Let's assume that occurred and Dave begins the next load, a SECOND EG pick-up, then the 3:30 a.m. Sharkey’s coffee stop, the abandonment of the truck prior to the 5:30 a.m. eyewitness sighting.
Sarah’s 3:30 a.m. makes sense.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Why did Sarah state 3:30 a.m.????
Early on, WSrs estimated Dave's Eagle Grove (EG) pick-up and Sac City delivery s/b completed around Midnight. Let's assume that occurred and Dave begins the next load, a SECOND EG pick-up, then the 3:30 a.m. Sharkey’s coffee stop, the abandonment of the truck prior to the 5:30 a.m. eyewitness sighting.
Sarah’s 3:30 a.m. makes sense.

I've wondered if the man who came to her house to see if David was there mentioned something that indicated that time, like "We last heard from him around 3:30am but he hasn't answered his phone since."

 

[OldCop]

Why did Sarah state 3:30 a.m.????
Early on, WSrs estimated Dave's Eagle Grove (EG) pick-up and Sac City delivery s/b completed around Midnight. Let's assume that occurred and Dave begins the next load, a SECOND EG pick-up, then the 3:30 a.m. Sharkey’s coffee stop, the abandonment of the truck prior to the 5:30 a.m. eyewitness sighting.
Sarah’s 3:30 a.m. makes sense.

@B4igo2it, I think we heard earlier that Dave never went to pick up his next scheduled load.

 

[Knox]

Interesting that LE seemingly only requested 11:30PM-2:00AM. Presumably they know when David left the loading site and when he last had any contact, allowing them to narrow down when he would/should/could have been driving along Hwy 20.

That's a very focused timeline. So LE must know where David was between 7:30 PM and 11:30 PM on 11/20, and after 2:00 AM on 11/21. We're literally looking at a 2.5 hour gap in his location, if the Traffic Ops employee is accurate.

Good job @stickb0y7 for finding that information!

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

That's a very focused timeline. So LE must know where David was between 7:30 PM and 11:30 PM on 11/20, and after 2:00 AM on 11/21. We're literally looking at a 2.5 hour gap in his location, if the Traffic Ops employee is accurate.

Good job @stickb0y7 for finding that information!

I assumed they requested a window of footage, because his video time stamp and receipt would have shown what time he made the coffee purchase, which I would guess was around 12:45am, right between the start and end times of the footage they requested, perhaps wanting to see who arrived before him or after he left.

 

[OldCop]

Interesting that LE seemingly only requested 11:30PM-2:00AM. Presumably they know when David left the loading site and when he last had any contact, allowing them to narrow down when he would/should/could have been driving along Hwy 20.

We figured if he left home at 7:30, he would get to Eagle Grove around 9:00. It is about 55 minutes from the load site to Sparky’s so, given the load time allowance, that should be just about right to catch him on that camera.

 

[Joe Friday]

Why did Sarah state 3:30 a.m.????
Early on, WSrs estimated Dave's Eagle Grove (EG) pick-up and Sac City delivery s/b completed around Midnight. Let's assume that occurred and Dave begins the next load, a SECOND EG pick-up, then the 3:30 a.m. Sharkey’s coffee stop, the abandonment of the truck prior to the 5:30 a.m. eyewitness sighting.
Sarah’s 3:30 a.m. makes sense.

Just one more thing that doesn't make a whole lot of sense in this case.

Sure would be nice if LE would give an update or at least clear up some of the confusion.

What's the sense of asking for the public's help if no specifics are given such as times and places so individuals who may have seen something memories might be refreshed?.

The only thing I have heard out of LE is in an article from today where an agent with the DCI confirmed David is still missing.

(Maybe LE has this in the bag and doesn't need to create more work for themselves fielding tips. I can only hope so.)

JMO

Schultz remained missing Thursday, Darrell Simmons, a spokesperson for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations confirmed to USA TODAY. The Lake View Police Department is also involved in the search.

'He never made it': Search continues for Iowa truck driver who went missing hauling pigs

David Schultz disappeared Nov. 21. His red semi was found along a highway in Sac City, Iowa, its trailer still filled with pigs he was transporting.

www.usatoday.com

 

[mst]

Why did Sarah state 3:30 a.m.????
Early on, WSrs estimated Dave's Eagle Grove (EG) pick-up and Sac City delivery s/b completed around Midnight. Let's assume that occurred and Dave begins the next load, a SECOND EG pick-up, then the 3:30 a.m. Sharkey’s coffee stop, the abandonment of the truck prior to the 5:30 a.m. eyewitness sighting.
Sarah’s 3:30 a.m. makes sense.

Only the first load was never delivered

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I totally agree. Plus, I think ”guessing” 3:30 am is peculiar because in trying to plot out David’s timeline that night, there seems to be a couple of hours missing:
7:30 pm - left home to drive to Eagle Grove - 1 1/2 hours
9:00 pm - pigs are loaded - let’s give him 2 hours, could be less
11:00 pm - drive to Sparky’s , about 1 hour
12:00 am - gas and/or coffee 30 minutes
12:30 am - drive to Sac City, 30 minutes
1:00 am - arrive at Sac City or location where truck was left.

Let’s give him another 1/2 hour at the loading location and another half hour at Sparky’s, and it would still only be about 2:00 am.

Wish we knew what time he was at Sparky’s because it should have taken less than a half hour to get from there to Sac City.

I also just remembered that there have been questions concerning where he picked up the empty trailer, if it wasn't already at his house attached to the truck. That could potentially add 30-60 min (guessing) depending on how far he had to go, hooking it up, etc.