Breaking News: Cause of Death for Missing Man Found in Hilton Head Rental Home Revealed!

Stanley Kotowski’s body was found 10 days after he was last seen leaving his family’s rental property on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. His wife had mentioned that he was struggling with severe insomnia and paranoia.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office discovered his body on Monday morning after investigating a report of suspicious activity near a Sea Pines home. The officers found Kotowski’s body under the house.

The sheriff’s office believes the body found is Stanley Kotowski, a 60-year-old from Massachusetts.

Kotowski’s family confirmed to local news station WJCL that the body found under a home belongs to him. It was discovered just “four houses down” from where his family was staying.

Stanley Kotowski, who was from Massachusetts, was last seen on Friday, August 16, around 10:30 a.m., near South Sea Pines Drive. Video footage from a Ring camera showed him walking out of the family’s rental home, stopping in the street for a moment, and then walking out of the camera’s view.

In a press conference held on Tuesday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office shared more details about Stanley Kotowski’s death. Officers said that Kotowski left the rental home without his personal belongings, like his cell phone or wallet, after experiencing a mental health crisis.

The body was found when an officer on patrol noticed a bad smell. Authorities discovered a hatch by the outdoor shower on the deck of a nearby home, which led to a small and unusual crawlspace underneath the house. Kotowski’s body was found there, just “150-200 yards” from the rental home.

According to the county coroner, who confirmed the body’s identity, Kotowski’s death was ruled a suicide, caused by “asphyxiation by hanging.” When reporters asked how he could have hanged himself in such a small space, the sheriff explained that “an apparatus” was used to limit the amount of oxygen he could breathe.

Authorities believe he died on August 16, the day he went missing. Officers didn’t share further details, considering the presence of other vacationers in the area.

The sheriff emphasized the importance of paying more attention to mental health, saying, “If there is a message in any of this, we have got to be more attentive to mental illness.”

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

According to a report from deputies, Jackie also told the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office that Stanley believed “Sea Pines is a ‘set up'” and thought there was a conspiracy where people were out to get him. She mentioned that Stanley felt like people in the area were “watching him.”

Before he left, Stanley told Jackie, “Promise me you will go on without me.”

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