After an Iowa trucker went missing under inexplicable circumstances days before Thanksgiving, NBC and Apple podcasts recently updated the story, hoping clues would surface.
David Schultz, a 53-year-old livestock hauler and Sac County, Iowa, native, was reportedly picking up pigs from Eagle Grove, Iowa. According to his wife, Sarah Schultz, the plan was to deliver the livestock to his Sac County and be home in Wall Lake by nightfall.
But when Sarah called, and no one picked up, she grew worried. Dozens of calls to David’s cell phone went unanswered. A police officer later found the phone and called Sarah. They had discovered the owner-operator’s rig parked in the road, facing in the opposite direction of his trip. His wallet, keys and other personal items were still inside.
“None of it makes sense. He didn’t leave his family. He wouldn’t leave his boys,” Sarah Schultz reportedly said. “I hope to God he’s still alive, but my gut tells me he’s not. I just want him found.”
More than 400 volunteers stepped up to search the area in the days following his disappearance, thanks in large part to the United Cajun Navy and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Drones, dogs, planes, and good Samaritans on ATVs and horseback searched relentlessly across the area that would make sense to find the trucker. A search party discovered a dead body in an abandoned PT Cruiser. It was that of Mark Riesburg, a missing person from Jolley, Iowa. The search for Schultz was called off on Dec. 5, 2023, when all logical options were exhausted.
“If anything good came out of this is, they found him at least,” Sarah reportedly said. She also noted the Riesburgs have been supportive. “They bought the (Schultz) boys bicycles for Christmas. So, we got to hug her.”
Adding to fuel to the theory Schultz met with foul play, he had reportedly been rebuilding a Peterbilt semi at home. His wife indicated restoring the truck was one of his passions, and he just needed to install new headlights for it to be roadworthy. Sarah said it was the “truck of his dreams.”
The Sac County Board of Supervisors recently approved a $25,000 reward for information in the open case. The volunteers from the United Cajun Navy have gone on the record stating they are ready to resume their efforts to find David Schultz. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sac County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at (712) 662-7127.
Sources:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/missing-persons/id1498804226?ls=1
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