Iowa trucker whose body was found in field died of hypothermia after taking meth, autopsy finds

SAC CITY, Iowa — A Truck driver from Iowa who disappeared last fall and whose body was found in a farm field this spring, died of hypothermia due to acute methamphetamine intoxication, an autopsy found.

State medical researcher Dr. Kelly Kruse ruled the death of 53-year-old David Schultz an accident, according to the Sioux City Journal reported. Schultz, who was also a farmer, was found dead on April 24 in a field in Sac County, about a quarter mile from where his semi was found parked in the middle of the road on November 21.

Kruse ruled out murder, noting that Schultz apparently used meth and was then exposed to the cold. She did not immediately respond Friday to a telephone message from the Associated Press seeking more information.

In the days after Schultz disappeared, temperatures dropped well below freezing.

Schultz, of Wall Lake, left home late on the night of Nov. 20 to pick up a load of hogs from a hog pen near Eagle Grove. He was expected to deliver the pigs the next morning to a livestock dealer in Sac City, a small town about 90 miles northwest of Des Moines. When he didn’t show up, no one could get him on the phone.

After his wife reported him missing, Schultz’s truck was found that afternoon, less than 4 miles northeast of his destination. The pigs were still in the trailer. Schultz’s wallet and phone were in his gear, but his jacket was by the roadside.

Law enforcement officers searched the area before more than 250 volunteers joined a broader effort. But his body was not found until the spring.