Trucker whose body was found in field died of hypothermia after taking meth

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa truck driver who vanished last fall and whose body was found in a farm field this spring died of hypothermia related to acute methamphetamine intoxication, an autopsy found.

The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner ruled that 53-year-old David Schultz’s death was an accident, the Sioux City Journal recently reported.

Schultz, who was also a farmer, was found dead on April 24 in a Sac County field about a quarter mile from where his semi was found parked in the middle of the road on Nov. 21.

The medical examiner’s office ruled out homicide, noting that Schultz apparently took meth and was then exposed to the cold.

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

Schultz, of Wall Lake, left home late on the night of Nov. 20 to pick up a load of pigs from a hog confinement near Eagle Grove.

He was expected to deliver the pigs the next morning to a livestock dealer in Sac City, a small town about 120 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 10 miles northeast of his destination.

The pigs were still in the trailer. Schultz’s wallet and phone were inside his rig, but his jacket was on the roadside.

Law enforcement searched the area before more than 250 volunteers joined in a wider effort. But his body wasn’t found until spring.