Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023:
Missing Iowa trucker’s disappearance: Law enforcement shares new details
The Sac County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office has released additional details around the Nov. 21 disappearance of Wall Lake, Iowa-based truck driver David Schultz.
As previously reported, Schultz’s truck was found in the travel lane of Highway 71 near Sac City, still loaded with baby pigs he had picked up Nov. 20.
Following a massive search by Iowa officials and volunteers that covered more than 100,000 acres, there has been no sign of Schultz apart from his phone and wallet inside the truck and his jacket on the ground nearby.
A press release posted to Facebook by the local sheriff's office on Dec. 9 said Schultz’s wife, Sarah, called Lake View Police and reported her husband missing after she learned that he had not dropped the load of pigs off at Wiechman’s hog buying station in Sac City as scheduled. David reportedly left home around 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 and was scheduled to pick up the pigs in the Eagle Grove area.
A Sac County Secondary Road employee reported to SCSO at 3:04 p.m. on Nov. 21 that there was a semi-truck parked on the road, and it was also reported that the truck had been there since early morning. Cell phone data suggested the truck may have been there since 12:40 a.m. on Nov. 21.
[Related: No sign of missing Iowa trucker after two weeks, 100K-acre search]
Responding deputies determined the truck was Schultz’s. The truck was shut off, and Schultz’s belongings were found inside. Investigators also later learned that nothing was missing from his wallet, SCSO added.
Police also traveled to Eagle Grove and located the hog containment facility from which Schultz had been scheduled to load. Crew-member interviews and load records indicated Schultz had picked up that load but had been late to arrive, and he was the last truck loaded on Nov. 20. He left the location around 10:50 that night.
Investigators obtained video footage of Schultz at 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the milemarker 126 truck stop east of Fort Dodge on Highway 20. He was there for 16 minutes before leaving the truck stop. He was then seen on a DOT camera on Highway 20 west of the milemarker 126 truck stop heading west. This was the last time Schultz was seen, SCSO reported. Cell phone data obtained from his phone corroborates the timeline.
Cell phone data also showed that Schultz traveled to the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 71, with his phone arriving there at about 12:18 a.m. The data then showed the phone traveling north to where the truck was found. The stop in Sac City where he was supposed to deliver is south of that intersection.
Video surveillance from an area business near Wiechman’s in Sac City was obtained, which showed Schultz never made it to Wiechman’s. Law enforcement to date has searched fruitlessly for additional video footage from Eagle Grove to Fort Dodge.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has assisted with a forensic search of Schultz’s phone and confirmed that Schultz has not legally gone through a U.S. border crossing. SCSO reported that information was received that a person named David Schultz had a one-way flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix, Arizona, in the late afternoon of Nov. 21. However, after working with Minneapolis Airport Police and the airline, viewing video footage of the gate and receiving ticketing information, officials determined it was not the David Schultz that is missing.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Sac County Sheriff’s Office at 712-662-7127 or your local law enforcement agency.
[Related: Police searching for missing trucker in Iowa]
I-83 bridge closed this weekend in PA
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will close the I-83 John Harris Memorial (South) Bridge in Harrisburg this coming weekend for repairs.
The bridge spans the Susquehanna River between Dauphin and Cumberland counties and will be closed Dec. 15-18
Weather permitting, the southbound I-83 South Bridge will be closed at 9 p.m. Friday, and is expected to reopen no later than 6 a.m. Monday.
The southbound I-83 South Bridge in Harrisonburg will be closed this weekend, Dec. 15-18.PennDOT
A detour will be in place during the closure. Drivers wishing to access southbound I-83 from north of the northern terminus of I-83 at I-81 should take southbound I-81 to eastbound Route 581 to southbound I-83.
Travelers looking to access southbound I-83 from points south of I-81, including I-283, Route 322 and entry points along the I-83 corridor north of the closure in the Harrisburg area should take northbound I-83 to southbound I-81 to eastbound Route 581 to southbound I-83.
The closure may cause congestion along the detour route and adjacent roadways. Remain alert, and drive with caution.
Work includes expansion joint repairs, concrete deck repairs, and seal replacements.
[Related: I-195 bridge closed in Rhode Island]
