A Massachusetts man found dead under a Hilton Head, South Carolina, home Monday died by suicide, authorities said Tuesday, as they shared more information on how his body was discovered. Stanley Kotowski's body was found in a crawlspace within 100 or 150 yards from where the 60-year-old was last seen alive, Beaufort County officials said Tuesday. He died of asphyxiation by hanging.
Sheriff P.J. Tanner stressed that the situation was "very unusual," and that he understood why the dayslong search for Kotowski, whose family reported he was in the middle of a mental health crisis, didn't turn find him so close to the villa where he'd been staying with his wife and two family friends.
"To even consider that being an entry point for the crawlspace is something you would probably overlook," Tanner said.
Kotowski was last seen leaving the building on South Sea Pines Drive in a grey T-shirt and dark shorts, but no shoes on, on Aug. 16.
His body was eventually detected by a security officer for the Sea Pines community, who smelled something foul and saw flies but couldn't locate it, officials said. Searchers eventually found a hatch by a town home's outdoor shower that led to the small crawlspace where his body was found.
Authorities released few particular details around what led to Kotowski's death. Tanner didn't give an answer to a reporter's question on whether the man's death was intentional or accidental.
"There was an apparatus used to reduce the amount of oxygen you could actually take in," Tanner said.
Authorities noted the community was very cooperative in searching for Kotowski.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, disappeared August 16 after leaving the family's vacation home at the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island.
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office shared additional details Tuesday following the discovery of Stanley Kotowski's body. Watch their press conference, in full, above.
A Massachusetts man who disappeared more than a week ago on Hilton Head Island has been found dead.
His family confirmed the news Monday afternoon, saying his body was found four houses down from their rental unit underneath the home.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, was last seen August 16 around 10:30 a.m. leaving the family’s vacation rental at 226 South Sea Pines Drive, shoeless and without his phone or drivers license.
"He just walked out the door. He had really bad insomnia for about a month. He doesn't have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid," his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL 22 News.
Below video: the last time Stanley Kotowski was seen
An extensive search lasted for 10 days until a Sea Pines security officer noticed a foul smell and bugs Monday.
Deputies found Kotowski in a crawl space of a home just four doors down from where his family was staying.
Beaufort County Coroner David Ott confirmed Tuesday that Kotowski killed himself the day he went missing. Ott said Kotowski hung himself and died by asphyxiation.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home at 12:42 p.m. the day he went missing. They mobilized a substantial search effort, deploying canines, drones and helicopters to locate Kotowski.
According to a report from the BCSO, Jackie Kotowski told deputies that her husband "believes Sea Pines is a 'set up' and has a conspiracy that the people here are out to get him. She stated that Stanley has made several statements of people at this place "watching him.""
She also told deputies that, before he left, Stanley told her "Promise me you will go on without me."
Support for the family flooded in on social media, where people offered up their homes for the family to stay as search efforts continued.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - A press conference was held Tuesday to give an update on the disappearance and death of 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski.
Kotowski was reported missing after he was last seen on August 16. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said Kotowski’s body was recovered Monday afternoon.
His family told law enforcement he was feeling paranoid and seeking help for his mental health.
Kotowski was last seen leaving their Sea Pines vacation villa on August 16 on ring doorbell footage, barefoot and in a gray shirt.
Local businesses shared security video to help law enforcement to attempt to track Kotowski. DNR came in and helped search the sea and air.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office says, DNR, the Coast Guard, Hilton Head Fire, Bluffton PD and Sea Pines Security were all helping in the search, along with concerned locals.
Law enforcement also canvased the area on foot and gathered video from surveillance cameras from residents in the area.
Law enforcement was on their daily canvas on August 26 when they smelled a foul odor. After searching, they found a hatch under a villa and found Kotowski’s body. The area where his body was recovered was about 150 to 200 yards from where he was last seen on video.
The sheriff was asked how it could’ve taken 10 days to find Kotowski if he was so close to where he was last seen. He said he had the same question initially.
”Once I had an opportunity to review where Stanley was found - where the body was recovered - I completely understand how he was not found until there was some evidence or clues that led us in that direction,” said Sheriff PJ Tanner.
The Sheriff says they had people and dogs searching that area throughout the 10-day effort, but he believes factors like below average temperatures and the tight nature of the area where Kotowski was found, made his body more difficult to locate.
The coroner says his cause of death is suicide by asphyxiation. The coroner believes Kotowski died on August 16, the day he went missing. His time of death is unknown.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office says when they found Kotowski’s body, they were investigating the death of a construction worker in that area as well. They say the body was found around 1 p.m. in the boardwalk area. The coroner says they do not have more information at this time, but an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
A Massachusetts man who had been missing for more than a week is believed to have been found dead underneath a home at the same resort in South Carolina where he was vacationing with his family, according to authorities.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, vanished Aug. 16 after he left the vacation rental property at Hilton Head Island where the family was staying. Law enforcement officers in Beaufort County, which includes the island, spent days searching the area for Kotowski, who was believed to be having a mental health crisis.
That search came to an end Monday when sheriff's deputies called to a home for suspicious activity found the body of a man underneath the property, the agency said in an update on Facebook. The body was believed to be Kotowski's, according to the sheriff's office.
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Kotowski and his family, who are from Methuen, about 30 miles north of Boston, were vacationing at Hilton Head Island when he disappeared.
Kotowski was last seen on the morning of Aug. 16 leaving his family’s rental at the Sea Pines Resort. When Kotowski left, he was shoeless and without his phone and wallet, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
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In home surveillance footage shared Saturday by the sheriff's office, Kotowski doesn't appear to be rushed or panicked as he calmly leaves the home. He can be seen in the footage walking barefoot to the street, where he pauses for a few moments before walking off camera.
His wife, Jackie Kotowski, said her husband had been struggling with anxiety, insomnia and paranoia.
"He thought someone was chasing him," Jackie Kotowski told ABC Savannah, Georgia, affiliate WJCL.
The sheriff's office deployed canines, drones, and helicopters to locate Kotowski, and firefighters helped to comb residential and wooded areas. But for days, the only signs of Kotowski came from sporadic recordings on neighbors' home surveillance cameras.
After sheriff's deputies were called at 11:30 a.m. local time Monday to a home at the Sea Pines resort, "the body of a deceased male was located underneath a residence," the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office said an autopsy would be performed.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]
BEAUFORT, S.C. (WCSC) - Beaufort County investigators confirmed Tuesday morning a body found under a home is that of a Hilton Head Island man who was the subject of an 11-day search.
The body of Stanley Kotowski, 60, was discovered on Monday, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Lt. Eric Calendine said. A security officer of Sea Pines Resort, where Kotowski had last been seen on Aug. 16, was patrolling the area on Monday and smelled a foul odor from a home and spotted flies in the area, leading him to call the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded and found Kotowski was found in a crawlspace under the home.
Coroner David Ott confirmed his identity during an autopsy Tuesday morning. He said the cause of death was asphyxiation and said foul play was not suspected in the death.
The home where he was found was just a few houses away from a rental property where Kotowski and his family had been staying, authorities said.
Ott said he believes Kotowski had been dead since roughly the day he disappeared.
Asked about how authorities did not find the body sooner, particularly since it was so close to the area from which he disappeared, Sheriff PJ Tanner said he initially had the same question.
“But once, once I had an opportunity to review where they were, Stanley was found, where the body was recovered, I completely understand how he was not found until there were some evidence or clues that led us in that in that direction,” Tanner said. “This is a very secluded area. It’s underneath townhomes.”
Tanner said the crawlspace was no more than three feet high with an entry point he called “very unique and very small.”
“And to even consider that being an entry point for the crawl space is something that would, you would probably overlook, because it just doesn’t make a lot of sense on how that would be the crawl space entry point. And then once you get underneath the building, that’s kind of a maze,” he said.
Authorities provided only limited details on the manner of death, labeling it a hanging.
“If there is a message in any of this, we have got to be more attentive to mental mental illness,” Sheriff PJ Tanner said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
