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

[JerseyWasHome2]

I also hope they're able to get a cell tower dump of the area the truck was found in. Given how rural it is there, and that time of night, etc., I imagine not many cell phones were traveling through ... easy enough to comb through the results.

 

[LC2]

LAKE VIEW, Iowa (KCAU) — The wife of a missing Wall Lake man is asking for her husband to be found.

David Schultz’s wife, Sarah Schultz, told KCAU 9 that she last saw her husband Monday around 7:30 p.m. before he left their Wall Lake home to go to work. David works as a truck driver, a husband and a father. Sarah said she last saw David wearing Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. She couldn’t remember what shirt he was wearing. She also added that she believes he was wearing a Peterbilt hat.

“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.

Sarah said that David’s boss arrived at her house Tuesday morning saying that they couldn’t find David. David was supposed to deliver a load of hogs from Eagle Grove to Sac City. After a search between the two cities, his truck was found Tuesday morning on the road, not pulled over, on northbound Highway 71 about five miles north of the Old Highway 20 intersection.

Sarah said the police called her from his phone Tuesday afternoon. She added that a friend of hers had nearly hit the truck earlier around 5:30 a.m. His wallet and phone were in the truck as well.

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

So can anyone help me with this timeline? It doesn't make sense to me. In another article, his wife says that after working all day, he stopped home to change clothes because he had another load of pigs to haul from Eagle Grove to Sac City. He left around 7:30 pm. It's approximately a 1 1/2 hr drive each way, plus maybe 2 hours to load pigs. Wouldn't she expect him back during the night sometime then? But she said it wasn't unusual to not hear from him the next day. He had already worked all day on Monday, then worked the entire night?? I'm not familiar with livestock loading/hauling, so any insight from anyone with knowledge in the field may help me understand. Also, aren't there hours of service laws for truckers? This is just me making an observation. I'm sure not everything we are reading is accurate. Just trying to make sense of it. Thanks

 

[Ozzie]

So can anyone help me with this timeline? It doesn't make sense to me. In another article, his wife says that after working all day, he stopped home to change clothes because he had another load of pigs to haul from Eagle Grove to Sac City. He left around 7:30 pm. It's approximately a 1 1/2 hr drive each way, plus maybe 2 hours to load pigs. Wouldn't she expect him back during the night sometime then? But she said it wasn't unusual to not hear from him the next day. He had already worked all day on Monday, then worked the entire night?? I'm not familiar with livestock loading/hauling, so any insight from anyone with knowledge in the field may help me understand. Also, aren't there hours of service laws for truckers? This is just me making an observation. I'm sure not everything we are reading is accurate. Just trying to make sense of it. Thanks

I agree! I'm finding the timeline to be slightly confusing. I'm curious if David's semi was parked at home or if he left it elsewhere and had to drive his personal vehicle to get it before picking up the pigs. Also, I would think that DCI would release a timeline soon. I'm wondering what time he needed to be at the pig loading site, how long it takes to load feeder pigs and what time the drop off location were expecting David and his load.

 

[stickb0y7]

Hi, newbie here - grew up in a different part of rural Iowa and got interested in this news.

My understanding is that he had multiple loads and was expected back to load another load after dropping off the first one - that would account for it being a several hours long job. I don't have first-hand experience with loading pigs but is it plausible he left his coveralls at the loading site since he knew he was coming back for another load?

7:30p left home
Did he have to go pick up the livestock trailer somewhere first? It was a Brown labeled trailer, is there a Brown trucking near by or somewhere that has "Brown" labeled livestock trailers?
9:00p earliest arrival at loading point
Who knows how long he had to wait to load, if there were other trucks or delays, or how long it took.
10:00-11:00 leave with first load?
90 min drive back -> 11:30-12:30 - goes missing. They've said the last communication was early morning so maybe he was nearby and sent a text at this point, close to when he disappeared. I have a bad feeling it was some kind of 'goodbye' but they don't want to say that

As for the timeline - assuming everything went normal, the rest of the night might have gone like:
30-60 min unload puts you between 12:00 - 1:30
Drive back to EG - 1:30 - 3:00, and then another load and drive is another 2 to 3 hours maybe
Let's say 5a or 6a for 2nd drop off + time to unload.
If he had to return the empty trailer to the loading site, that's another 3 hours to get back home by 9a, but it sounds like with only 2 trips, it's plausible that he would be gone all night and this was normal for his wife to expect.

I haven't been able to find anywhere the actual drop-off or load site and there are hundreds of pig farms. When they say pick up "in" Eagle Grove and drop off "in" Sac City, I highly doubt it was in the actual towns - the farms would probably be within 5 or even 10 miles of the town and that's still how you'd refer to it out there. So the fact that his truck was found a few miles north of 20 isn't a big concern IMHO, he could have been heading from 20 to any of the farms in that area.

The fact that his truck was in the road also is kind of strange but where else would it be? On rural Iowa roads, there's maybe a foot or two of shoulder, which might be gravel. Depending on the condition, that might not be something you'd want to drop your wheels onto, and would it be worth it if it's only going to get you a foot or two anyway when you're mostly in the lane?

If he was in good mental and physical condition when he left his truck, at night at that intersection he likely could have seen yard lights from a farm in each direction that would have been less than a mile away, if he needed help for some reason.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Hi, newbie here - grew up in a different part of rural Iowa and got interested in this news.

My understanding is that he had multiple loads and was expected back to load another load after dropping off the first one - that would account for it being a several hours long job. I don't have first-hand experience with loading pigs but is it plausible he left his coveralls at the loading site since he knew he was coming back for another load?

7:30p left home
Did he have to go pick up the livestock trailer somewhere first? It was a Brown labeled trailer, is there a Brown trucking near by or somewhere that has "Brown" labeled livestock trailers?
9:00p earliest arrival at loading point
Who knows how long he had to wait to load, if there were other trucks or delays, or how long it took.
10:00-11:00 leave with first load?
90 min drive back -> 11:30-12:30 - goes missing. They've said the last communication was early morning so maybe he was nearby and sent a text at this point, close to when he disappeared. I have a bad feeling it was some kind of 'goodbye' but they don't want to say that

As for the timeline - assuming everything went normal, the rest of the night might have gone like:
30-60 min unload puts you between 12:00 - 1:30
Drive back to EG - 1:30 - 3:00, and then another load and drive is another 2 to 3 hours maybe
Let's say 5a or 6a for 2nd drop off + time to unload.
If he had to return the empty trailer to the loading site, that's another 3 hours to get back home by 9a, but it sounds like with only 2 trips, it's plausible that he would be gone all night and this was normal for his wife to expect.

I haven't been able to find anywhere the actual drop-off or load site and there are hundreds of pig farms. When they say pick up "in" Eagle Grove and drop off "in" Sac City, I highly doubt it was in the actual towns - the farms would probably be within 5 or even 10 miles of the town and that's still how you'd refer to it out there. So the fact that his truck was found a few miles north of 20 isn't a big concern IMHO, he could have been heading from 20 to any of the farms in that area.

The fact that his truck was in the road also is kind of strange but where else would it be? On rural Iowa roads, there's maybe a foot or two of shoulder, which might be gravel. Depending on the condition, that might not be something you'd want to drop your wheels onto, and would it be worth it if it's only going to get you a foot or two anyway when you're mostly in the lane?

If he was in good mental and physical condition when he left his truck, at night at that intersection he likely could have seen yard lights from a farm in each direction that would have been less than a mile away, if he needed help for some reason.

Welcome to WS!

There was also a full moon Monday (the day before he disappeared), so if it was clear, he’d have that light.

Can you share where you learned he had multiple loads to deliver? Not sure that’s been mentioned here. Do you know if the second load was to be obtained from the same place in Eagle Grove?

 

[LC2]

Hi, newbie here - grew up in a different part of rural Iowa and got interested in this news.

My understanding is that he had multiple loads and was expected back to load another load after dropping off the first one - that would account for it being a several hours long job. I don't have first-hand experience with loading pigs but is it plausible he left his coveralls at the loading site since he knew he was coming back for another load?

7:30p left home
Did he have to go pick up the livestock trailer somewhere first? It was a Brown labeled trailer, is there a Brown trucking near by or somewhere that has "Brown" labeled livestock trailers?
9:00p earliest arrival at loading point
Who knows how long he had to wait to load, if there were other trucks or delays, or how long it took.
10:00-11:00 leave with first load?
90 min drive back -> 11:30-12:30 - goes missing. They've said the last communication was early morning so maybe he was nearby and sent a text at this point, close to when he disappeared. I have a bad feeling it was some kind of 'goodbye' but they don't want to say that

As for the timeline - assuming everything went normal, the rest of the night might have gone like:
30-60 min unload puts you between 12:00 - 1:30
Drive back to EG - 1:30 - 3:00, and then another load and drive is another 2 to 3 hours maybe
Let's say 5a or 6a for 2nd drop off + time to unload.
If he had to return the empty trailer to the loading site, that's another 3 hours to get back home by 9a, but it sounds like with only 2 trips, it's plausible that he would be gone all night and this was normal for his wife to expect.

I haven't been able to find anywhere the actual drop-off or load site and there are hundreds of pig farms. When they say pick up "in" Eagle Grove and drop off "in" Sac City, I highly doubt it was in the actual towns - the farms would probably be within 5 or even 10 miles of the town and that's still how you'd refer to it out there. So the fact that his truck was found a few miles north of 20 isn't a big concern IMHO, he could have been heading from 20 to any of the farms in that area.

The fact that his truck was in the road also is kind of strange but where else would it be? On rural Iowa roads, there's maybe a foot or two of shoulder, which might be gravel. Depending on the condition, that might not be something you'd want to drop your wheels onto, and would it be worth it if it's only going to get you a foot or two anyway when you're mostly in the lane?

If he was in good mental and physical condition when he left his truck, at night at that intersection he likely could have seen yard lights from a farm in each direction that would have been less than a mile away, if he needed help for some reason.

I didn't realize he had to do more than 1 load. It makes more sense now, but the fact that she said he had already worked all day and came home for a change of clothes and then worked through the night just seems alot. Thanks for the breakdown. It helped.

 

[stickb0y7]

I didn't realize he had to do more than 1 load. It makes more sense now, but the fact that she said he had already worked all day and came home for a change of clothes and then worked through the night just seems alot. Thanks for the breakdown. It helped.

I will look for the source and reply with it. I have been down the rabbit-hole looking around everywhere and forgot where the comment was. I think it was in something the boss said to his wife.

 

[adot0902]

I made a map that I hope helps you visualize the route. David picked up his load in Eagle Grove. He was supposed to drop it off in Sac City. He likely would have taken Hwy 20 west towards Sac City from Eagle Grove.
Driving in the westerly direction on Hwy 20, Sac City would come up on his left, to the south. Instead, David, (or someone), drove north which is N14\Union St. His truck was found facing nb in the middle of the road. He never dropped off his load in Sac City.
It should be noted that at this point, none of us knows which route the truck took that night, only where it ended up.
Edited to try and clarify some points.

Thank you! The “love button” wasn’t enough. I really needed this!

 

[stickb0y7]

I will look for the source and reply with it. I have been down the rabbit-hole looking around everywhere and forgot where the comment was. I think it was in something the boss said to his wife.

one source

Family and friends last heard from Schultz early in the day last Tuesday, November 21st. Schultz was driving from Eagle Grove to Sac City with a load of hogs, but did not complete the delivery or pick up the next load. The semi Schultz was driving was found parked on Old Highway 71 near Sac City last Tuesday.

I don't know how accurate this is as it's not a first-hand quote, so take my theory with a grain of salt. If I find a better source I'll add it.

 

[neesaki]

Hi, newbie here - grew up in a different part of rural Iowa and got interested in this news.

My understanding is that he had multiple loads and was expected back to load another load after dropping off the first one - that would account for it being a several hours long job. I don't have first-hand experience with loading pigs but is it plausible he left his coveralls at the loading site since he knew he was coming back for another load?

7:30p left home
Did he have to go pick up the livestock trailer somewhere first? It was a Brown labeled trailer, is there a Brown trucking near by or somewhere that has "Brown" labeled livestock trailers?
9:00p earliest arrival at loading point
Who knows how long he had to wait to load, if there were other trucks or delays, or how long it took.
10:00-11:00 leave with first load?
90 min drive back -> 11:30-12:30 - goes missing. They've said the last communication was early morning so maybe he was nearby and sent a text at this point, close to when he disappeared. I have a bad feeling it was some kind of 'goodbye' but they don't want to say that

As for the timeline - assuming everything went normal, the rest of the night might have gone like:
30-60 min unload puts you between 12:00 - 1:30
Drive back to EG - 1:30 - 3:00, and then another load and drive is another 2 to 3 hours maybe
Let's say 5a or 6a for 2nd drop off + time to unload.
If he had to return the empty trailer to the loading site, that's another 3 hours to get back home by 9a, but it sounds like with only 2 trips, it's plausible that he would be gone all night and this was normal for his wife to expect.

I haven't been able to find anywhere the actual drop-off or load site and there are hundreds of pig farms. When they say pick up "in" Eagle Grove and drop off "in" Sac City, I highly doubt it was in the actual towns - the farms would probably be within 5 or even 10 miles of the town and that's still how you'd refer to it out there. So the fact that his truck was found a few miles north of 20 isn't a big concern IMHO, he could have been heading from 20 to any of the farms in that area.

The fact that his truck was in the road also is kind of strange but where else would it be? On rural Iowa roads, there's maybe a foot or two of shoulder, which might be gravel. Depending on the condition, that might not be something you'd want to drop your wheels onto, and would it be worth it if it's only going to get you a foot or two anyway when you're mostly in the lane?

If he was in good mental and physical condition when he left his truck, at night at that intersection he likely could have seen yard lights from a farm in each direction that would have been less than a mile away, if he needed help for some reason.

Woukd he not still need to change clothes between loads, regardless?
As in, he wouldn’t want to get in the truck with his dirty clothes on. So he would need to change between each load, right?
Or what am I missing? Please excuse my ignorance re this topic. TIA

 

[MntnHiker]

I'm also confused on the timeline. His wife said he had been working all day and then showered and then left at 730 PM to go get this load. Of course she didn't give exact times so we don't know what she meant by "all day." And also, could he have been working doing something else besides driving his truck? Like doing hard work around their house or something?

I'm sure there are some folks here who have either driven trucks or know more about this than me, but I do know there are limits on how long you are allowed to drive without rest. Here is a source to back that up. It's from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. If he had truly been driving his truck all day and then would be driving it all night, he would have gone over this limit. MOO https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Drivers Guide to HOS 2015_508.pdf

 

[Tippy Lynn]

I'm also confused on the timeline. His wife said he had been working all day and then showered and then left at 730 PM to go get this load. Of course she didn't give exact times so we don't know what she meant by "all day." And also, could he have been working doing something else besides driving his truck? Like doing hard work around their house or something?

I'm sure there are some folks here who have either driven trucks or know more about this than me, but I do know there are limits on how long you are allowed to drive without rest. Here is a source to back that up. It's from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. If he had truly been driving his truck all day and then would be driving it all night, he would have gone over this limit. MOO https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Drivers Guide to HOS 2015_508.pdf

If I recall correctly livestock haulers are allowed more hours. I'm not sure if it only applies to long haulers or for all livestock haulers.

 

[ifindedout]

I'm also confused on the timeline. His wife said he had been working all day and then showered and then left at 730 PM to go get this load. Of course she didn't give exact times so we don't know what she meant by "all day." And also, could he have been working doing something else besides driving his truck? Like doing hard work around their house or something?

I'm sure there are some folks here who have either driven trucks or know more about this than me, but I do know there are limits on how long you are allowed to drive without rest. Here is a source to back that up. It's from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. If he had truly been driving his truck all day and then would be driving it all night, he would have gone over this limit. MOO https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/Drivers Guide to HOS 2015_508.pdf

A more recent copy is here on another thread (at the bottom of my post):

Found Deceased - MD - Jason Pearson, 42, truck driver, last seen at food distribution center, truck found abandoned, phone & belongings inside, Smithfield, 14 Jun ‘23

Maryland State Police said they are searching for a missing truck driver who last seen at a distribution center. Authorities said Jason M. Pearson was taken to his assigned Freightliner in Scranton, Pennsylvania by his wife on June 12 around 1 a.m. For the next 58 hours, Pearson and the...

www.websleuths.com

ETA: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmc...OS-395-DRIVERS-GUIDE-TO-HOS(2022-04-28)_0.pdf

 

[geevee]

If he had his coveralls and boots on something happened to him either at the loading site or the unloading site before he had a chance to unload. Someone moved the truck to a different location to make it look like nothing happened at the loading or unloading site.

WHO???? I would be drilling everyone who was at both sites...someone knows or saw something.

jmo

I agree; after coming across a tweet/article about the search for DS and then coming here and reading the entire thread with all the terrific sleuthing and the working through of possibilities, I also think something happened at the loading site or the unloading site.

The main clues being his loading clothing was not found in the truck, but what he would normally leave in the truck while doing the loading/unloading (cell phone, wallet) were still there. Presumably his jacket was also in the truck and whomever left the truck where it was found removed it accidentally (or on purpose, as a misdirection).

Mooo

 

[momof2wats]

My husband is a truck driver and he talks about certain products being ag exempt so legally they don't have to log their hours the usual way. And while most new trucks have e-logs, older trucks generally don't or a newer truck can have a glider kit installed that gets around the e-log stuff and they use paper logs. I know for a fact most truck drivers do not always follow the laws and rules. And according to the attached article below livestock haulers that meet certain criteria have a different set of rules which probably applied to David. While I originally felt foul play likely occurred at the pick up location after seeing the "bigger picture" map I now think the DROP OFF location is highly suspect. Plus according to the larger map David did not live very far from the drop off location so I am sure he was very familiar with the area. The area is rural, the drop off location was not too far from where he lived, he is a truck driver, I'm sure he has been to this location before so I doubt he was lost. If something happened at the drop off location they kept the pigs on the trailer and moved the truck to make it appear that he never even arrived at the location. MOO

Livestock haulers get additional HOS exemption in infrastructure law

The infrastructure bill signed into law earlier this month adds to livestock and insect haulers' 150 air-mile radius hours of service exemption. Also: 15 Republican governors call on Biden to ease trucking regs to help supply chain; more.

www.overdriveonline.com

 

[Snoopster]

My husband is a truck driver and he talks about certain products being ag exempt so legally they don't have to log their hours the usual way. And while most new trucks have e-logs, older trucks generally don't or a newer truck can have a glider kit installed that gets around the e-log stuff and they use paper logs. I know for a fact most truck drivers do not always follow the laws and rules. And according to the attached article below livestock haulers that meet certain criteria have a different set of rules which probably applied to David. While I originally felt foul play likely occurred at the pick up location after seeing the "bigger picture" map I now think the DROP OFF location is highly suspect. Plus according to the larger map David did not live very far from the drop off location so I am sure he was very familiar with the area. The area is rural, the drop off location was not too far from where he lived, he is a truck driver, I'm sure he has been to this location before so I doubt he was lost. If something happened at the drop off location they kept the pigs on the trailer and moved the truck to make it appear that he never even arrived at the location. MOO

Livestock haulers get additional HOS exemption in infrastructure law

The infrastructure bill signed into law earlier this month adds to livestock and insect haulers' 150 air-mile radius hours of service exemption. Also: 15 Republican governors call on Biden to ease trucking regs to help supply chain; more.

www.overdriveonline.com

Thank you for sharing your husband's insight...and yours, of course!

 

[Knox]

one source

I don't know how accurate this is as it's not a first-hand quote, so take my theory with a grain of salt. If I find a better source I'll add it.

Thanks for the link. That's the first time I've seen that particular detail "or pick up the next load". That's very interesting. His wife has never stated that in any of her numerous interviews/Facebook posts. Makes me wonder why the alarm wasn't raised sooner if he was expected back for another load?

Locals- is it normal to load/transport 24 hours a day?

 

[geevee]

“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.
---------

Why did 'the guy he hauls for' have to come out to their house to ask where DS was? Did he only have his address and not her cell number as an emergency contact? Now that most folks have separate cell phones instead of communal landlines, I'd think the person he worked for would have another contact phone number.

Maybe nothing, but that just struck me as curious.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

One issue the Cajun Navy has handled is getting permission from the landowners to do a search. For those involved in the search, it’s a mix of emotions.

“A lot of questions you know with a truck full of loaded pigs, left in the middle of the road you know generally not on the character of any truck driver,” said Rowley. “From what David’s friends and family have conveyed to us, definitely not the way that David would ever have left his truck.”

Searcher, Mike Zimmerman of Sac City went to school with Schultz.

“We have mainly been doing the fields fence lines along the Cedar Creek and we hit the ditches along the road if we can, but it’s mainly off the road is what we’re checking,” Zimmerman said

Volunteers expand search area to find missing Sac County man

SAC CITY, Iowa — The search for missing truck driver David Schultz, of Lake View, is still going more than a week after he disappeared. His hog truck was found, stopped in the middle of the r…

who13.com

 

[katydid23]

My husband is a truck driver and he talks about certain products being ag exempt so legally they don't have to log their hours the usual way. And while most new trucks have e-logs, older trucks generally don't or a newer truck can have a glider kit installed that gets around the e-log stuff and they use paper logs. I know for a fact most truck drivers do not always follow the laws and rules. And according to the attached article below livestock haulers that meet certain criteria have a different set of rules which probably applied to David. While I originally felt foul play likely occurred at the pick up location after seeing the "bigger picture" map I now think the DROP OFF location is highly suspect. Plus according to the larger map David did not live very far from the drop off location so I am sure he was very familiar with the area. The area is rural, the drop off location was not too far from where he lived, he is a truck driver, I'm sure he has been to this location before so I doubt he was lost. If something happened at the drop off location they kept the pigs on the trailer and moved the truck to make it appear that he never even arrived at the location. MOO

Livestock haulers get additional HOS exemption in infrastructure law

The infrastructure bill signed into law earlier this month adds to livestock and insect haulers' 150 air-mile radius hours of service exemption. Also: 15 Republican governors call on Biden to ease trucking regs to help supply chain; more.

www.overdriveonline.com

As the wife of a truck driver, what are your thoughts about what kind of a thing could have happened at the drop off location?

What kind of a situation could have been triggered? I do lean towards this being foul play but I am unsure WHY, since it doesn't seem like a robbery or truck jacking.

Are there typically cameras that could have picked anything up?