David Schultz’s family seeks second opinion after autopsy shows no sign of foul play

SAC CITY — A spokesman for David Schultz's family said they plan to have a private forensic pathology firm conduct a second autopsy on the Wall Lake trucker's body after it was found five months after Schultz went missing.

Jake Rowley, of the nonprofit United Cajun Navy search team, said Schultz's wife, Sarah, gave him permission to set up a GoFundMe online fundraiser. He said they hope to raise at least $10,000 to cover the cost of a second autopsy, as well as funeral expenses.

Shortly before 2 p.m. April 24, a man who was unidentified by authorities reported to the Sac County Sheriff's Office that he found a body in his farm field, according to a statement from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The farm field is located in the 1900 block of Union Avenue in Sac County, roughly 1 1/2 miles from where Schultz's semitractor trailer loaded with hogs was discovered abandoned Nov. 21, 2023.

That was the same day the 53-year-old father of twin 10-year-old boys was reported missing. He was last heard from in the early morning hours that day.

Last Thursday, the DCI announced that the State Medical Examiner conducted a forensic autopsy on the body and positively identified it as that of Schultz.

"Preliminary autopsy results show no signs of trauma or serious injury. Further autopsy test results are pending. Authorities do not suspect foul play in the death of Schultz," the DCI statement said.

But the family is not convinced.

"I don't feel comfortable with the results of the initial autopsy," Rowley told the Journal by phone. "I think, definitely, in my opinion and in Sarah's opinion both and our conversations together, foul play was involved."

Rowley and Sarah Schultz are looking into sending the body to Kansas City for a private autopsy, since those services aren't available in Iowa, according to Rowley. He said they are working with Farber & Otteman Funeral Homes to transport the body from the State Medical Examiner's Office in Ankeny to Sac City.

"Not that I do not trust the officials and what they do — I definitely do," said Rowley, who noted some test results, such as toxicology, have not come back. "There's other parts of this that haven't been completely returned yet. There may be something in that, you know, that hasn't been brought to our attention yet."

Schultz's red Peterbilt semi with white stripes was found parked in the middle of the northbound lane of County Road N-14, not far from where it intersects with D-15 in Sac County. The truck was reportedly shut off, the lights were off and the key was in the ignition. Deputies found Schultz's wallet and cellphone inside. A towel, cellphone charger and pocketknife were found with his coat on the opposite side of the road, according to Sac County Sheriff Ken McClure.

When the body was discovered last week, Rowley asserted in an interview that it was in a state of decomposition inconsistent with having been out in the elements for more than five months, implying that it may have been discarded in the field later.

But on Friday, Rowley said that, from his understanding, Schultz's body was "unrecognizable." His cowboy boots and dental records were used to confirm his identify.

"Trying to be able to do a thorough autopsy on a body that has a state of decomposition is hard. And so, maybe something was missed, maybe it wasn't," Rowley said. "I'm not an autopsy professional. I'm a search-and-rescue professional. When it comes to those things, I have to count on the professionals to do what they do, and that's kind of why we're looking at doing a second autopsy."

Rowley, noting that "autopsies aren't cheap," said he's looking into a fund the state has for crime victims. However, he said Schultz's family likely wouldn't be able to tap into that fund to cover funeral expenses, since authorities don't believe foul play was involved. He still was waiting to hear how much the second autopsy would cost, but estimates the funeral, body transport and autopsy to be about $10,000.

"Like Sarah said yesterday (at a news conference after the body was found), there's very little reason that David would have just stopped that truck on the side of the road, just walked away from it and, then, walked a mile and a half out in the middle of a field and laid down. There's just almost no reason why David would have done that.

“If there was no foul play, if nobody else was involved in it, then why did David do that? That's a big question," Rowley said. "I think, as far as bringing closure to Sarah and the boys and his parents and the Schultz family, we probably need to go to all ends to try to figure out what happened."