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

[Joe Friday]

<modsnip: copying more than 10% of an article is a copyright violation> MORE AT LINK…

Sarah Schultz last saw her husband at about 7:30 p.m. Monday. She said David, who hauls livestock for a living, had been working all day and asked her to grab him a change of clothes.

"He had to do another Seaboard load from Eagle Grove to Sac City," she said. "He just washed up and changed and gave me a kiss and ran out the door. He's always in a hurry."

<snip>

According to a statement from the Sac County Sheriff's Office, Northeast Sac County property owners are being asked to check their properties and outbuildings for "anything out of the ordinary."

"If anything out of the ordinary is observed, please do not disturb the immediate vicinity and let items remain in place before contacting the Sac County Communications Center at 712-662-7127," the statement said.

The Lake View Police Department has asked anyone who has seen or heard from David to contact them at 712-657-2513. <snip>

Wall Lake trucker's wife makes plea for help after his disappearance

"He works and he comes home, and that's it," Schultz said by phone Friday afternoon of the 53-year-old Wall Lake man, who went missing earlier this week under mysterious circumstances.

siouxcityjournal.com

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

I can’t seem to quote Joe’s post above on my iPad so here’s a screenshot of the bit I am commenting on. This has always bothered me. He was loading at point A, delivering to point B. Point B would know where the pigs came from - point A. If he wasn’t answering his phone, point B would contact point A and ask if he even loaded, and if yes, when. So how could “the people he loaded for“ not even be aware he never made it to point B unless the delivery place wasn’t expecting him until much later the next day?

 

[abanddb123]

I still think medical emergency. My opinion only. He worked all day. He's in his fifties. Might not eat the best on the road. A medical emergency would make him stop in the middle of the road. They just haven't found him yet. Maybe he got further than expected. I'd rather think this than something evil and horrible. But for example, my husband is recovering from pneumonia. Before he started his antibiotics and knew he had pneumonia, he started getting an altered state of mind. And it happened quick. Anyway, another thought, he had a mental break and caught a ride. He is getting help and going to contact family soon and come home safe. I wish for this one.

 

[mst]

I can’t seem to quote Joe’s post above on my iPad so here’s a screenshot of the bit I am commenting on. This has always bothered me. He was loading at point A, delivering to point B. Point B would know where the pigs came from - point A. If he wasn’t answering his phone, point B would contact point A and ask if he even loaded, and if yes, when. So how could “the people he loaded for“ not even be aware he never made it to point B unless the delivery place wasn’t expecting him until much later the next day?

View attachment 466477

It could be as simple as get the trucks loaded and go home for the workers. I have horses that often get shipped in the wee hours. Any issues, I get called, not my staff.

 

[24Roses]

2 weeks later: Wall Lake man still missing, no clues point to where he is

"It's worse than death because I look out the window, and I just feel like he should be coming home," his wife said.

www.kcci.com

 

[detectivewannab]

Deliveries are scheduled well in advance as pig houses have to be cleaned and disinfected in between groups. The companies providing contracts to the producers (farmers) are involved in scheduling deliveries, and contract the haulers. I don’t know any livestock haulers who work 9 am to 5 pm, just like farmers. Just like other truck drivers who work whatever time the work is available. Now, government regulations regarding number of hours worked can keep drivers off the road.

I traveled HWY20 6:30 AM this morning. It was unbelievable the truckers out. This has made me appreciate of these hard-working truckers working around the clock. Sobering going by Spark's and then Sac City.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I can’t seem to quote Joe’s post above on my iPad so here’s a screenshot of the bit I am commenting on. This has always bothered me. He was loading at point A, delivering to point B. Point B would know where the pigs came from - point A. If he wasn’t answering his phone, point B would contact point A and ask if he even loaded, and if yes, when. So how could “the people he loaded for“ not even be aware he never made it to point B unless the delivery place wasn’t expecting him until much later the next day?

View attachment 466477

This is only a guess, but if the haulage company David was working for acts as the middle-man, it may be that points A and B never have direct contact with each other. Point A (or David) tells the haulier the load has been collected, Point B tells them it hasn't been delivered. Point A may not know anything after the load is collected because their job is done.

 

[neesaki]

I still think medical emergency. My opinion only. He worked all day. He's in his fifties. Might not eat the best on the road. A medical emergency would make him stop in the middle of the road. They just haven't found him yet. Maybe he got further than expected. I'd rather think this than something evil and horrible. But for example, my husband is recovering from pneumonia. Before he started his antibiotics and knew he had pneumonia, he started getting an altered state of mind. And it happened quick. Anyway, another thought, he had a mental break and caught a ride. He is getting help and going to contact family soon and come home safe. I wish for this one.

If a medical emergency, from natural causes, I doubt he’d have been able to go that far away from his truck. JMO

I personally think there’s some kind of foul play involved with what happened to him. So if resulting from some kind of trauma, assault.… as in a serious head injury, etc., that might increase the possibility of him wondering away into oblivion, to who knows where.

I’m really concerned that he was taken some distance from the location where his truck was found.

 

[moonrise]

I'm not familiar with the area, but is it possible the road he was on leads to a hospital? Maybe he started having some kind of medical issue, and attempted to drive himself to get help. Maybe the issue worsened, and he stopped the truck, and then ... ??? (edited to add: One would think he would've been found close to the truck, if it was a medical emergency, but it's possible he somehow made it further than expected, or perhaps he just hasn't been found yet.)

A few years ago, my dad drove himself to the ER while having terrible abdominal pain, and my husband drove himself to the ER after his table saw cut his finger to the bone. Their reasoning: neither of them wanted to "inconvenience" the 911 people, not to mention pay for the cost of an ambulance.

 

[cutter99]

I traveled HWY20 6:30 AM this morning. It was unbelievable the truckers out. This has made me appreciate of these hard-working truckers working around the clock. Sobering going by Spark's and then Sac City.

You ought to see rest areas on interstates overnight. If I hauled my own horses from Tennessee to Pennsylvania in July, and traveled at night as it was cooler. I could not pull into an interstate rest stop and park with my truck and trailer as there is absolutely no parking because big rig drivers are limited in the number of hours they can drive. The overflow parks on the shoulders coming into and going out of the rest areas, which is a hazard in itself.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

I traveled HWY20 6:30 AM this morning. It was unbelievable the truckers out. This has made me appreciate of these hard-working truckers working around the clock. Sobering going by Spark's and then Sac City.

Most people don't realize how much goes on behind the scenes of farming and hauling.

 

[mst]

I went searching for missing truck drivers and found this:

Maryland State Police search for missing truck driver last seen at distribution center

Authorities said Jason M. Pearson has not been seen since June and are urging the public to help them find him.

okcfox.com

Some similarities between the two. Isn't Smithfield pork products?

 

[TL4S]

I went searching for missing truck drivers and found this:

Maryland State Police search for missing truck driver last seen at distribution center

Authorities said Jason M. Pearson has not been seen since June and are urging the public to help them find him.

okcfox.com

Some similarities between the two. Isn't Smithfield pork products?

This man's body was found in the woods not far from the facility. No foul play was suspected.

Body of trucker missing out of Maryland for months discovered near industrial park

 

[mst]

This man's body was found in the woods not far from the facility. No foul play was suspected.

Body of trucker missing out of Maryland for months discovered near industrial park

Just saw that. Took a long time to find him. Wonder why they missed him

 

[TL4S]

Just saw that. Took a long time to find him. Wonder why they missed him

It's unfortunately very common, from what I've seen, for search parties to cover areas and not find anything, only for remains to be found there at a later date. It seems so unfair in the scheme of things.

 

[Joe Friday]

I'm not familiar with the area, but is it possible the road he was on leads to a hospital? Maybe he started having some kind of medical issue, and attempted to drive himself to get help. Maybe the issue worsened, and he stopped the truck, and then ... ??? (edited to add: One would think he would've been found close to the truck, if it was a medical emergency, but it's possible he somehow made it further than expected, or perhaps he just hasn't been found yet.)

A few years ago, my dad drove himself to the ER while having terrible abdominal pain, and my husband drove himself to the ER after his table saw cut his finger to the bone. Their reasoning: neither of them wanted to "inconvenience" the 911 people, not to mention pay for the cost of an ambulance.

Looking at the map I don't think there are any towns in the direction David's truck was traveling that would have a hospital. Storm Lake has a hospital, but the route to get there would have been continue further west on Hwy 20 and then north on Hwy 71, not the road David's truck was found on.

If David was trying to get to a hospital, why stop in the middle of the road and go walking off so far no one can find him? Medical emergencies and long walks just don't go together in my mind. If David was unable to drive the most logical thing to do would have been staying close to the truck until a passing motorist could assist him.

Medical emergency also doesn't explain why David was traveling in the wrong direction from where he was heading according to what David's wife has said.

She said David's cell phone and wallet, which contained money, were found in the truck. The truck was pointing the wrong direction from where David was headed -- north, rather than south, according to Schultz. There was no sign of David, but his coat was located in a ditch on the opposite side of the road.

Wall Lake trucker's wife makes plea for help after his disappearance

"He works and he comes home, and that's it," Schultz said by phone Friday afternoon of the 53-year-old Wall Lake man, who went missing earlier this week under mysterious circumstances.

siouxcityjournal.com

 

[Joe Friday]

Also, regarding medical emergency. There is a hospital in Sac City. If David was having a medical emergency he likely would have driven there.

Comparing the distance from Hwy 20 to where the truck was found and how far it is from Hwy 20 to where the hospital is in Sac City, the hospital in Sac City would have been closer.

Actually the hospital in Sac City is located on the same street, just a few blocks from where it is believed David was to unload his load of little baby pork chops.

David lived just south of Sac City a few miles in Wall Lake and I think would have known there was a hospital and it's location in Sac City. Doesn't make any sense that he would have turned north off Hwy 20 if he was having a medical emergency, if there was a hospital to the south, unless he was really out of his mind. Which I doubt. He apparently must have been fine less than 30 minutes earlier if the sighting getting coffee at Sparky's is true.

According to their website: The hospital is located one block off old 2-lane U.S. Highway 20, or 2 miles off new 4-lane Highway 20. From 24/7 emergency services to physical therapy; an independent living facility to minor and major surgeries, Loring Hospital is dedicated to providing top-notch service and exceptional patient care.

Loring Hospital

Loring Hospital

www.loringhospital.org

 

[LC2]

Does the DCI only get involved when they suspect criminal activity or have some evidence to show that? Or could it still be a self harm situation, and he just hasn’t been found? If foul play, someone went to a lot of trouble to assure DS wasn’t found. Maybe DS had been contemplating for a while and just decided at that time. Maybe in parking his semi in that manner, he knew things would be taken care of. If his truck was found at the intersection I think I’m understanding it was, there is an electrical substation type thing on that corner. There’s a yard light there. Not that that is significant, but depending upon how far the truck was from there, it could have been a pretty well lit area. So why there if foul play? I know it was early morning hours with very little traffic if any, but still taking a risk. But if a self harm situation, well lit area. Truck found and things taken care of. JMO

 

[TL4S]

Being the broken record that I am, I have to ask again how we know the true delivery location? I've seen "Wiechman" mentioned a lot, but where is that coming from? Was that confirmed by LE or even MSM? The wife said the delivery was from Eagle Grove to Sac City, and I understand that the truck was heading the wrong direction for Sac City proper (and Wiechman), but as @Interested_But_Confused has pointed out, the pig farm 1/4 mile WNW from the truck location also has a Sac City address. This is a significant detail in how we see the events, IMO.

Keeping the option open that he actually was heading in the correct direction, then another point that bothers me is that the location the truck was found, while rural, does have homes and buildings nearby. It wasn't as if DS couldn't have walked to the nearby house that he'd literally just passed on the road if he needed urgent help. And what about his radio and cell phone? We don't know what his last contact was regarding, or with whom he spoke, but either way, if he needed assistance, he could have called for it. But I don't think he did, because if he had, I think things would have unfolded much differently. JMO.

If it was a mechanical issue he had gotten out to check on, would he have stopped in the middle of the road AND turned off the truck?

These things all dissuade me from certain scenarios, but I do think DS was in that truck when it parked, since the search dogs picked up his scent on the road. His coat in the ditch sort of points away from suicide, walking away from his life, or medical episode, as well, IMO. That's totally just my take on it, though.

When I ask myself "why" to all these things it appears he did, I do feel like he was targeted and likely forced to do them: stop the truck, turn it off, get out, and then whatever happened to take him off the road and his coat end up in the ditch. JMO. MOO. IMO and all that.

 

[TenaciousTBacon]

Weren't the searches quite a way from the truck? I seem to remember a quote something like "there's a reason for us to be here." Maybe something from phone records? I still think DS late night communications have the answers.