Body of missing Iowa trucker found in field

An Iowa truck driver missing for many months has been found dead, according to local authorities.

Iowa Trucker Missing Since November 2023 Finally Found

Around 2 p.m on Wednesday, April 24, the body of trucker David Schultz, 53, was found in a farmer’s field, KCCI reports.

Police were reportedly able to identify Schultz by his boots.

The cause of death has not been released.

Schultz was found a mile and a half from where his truck was found abandoned on November 21, 2023, near Sac City, Iowa, according to KTIV.

The truck was loaded with pigs and Schultz left behind his wallet, identification, and cellphone.

Authorities organized multiple widespread search efforts, but little new information was uncovered until this week.

Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy.

Sarah Bogue Schultz, wife of David Schultz, released a statement on social media after the body was recovered.

“Day 155 and my husband has been found. We can now have some sort of closure. Thank you to all of you, my friends who have been praying and for not letting him be forgotten. Even though it is not the ending we wanted, i thank god we now know where David is because the 155 day of not knowing was pure hell. We still have a lot of unanswered questions but at least one big one was answered and we know he is with jesus. God bless!” she said.

Police Detail Circumstances Of David Schultz Disappearance

For more details on the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of David Schultz from  Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure, see below.

“November 21, 2023, at 2:23 PM, Sarah Schultz after learning that her husband David Schultz had not dropped a load of pigs off at Wieckman’s hog buying station in Sac City as scheduled that day called the Lake View Police and reported her husband missing after she was unable to make contact with him by telephone. David Schultz left his home around 7:00 PM on the evening of November 20, 2023. Schultz was scheduled to pick up a load of pigs in the Eagle Grove area and transport the pigs to Sac City.

At 3:04 PM on November 21, 2023, a Sac County Secondary Road employee reported to the Sac County Sheriff’s Office that there was a semi-tractor-trailer parked on the traveled portion of the road at the intersection of D-15 (190th Street) and N-14 (Union Ave.). It was reported that this semi had been sitting there since early morning. Responding deputies determined that it was David Schultz’s. The semi was shut off, and inside deputies found David Schutlz’s wallet and cell phone. David Schultz’s driver’s license was in the wallet. Investigators would later learn that nothing was missing from the wallet.

Over the next several hours, law enforcement searched the immediate area on foot and with a K-9. The Sac County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Iowa State Patrol airwing unit. An airplane was dispatched from Iowa City that was equipped with forward-looking infra-red (FLIR). A state patrol pilot flew the surrounding area and did not detect a heat signature that would be consistent with a person. For the next two days, law enforcement, area firefighters, and volunteers expanded the ground search on foot and with the use of drones. Nothing of significant value was located.

Detectives from the Sac County Sheriff’s Office and the Lake View Police traveled to the Eagle Grove area and with assistance from the Wright County Sheriff’s Office, located the hog confinement that Schultz was scheduled to load from. Load crew members were interviewed, and load records were obtained. Investigators learned that Schultz had picked up his load but had been late to arrive and he was the last truck loaded. Schultz left at about 10:50 PM.

Investigators obtained video footage of David Schultz at 11:15 PM on November 21, 2023, at the MM126 truck stop east of Fort Dodge on Hwy 20. Schultz is there for 16 minutes before leaving the truck stop. He is then seen on a DOT camera on Hwy 20 west of MM 126 truck stop heading west. This was the last time David Schultz was seen. Cell phone data obtained from David Schult’s phone corroborates this timeline.

Cell phone data also shows investigators that Schultz travels across Hwy to the intersection of Hwy 20 & Hwy 71 junction. There was not any usable video from the DOT camera at Hwy 4 and Hwy 20, and there is no video of Schultz stopping at the truck stop at Hwy 4. Cell phone shows Schultz’s phone arrives at Hwy 20 & 71 at about 12:18 AM. The data shows the phone traveling north to where the truck was found. Data suggests the truck may have been there since 12:40 AM on November 21, 2023.“