UPDATED 7:22-p.m., w/a statement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety: SAC COUNTY, Iowa – Shortly before 2:00 p.m. on April 24, 2024, the Sac County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an individual who reported he discovered a body in his field.  The body was found near the intersection where the semi of missing person David Schultz was located in November 2023. The body is being transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner for a forensic autopsy.

SAC CITY, Iowa (KTIV) – After months of searching, a family member says the body of missing David Schultz has been found. David’s wife, Sarah Schultz, told KTIV in Sioux City, that his body was found in Sac County on Wednesday, April 24. She said her husband was found in a farmer’s field and the Sac County Sheriff’s Office identified him by the boots he was wearing.

The remains were reportedly found 1.5 miles west of where Schultz’ truck was located back when he went missing in November 2023. According to Sarah Schultz, the body is being sent to Iowa State Medical Examiner for official identification.

David Schultz

Fifty-three-year-old David Schultz was a trucker from Wall Lake, Iowa, who was reported missing on Nov. 21, 2023. After his disappearance, law enforcement put together a timeline for his disappearance:

• David left his home in Wall Lake around 7 p.m. on Nov. 20.
• He was scheduled to pick up a load of pigs from a hog confinement near Eagle Grove and take them to Sac City.
• Witnesses confirmed David picked up the livestock and left around 10:50 that night.
  • He was driving his semi-tractor-trailer.
• Shortly after – investigators say he can be seen on surveillance video at a truck stop east of Fort Dodge.
• David leaves the stop in his semi and heads west.
• Cell phone data shows his phone traveled to a rural intersection north of Sac City.
• Authorities found David’s truck at that intersection the following day – with his cellphone and wallet still inside.
• David’s wife, Sarah, reported him missing on Nov. 21 after learning he never made it to the drop-off location.

Volunteers and law enforcement spent weeks looking for David, with over 100,000 acres being searched.

(Mount Ayr, Iowa) – Officials with the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office report a search warrant executed at a residence in the 700 block of N. Fillmore Street in Mount Ayr, resulted in the arrest of a man and a woman on drug and child endangerment charges.

Authorities say Lyndsey Marie Kalvig and Bryan Duane Alden, both face charges that include:

• Drug Distribution Violation to Person Under 18- Class B Felony
• Child Endangerment- Aggravated Misdemeanor (X2)
• Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor- Simple Misdemeanor, and
• Possession of Drug Paraphernalia- Simple Misdemeanor

Lyndsey Kalvig was additionally charged with:

• Dissemination and Exhibition of Obscene Material to Minor- Serious Misdemeanor, and
• Possession of Controlled Substance Marijuana 1st offense – Serious Misdemeanor.

Her cash-only bond was set at $31,000.

Alden was additionally charged with Possession of Controlled Substance Marijuana/ 1st offense- Serious Misdemeanor. His cash-only bond was set at $30,000.

*Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections, today (Wednesday), reports 45-year-old Anthony Herbert Smith, who was convicted of Robbery-2nd Degree, Theft-1st Degree and Unauthorized Use of Credit Cards in Polk County, failed to report back to the Fort Des Moines Men’s Reentry Center as required, Tuesday.

Smith is six-feet four-inches tall. He weighs 227-pounds. Smith was admitted to the work release facility on March 28, 2024.

Persons with information on Smith’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Anthony Smith (Iowa DOC photo)

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Weather permitting, work on the Atlantic SplashPad is expected to be completed by Labor Day. SplashPad Committee member Ali Pieken provided the update to Parks Advisory Commission today (Wednesday).

And, while the Fundraising Committee has exceeded its goal for the project, donations are still being accepted and welcomed, and will be used as necessary. She said plans are in the works for some sort of way to acknowledge the contributions of those whose families would like an aspect of the park to be named after a loved one.

She says the picnic tables will be secured and painted brightly, mimicking the theme of the entire Pad.

The area will have toddler and family bays with separate activators. Stamp Construction will start in-kind site preparation work in a couple of weeks.

In other business, the Atlantic Parks Advisory Commission received an update from Parks & Rec Coordinator Jeff Christensen, with regard to the Harl Holt Park and the Pour-and-Play playground fall surface. Christensen said a tree was removed from the site and ground was leveled.

Christensen said also, installation of a new water pump for the Sunnyside Pool is still up-in-the-air. The company tasked with installing the pump and troubleshooting any start-up issues, has not provided a time-line for project completion. The opening date for the Sunnyside Pool, therefore, has not yet been established.

The Parks Advisory Commission heard from Steph Steffens, Wednesday, with regard to “Atlantic’s Got Talent” at the Sunnyside Park Bandshell. Steffens said the event – in partnership with the Atlantic Parks & Rec Dept. and Your Forte – will take place August 3rd, the same time the Park Celebration takes place. She spoke about what talent they’re expecting to have showcased.

The tentative deadline to apply July 1st. It will be open to persons in the surrounding communities, and practically anywhere else.

Steffens says they’re hoping to make it an annual event.  The entry fee is $20. You can sign-up at Your Forte in Atlantic.

(Radio Iowa) – Planting season is underway for most of Iowa, except in the northeast, where the tractors are being stalled by unpredictable rainfall and a lack of moisture. The region’s been in extreme drought for three years, but in the past few weeks, it’s gotten several inches of rain. That’s thrown off planting plans for many farmers who anticipated a drier spring. Iowa State University field agronomist Terry Basol says it means the region still has a lot of catching up to do.

“Our 30-year average is roughly 30 inches of rain,” Basol says, “and last year, that total was 13.8.” Basol says moisture levels in the region’s topsoil are nearly drained, which makes rainfall even more critical. He says that lack of topsoil moisture is troubling for farmers, especially when compared to last year.

“Fast forward to 2024, that’s been depleted for the most part,” he says, “so we’re going to rely heavily on timely rains to carry us through.” Despite the rainfall of recent weeks, the yearly moisture average is down by more than 50 percent.

(Radio Iowa) – Developers of a northwest Iowa wind farm plan to erect 18 turbines in Emmet County. The Red Rock Wind Energy Center project is being scaled back in neighboring Dickinson County, though, as officials consider changes to Dickinson County’s wind turbine ordinance.

Joe Crowley is project developer for Invenergy, the company building the wind farm. “We’ve definitely been delayed,” Crowley said Tuesday. “…That being said, working with counties is how we build successful projects.”

The company originally planned to build 83 wind turbines in Dickinson County, but Crowley says that’s been pared back to around 70 wind turbines due to expected changes in the county’s ordinance. Yesterday, Crowley briefed Emmet County Supervisors on Invenergy’s prep work in their county.

“We’ve been doing geo-technical studies as well diligence to make sure that the sites that we currently have are suitable for the turbines that we’re contemplating,” Crowley said, “as well as just keeping up on working with landowners and refining our layout to make sure that they fit the needs as best as possible.”

The Red Rock Wind Energy Center is planned for Emmet, Dickinson and Clay Counties. Invenergy has built 17 other wind farms in Iowa.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Atlantic Police Department report 10 arrests took place over the past week.

• On Tuesday, April 23rd, Officers with the A-PD arrested 30-year-old Jesse Boken, of Atlantic, for Public Intoxication.
• On the 22nd, 39-year-old Mathew Rigen, of Shelby, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). Rigen was cited into court and released at the scene.
• On the 21st, 34-year-old Benjamin Sonish, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense.
• On April 20th, 37-year-old Robert Hackwell, of Atlantic, was arrested for OWI/1st offense.
• There were 3 arrests in Atlantic on April 19th:
  • 63-year-old Susan Bashor, of Atlantic, and 47-year-old Amanda Bashor, of Clarinda, were arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order, and,
  • 28-year-old KR Takauo, of Atlantic, was arrested for Public Intox.\
• On April 18th, Atlantic Police arrested:
  • 30-year-old Chad Arbuckle, of Atlantic, for Theft in the 4th Degree
  • 30-year-old Edward Parrott, of Council Bluffs, for Simple Assault, and
  • 37-year-old Jessica Blumberg, of Atlantic, for Domestic Abuse Assault.

Each of the named individuals mentioned above (With the exception of Mathew Rigen) were taken into custody and booked into the Cass County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – In honor of Arbor Day, community leaders in Dubuque will break ground Saturday on what will eventually grow to become a community orchard. Laura Roussell, executive director of Dubuque Trees Forever, says they’ll plant a few fruit trees this weekend with plans to add between 15 and 20 more trees over the coming few years. Roussell says, “We’re going to have apple, cherry and pear, and also some berry bushes like a honey berry, raspberry, maybe blueberry, we haven’t finalized the whole list yet.” The triangular plot of land is considered a city park, but it’s never been developed. Where some saw empty ground, Roussell saw an opportunity.

“We had this vacant lot that’s just been mowed for many, many years, and we thought, this is located in a food desert, and we thought it would be a great place to have free, fresh fruit for the people in the neighborhood,” Roussell says, “and also any leftovers would go to the food pantry.” In addition to the fruit trees, the community orchard will also include what Roussell is calling a Mowing to Monarchs pollinator garden to benefit bees, butterflies and other important insects. She hopes this orchard marks the start of something special that’ll endure for decades.

“We get volunteers that sign up to plant, weed, mulch, all of those things, so that that trees that we plant will have a long and successful life,” Roussell says. “It’s just going to be a really beautiful — and edible — addition to the neighborhood.”

The public is invited to Saturday’s 10 A-M free event at the corner of Hill and Caledonia Streets.