HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WKRC) — The cause of death of a husband and father who disappeared while on holiday with his family has been announced.
According to the New York Post, 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski died after hanging himself “underneath” a house near the apartment he and his family were renting on Hilton Head Island.
Kotowski disappeared from the property on August 16. Doorbell camera video showed him leaving the house barefoot.
“We believe the date of death is the day he disappeared,” Beaufort County Coroner David Ott said at a news conference Tuesday.
Authorities said Kotowski cut off the oxygen supply using a “device,” but did not go into further detail.
“It’s definitely asphyxiation, but there’s no other word for it than hanging. Unfortunately, people think hanging means you have to rope yourself to the ceiling and fall down. It’s definitely not like that,” Ott said.
Authorities said Kotowski found a small hatch near an outdoor shower at a nearby home that served as an entry point into a crawl space. According to Beaufort County Sheriff PJ Tanner, authorities had discovered the crawl space but were unable to fully penetrate it during the extensive 11-day search that involved drones, dogs and door-to-door interviews.
“After having the opportunity to verify the location where the body was found, I fully understood why it was not found (earlier) until there was evidence that led us in that direction,” said Sheriff Tanner.
On Monday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in an update that Kotowski’s body was discovered “underneath a residence” after being “alerted to a home in Sea Pines in connection with suspicious activity.”
“Today, August 26, 2024, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a residence in Sea Pines regarding suspicious activity. During the course of the investigation, the body of a deceased male was located underneath a residence,” the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on Facebook. “The deceased male is believed to be 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski of Massachusetts. Mr. Kotowski was reported missing on August 16, 2024,” authorities wrote.
Kotowski’s wife, Jackie Kotowski, said her husband had become increasingly paranoid in the days before his disappearance.
“Five in the morning, nine forty-five … he just walked out the door. He had been having severe insomnia for about a month. This is something completely new for him. He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And he started to get a little paranoid. He thought someone was following him,” said Jackie Kotowski.
It remains unclear what exactly alerted police to the house where the man was found.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or is in crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.
