The father of a missing DoorDash driver has revealed the last messages he exchanged with his 32-year-old son before the man disappeared while making deliveries.
Carl Schuck told the US Sun that he last spoke with Zachariah Schuck sometime in October. He had also visited his family in Pennsylvania at the end of July.
Carl said neither conversation gave him any reason to suspect that something was wrong.
“I asked him how everything was going, and there were really no indications that anything was wrong,” he recalled, describing his son as someone who “always appears to be very positive.”
“If things are down, he tries to bring them up.”
Zachariah had recently been laid off from his position managing Penske truck-leasing branches in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He and his wife had also just welcomed a newborn when he vanished on October 22, the New York Post reports.
He completed his final DoorDash delivery at approximately 6:30 p.m. and reportedly told his wife that he was heading home.
Zachariah was later spotted on Route 51 in Beaver County between 7:30 and 8 p.m., around the same time his cellphone signal disappeared. That leaves about 90 minutes between his last delivery and his final known whereabouts.
Zacharia Schuck, 32, mysteriously disappeared after making DoorDash deliveries on the night of October 22. Source: Facebook/Jenn Schuck
Schuck had recently lost his job, and he and his wife had just welcomed a newborn baby. Source: Facebook/Jenn Schuck
Two days after his disappearance, Zachariah’s black Chevrolet Impala was discovered abandoned on Croxall Avenue, nearly four miles from Route 51.
Police later returned the vehicle to the family, Carl said, while recounting the troubling details found inside.
“The keys were in the vehicle,” he said. “The vehicle had actually run out of gas.”
Investigators also obtained doorbell-camera footage from the area showing someone getting out of the Impala. However, the image quality was not clear enough to confirm whether the person was Zachariah.
“Once we can identify who got out of the vehicle, then we could determine what to do next,” Carl said, suggesting to the New York Post that his son could have been the victim of a carjacking.
Asked where the public should concentrate its search, the worried father said the identity of the person seen leaving the car remained unknown.
“I can’t verify where to start searching,” he said.
The uncertainty has left the family considering several possibilities: Zachariah may have left voluntarily, become stranded after the car ran out of fuel or encountered someone while on the road.
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Schuck’s family continues to wonder whether Zachariah left voluntarily, became stranded after running out of fuel or encountered someone on the road. Source: Facebook/Jenn Schuck
Carl said he is haunted by two particularly painful explanations: “Either he had an emotional event and left, or something happened to him that’s criminal.”
He acknowledged that Zachariah had been under financial pressure after losing his job but emphasized that his son generally maintained an optimistic outlook. “There’s no indication at all of anything leading up to this,” he said.
Zachariah’s wife and their young children are “coping,” Carl said, although the family is giving them room as they deal with the crisis.
“Because this happened, it put a lot of stress on them, too, because they’re going to have to figure out their finances,” he explained. His daughter-in-law’s family has been helping, while Carl said he continues to stay in touch and support them from a distance.
Police have searched the area where the abandoned Impala was found, using aircraft and search dogs. So far, however, investigators have found no sign of the missing father.
“That gives me hope that he’s still out there,” Carl said, while acknowledging his frustration over the limits placed on investigators when there is no confirmed evidence of a crime.
“I have to accept what they’re doing,” he said. “Happy or not, the police departments have their restraints.
“Unless I can prove that there was foul play, there’s a limitation to what I think the police department can actually do.”
A law enforcement official declined to comment on Carl’s statements but said officers in North Sewickley Township are coordinating the information they have collected with Hopewell Township police and Pennsylvania State Police.
Schuck’s father said his son’s disappearance has left his wife facing financial hardship. Source: Facebook/Jenn Schuck
As the search continues, Carl delivered an emotional message to his missing son.
“The priority is just to come to a conclusion and get him back,” he said. “Any hardships, anything that we have to deal with afterward, that’s to be determined. But the priority is just to get him back safe.”
“He has all of our support,” the anxious father added. “All we want is for him to come home. And then we can work everything out.”
Authorities said Zachariah is six feet tall and has green eyes and brown hair.
He was last seen wearing a blue-and-red flannel shirt, blue jeans and brown boots.
Anyone with information about Schuck’s whereabouts is asked to contact the North Sewickley Township Police Department at 724-843-3421 or 724-843-8118.