The white cockatoo sat in the center of Donna and David Peistrup’s living room in Concord in a tall cage near the front door.

Daisy had one person she was friendly with, Donna Peistrup said. “Just with Dave.”

“He loved his family,” added their daughter, Lisa Crossman of Concord. “And he loved his bird.”

David had been missing for a week when authorities found his red pickup truck on Thursday, submerged in the Merrimack River in Bow.

On Friday morning, Donna and Lisa were trying to piece together what happened, dealing with the fact that hope of a safe reunion was gone.

David was still inside the truck when it was found. His body was recovered but his exact cause of death at age 84 remains undetermined.

Drowning means suffering, so Donna and Lisa hope another cause of death was in play. Perhaps a sudden medical problem, something quicker, causing less suffering.

He had diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He was unsteady on his feet and carried a walker with him in his truck.

Early reports that Dave had dementia were false, the family said.

Donna and Lisa wondered if the patriarch planned his own demise, frustrated that his body wasn’t functioning as it once was.

“He was having a real hard time losing his body capability, knowing that his body was breaking down,” said Crossman, who’s 52.

Technically, Lisa is David’s stepdaughter. Call her that, however, and she’s quick to respond, without skipping a beat.

“He was never a stepdad ,” Crossman said. “He just fit right in. He’s my dad. I don’t have a relationship with my real dad, so it was all Dave.”

Her five children certainly were never referred to as steps, either.

“They loved him like he was their own grandfather,” said Lisa.

Donna and Lisa sketched a detailed portrait of a former truck driver who could be stubborn. Never with the grandchildren, though.

The youngest, 18-year-old Jacob, began racing motorcycles professionally this year. Sometimes, he’d compete at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“He loved to go watch (Jacob) at the track,” Crossman said. “He would always ask, ‘When’s his next race, when’s his next race?’ He would go over and sit in his truck and spend the whole day just to watch Jacob.”

David liked to fiddle in his garage, fixing old golf carts that he’d bought and then resell them for profit.

Some of his experiences were left unknown. David liked it that way. For example, he served in the Army. That’s about all that anyone knew.

“He served and I don’t know anything about it,” Donna said. “I’ve been with him for 38 years and the only thing I know is I met his mother and she died in 2010, he was married twice and I don’t know anything about that. He has two kids and he hasn’t seen them in 38 years, since we’ve been married.”

Said Lisa, “A very private person. He wanted to know about you. He did not care about himself.”

Police continue their investigation. They’re asking for the public to call 225-8600 with any information that might shed light on what happened.

Lisa and Donna want details themselves. They know how David was discovered: by a boater taking water samples sometime after the crash. He called police. They’d like to thank him.

“(David) was found only because of this gentleman,” Lisa said. “This is how he was found, and we’d like to thank him and all the first responders.”

They also don’t know what caused David to veer off into the river. He drove away last Friday. Donna thought he was going for ice cream or frappes. He’d done that before. Or maybe he stopped at the Longhorn Steakhouse for a drink.

“He was mad and sometimes he just takes off like that,” Donna said.

They have clues, though. One was David’s cryptic message to a neighbor.

“He said, ‘My days are numbered,’ ” Donna said. “I knew all week that something was wrong. But I didn’t expect him to die like this.”

David sensed what the future held for him, and he didn’t like it.

“He knew eventually he’d land in a nursing home,” Donna said. “He said, ‘I will die before I go there.’ ”

Said Lisa, “The biggest thing I can say about Dave was he was the most independent person I’ve probably met.”

An autopsy will reveal if David drowned after he ran off a boat launch. “If he went off a boat ramp, that was intentional,” Donna said.

Lisa reserved judgment. “We don’t know if he made this as a choice that he did not want to die in front of us,” Lisa said. “We don’t know if it’s a mechanical issue with the truck yet. We don’t know if there was a medical issue beforehand.”

While the investigation continues, Lisa and Donna have been busy. They’ve spr ead the word by phone, greeted well-wishers, planned D avid’s cremation and reviewed financial paperwork, all while attempting to keep their emotions in check.

Donna smiled, but not often. Daisy’s screeching punctuated the mood.

“We got Daisy 12 or 13 years ago,” Donna said. “He loved her.”

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