Close to eight months after the disappearance of the Sac County trucker, the case was concluded upon discovering the cause of death. The Sac County Attorney’s Office released a statement today (Friday) that the medical examiner has determined “hypothermia in the setting of acute drug (methamphetamine) intoxication” as the death of 53-year-old David Schultz of Wall Lake, who was reported missing by his wife back in November 2023. The investigation discovered that Shultz had been trucking for nearly 30 consecutive hours with little to no rest prior to his disappearance, resulting in severe sleep deprivation. Authorities believed this, combined with the methamphetamine use, Schultz induced a medical emergency, causing him to leave his semi-truck and trailer north of the intersection of N14 and D15 in northeast Sac County and succumb to the elements of the winter weather. Searches were conducted in the immediate area of the abandoned truck, but the cornfield where Schultz’s body was discovered displayed challenges that caused detection to be complicated. It was reported that cornstalks in the field were both flattened and standing, with some at approximately shin high, effectively hiding and camouflaging Schultz’s body. Travelers on a county road, which was about 200 meters from where the body was discovered, would not have been able to see the body and the farmhand who discovered Schultz’s was elevated in a tractor and was unable to notice the body until approximately 13 meters from it. Sac County Attorney wants to thank the Sac County Sheriff’s Office, Lake View Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) for assisting in the investigation, as well as the United Cajun Navy and the volunteers who searched for Schultz during this time and extends his thoughts and prayers to Schultz’s family and friends during this time.
