Cause of Death Revealed for Missing Man Found Under Neighbor’s Hilton Head Rental Home

Stanley Kotowski’s body was found 10 days after he was seen walking out of his family’s rental property in South Carolina, while suffering what his wife called “really bad insomnia” and “paranoia.”

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office found his remains Monday morning, after responding to a call regarding suspicious activity near a Sea Pines home. According to a press release from the department, after arriving on the scene, officers conducted an investigation that led to the discovery of the body of a deceased male underneath the residence.

“It is believed that the deceased male is 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski of Massachusetts,” the press release states.

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Kotowski’s family confirmed to local news station, WJCL, that the remains are his and were found beneath a home “four houses down” from their rental.

The Massachusetts native was last seen in the South Sea Pines Drive area on Friday, August 16, around 10:30 a.m. Ring footage showed him walking out of the home, before stopping in the street and then walking out of frame.

Now, in a press conference held conference Tuesday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office are sharing more on the manner of Kotowski’s death. Officers explained that Kotowski exited the rental home without personal belongings, such as his cell phone or wallet, after suffering a mental health break.

The body was found after an officer on patrol smelled a “foul odor,” before authorities “ended up finding a hatch by the outdoor shower on the deck itself” of a nearby home — before the remains were discovered in a “very small” and “unique” crawlspace below the house. His body was found “150-200 yards max” from the rental.

Per the county coroner — who positively identified the body as belonging to Kotowski — his death was ruled a suicide, with the cause of death as “asphyxiation by hanging.” After pressing from reporters on how he could have hanged himself in such a small space, the sheriff said there was “an apparatus used to reduce the amount of oxygen you could take in.”

It’s believed he died on August 16, the day he went missing.

Careful not to delve much further into the details surrounding Kotowski’s death due to the other vacationers in the highly populated area, officers refrained from sharing more information surrounding the incident.

“If there is a message in any of this, we have got to be more attentive to mental mental illness,” added the sheriff.

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Stanley’s wife, Jackie Kotowski, spoke to WJCL prior to Tuesday’s conference, telling the outlet, “He just walked out the door. He had really bad insomnia for about a month… His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse, and he started to get a little paranoid.”

Per a report from deputies, Jackie also told BCSO that her husband believed “Sea Pines is a ‘set up’ and has a conspiracy that the people here are out to get him.” She stated that Stanley 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.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress.