(NEW YORK) — Authorities in South Carolina said they have found the body of an endangered Massachusetts man who went missing over a week ago while vacationing with his family on Hilton Head Island.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, had not been seen since leaving his family’s vacation rental in Sea Pines the morning of Aug. 16, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office incident report. He had been experiencing a mental health crisis prior to his disappearance, authorities said.
His body was found under a home in a crawl space in Sea Pines on Monday, upward of 600 feet from where he was last seen, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said. His cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging and it has been ruled a suicide, Beaufort County Coroner David Ott said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Authorities responded to the home around 11:30 a.m. Monday “in connection to suspicious activity,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. A Sea Pines security officer who was walking in the neighborhood noticed a “foul odor” and flies in the area and contacted the sheriff’s office, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Lt. Eric Calendine told reporters Tuesday.
The body was recovered from a 3-foot-high crawl space about four hours later, the sheriff’s office said. Kotowski was determined to have died the day he went missing, though the exact time is undetermined, Ott said.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner called the discovery “deflating” following the massive search by deputies and the community for Kotowski.
“Just wish the outcome was different,” he told reporters Tuesday.
Tanner described the crawl space as “unusual” and its entry point as “very unique,” in explaining that he understood how it may have been missed during the search.
Kotowski was reported missing by his family about two hours after he was last seen, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sgt. Daniel Allen. He was listed as endangered due to his mental state, the length of time he has been missing and because he was last seen on a Ring camera without any shoes on, Allen said.
According to the incident report, Jackie Kotowski told deputies her husband “believes Sea Pines is a ‘set up’ and has a conspiracy that the people here are out to get him.” She also reported he had made “several statements of people at this place ‘watching him,'” the incident report stated.
His wife also told deputies that, before he left, Stanley told her, “Promise me you will go on without me,” according to the incident report.
He had been struggling with anxiety before he went missing, his family told Savannah, Georgia, ABC affiliate WJCL following his disappearance.
“He had really bad insomnia for about a month. This is like a brand-new thing,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL. “He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid, and he thought someone was chasing him.”
Kotowski had sought medical attention days before his disappearance for his mental health issues, according to Calendine.
He had not taken any personal items, such as his phone or wallet, when he left the rental, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Tanner said they are not releasing the exact location where his body was recovered out of respect for those living and vacationing in the community.
Authorities thanked the community for their efforts in attempting to find Kotowski, including searching their properties and checking security cameras.
“I’m very thankful for the community itself for what they did during this whole endeavor,” Calendine said.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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