Mystery as missing Idaho truck driver David Schultz is found dead 10 miles from abandoned rig carrying live pigs which was left in middle of the road
- David Schultz’s semi was found parked in the middle of the road on a remote highway on November 21 and his death remains a mystery
- His family confirmed he was found dead Wednesday and said the Sac County Sheriff’s Office identified him by the boots he was wearing and the keys in his pocket.
- “I had a feeling he would be found … as the farmers prepared their fields,” his wife, Sarah Schultz, told a news conference.
The body of a missing truck driver has been found in a field in Iowa, near where his abandoned oil rig, which was transporting hogs, was discovered just before Thanksgiving.
David Schultz’s semi was found parked in the middle of the road on a remote highway on November 21, and his death remains a mystery.
The 53-year-old’s family confirmed he was found dead Wednesday and said the Sac County Sheriff’s Office identified him by the boots he was wearing and the keys in his pocket.
“I had a feeling he was going to be found … as the farmers were preparing their fields,” his wife, Sarah Schultz, told a news conference Thursday. ‘But I just didn’t know when. And it was yesterday.’
She said the discovery has brought a mixture of relief and sadness because there are many unanswered questions.
The body of a missing truck driver has been found in a field in Iowa, near where his abandoned pig rig was discovered just before Thanksgiving.
David Schultz’s semi (center, right) was found parked in the middle of the road on a remote highway on November 21, and his death remains a mystery
His wife Sarah Schultz (pictured) confirmed he was found dead Wednesday and said the Sac County Sheriff’s Office identified him by the boots he was wearing and the keys in his pocket.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety has yet to identify the body as Schultz’s, but said a forensic autopsy was planned.
His wife Sarah told reporters that the person found was wearing boots that matched her husband’s and that his keys were found in the pocket.
“I’m glad we know where he is now,” she said. ‘There are still many questions. Things don’t make sense.’
Schultz, of Wall Lake, left home late on the night of November 20 to pick up a load of pigs from a hog pen near Eagle Grove, Iowa.
He was expected to deliver the pigs the next morning to a livestock dealer in Sac City, Iowa, a small farming town about 90 miles northwest of Des Moines.
When he didn’t show up, no one could get him on the phone.
Sarah reported it missing and the truck was found later that afternoon, less than 10 miles northeast of its destination.
The pigs were still in the trailer. Schultz’s wallet and phone were in his gear. His coat lay by the road.
His wife Sarah told reporters that the person found was wearing boots that matched her husband’s, and that his keys were found in the pocket.
Jake Rowley, the regional team leader for United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit search and rescue organization that assisted in the search, said local law enforcement agencies immediately searched the area where the body was found after Schultz went missing, including with drones.
More than 250 volunteers searched another 100,000 hectares.
An unanswered question, Rowley said, was whether the body “was there the whole time,” or whether it had recently been moved to where it was found.
Sarah described her husband as a devoted family man who emphasized to his children the importance of being respectful and working hard.
βHe was such a good father,β Sarah Schultz said. ‘It’s not fair.’
DailyMail.com has contacted the Sac County Sheriff’s Office for comment.