Body of missing trucker found in field months after he vanished while transporting a load of pigs

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The body of a missing Iowan trucker has been found lying in a field with his cowboy boots still on and keys in his pocket, months after he disappeared while transporting a load of pigs.

The body of 53-year-old David Schultz was found after the owner of the field in Sac County discovered his remains lying on his land and notified the county’s sheriff’s officer just before 2pm on Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

His body was found near the intersection where Schultz’s semi-truck was found abandoned in November 2023, still loaded with pigs in a trailer he was due to deliver to a farm 10 miles away, along with his wallet and phone left inside.

Authorities do not suspect foul play in the death of Schultz, the DPS said but did not indicate what caused the trucker’s life to end or how his body ended up in a field.

The body was taken to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner for a forensic autopsy, which showed no signs of trauma or serious injury, the DPS wrote.

The examiners were able to identify Schultz through dental records.

The Wall Lake trucker vanished on 21 November, prompting a widespread search by several law enforcement agencies, local fire departments and volunteers, the Sac County Sheriff’s Office said last year.

Later that afternoon, his truck was discovered sitting with the engine off in the middle of the two-lane road, still loaded with the pigs.

The truck was facing northbound. However, Schultz should have been heading southbound to the small farming town of Sac City to deliver his live load, according to Jake Rowley, the regional team leader of United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit search-and-rescue organisation that helped with Schultz’s search, the Associated Press reported in December.

Schultz’s jacket was also splayed out on the roadside.

After six months of mystery as to where Schultz disappeared and why he vanished while on his way to deliver the pigs, his wife Sarah Schultz is now grateful she has at least a few answers, but she has been left devastated by the tragic outcome of the search.

“I’m glad we know where he is,” she told reporters at a news conference on Thursday morning, held after news that her husband’s body was found. “There’s still a lot of questions. You know, things just don’t make sense.”

While the authorities do not suspect foul play, Ms Schultz told the reporters that many aspects of her husband’s death do not add up, leaving her to speculate that some sort of foul play could be involved.

“I can’t think of any reason why he would have walked a mile and a half out into the middle of a field and laid down, and taken his coat off and shut his truck off,” she said.

“Things don’t add up, don’t line up. I suspect foul play.”

Ms Schultz said that from what she understands, her husband was found lying on his back with his keys found in his pocket.

“He had underwear on, and I think his jeans were down. His cowboy boots were on, I think,” she said. “I know they identified him by the boots, because the last time he went and bought boots, he bought two pairs of the exact same ones. I gave the sheriff one of the newer boots to have for comparison.”

Mr Rowley joined the bereaved wife at the conference, telling reporters that they did not search that area where Schultz’s remains were found because they were told law enforcement had already searched that part by the time they joined the initiative to find the trucker.

Ms Schultz described her husband, a father to 10-year-old twins, as having a lot of friends, and was a devoted family man who always taught his children lessons about the importance of staying respectful.

“He was such a good father,” Ms Schultz told reporters through tears. “It’s not fair.”

The Independent has contacted Iowa’s Office of the State Medical Examiner, Iowa’s Department of Public Safety and Sac County Sheriff’s Office for further information.