HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) — A Massachusetts man missing on Hilton Head Island for several days has been found dead, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).
Sixty-year-old Stanley Kotowski was last seen around 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16, and was found deceased on Monday in a crawl space under a house in the Sea Pines neighborhood.
According to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott, Kotowski’s cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging; the manner of death was suicide. Ott said it’s believed that he died on the day he went missing.
Ott and Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner declined to go into further detail about his death, other than that an apparatus was used to cut off his air supply.
Kotowski was considered missing and endangered. Officials say he was paranoid and going through a mental health crisis for which he had sought help in the days before his disappearance.
CSO said he didn’t take any personal items with him, and surveillance video showed him walking barefoot.
According to Lt. Eric Calendine, Kotowski was located after a Sea Pines security officer notified the rest of the search team of a foul odor.
The team ultimately found a “unique” hatch by an outdoor shower, giving them access to a 3-foot-tall crawl space. An officer searching the crawl space had to maneuver around pillars to locate Kotowski’s body.
The search for Kotowski was extensive. Officials from BCSO worked with other agencies and Sea Pines security, using multiple resources, including helicopters, drones, boats, foot patrol and K9s.
“The environment that we’re talking about where this body was out — I’m not shocked or surprised that the dogs did not alert because of what I know about this particular area,” Tanner said.
“Obviously, the outcome we didn’t want, but we did bring closure to the family locating him several days later,” Calendine said.