A Massachusetts father was found dead during a family vacation to Hilton Head Island on Monday and is believed to have committed suicide, authorities said.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, had been suffering from mental illness and hanged himself “under” a home near the rental home where he disappeared Aug. 16, Beaufort County Coroner David Ott said. He said at a press conference on tuesday.
“We estimate the date of death to be the date she went missing,” Ott said.
Police did not provide details about how Kotowski died but said his father used a “device” to cut off his oxygen supply.
Ott declined to go into further details, saying: “There's no doubt it was asphyxiation, but there's no other way to describe it than hanging. Unfortunately, people believe that hanging means hanging someone from a rope to the ceiling and then dropping. That's not the case at all.”
Police said Kotowski had been suffering from delusions in the days before his disappearance and had sought medical attention before and during a family vacation.
Authorities also explained why it took 11 days of exhaustive searches using dogs, drones and door-to-door canvassing to find the missing man.
Kotowski apparently discovered a small hatch providing access to the crawl space near the outdoor shower of a neighboring vacation home.
Search and rescue teams had tried to enter the crawl space during an earlier search but were unable to get through, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said.
“Now that we have had the opportunity to see where his body was found, we understand completely why he was never found. [sooner]”That's what we were doing until we had evidence that pointed us in that direction,” Tanner said.
Kotowski's body was discovered Monday near a rental home in Sea Pines where she was vacationing with her family.
“Over the past month he has been suffering from severe insomnia and increasing anxiety,” his wife, Jackie, wrote on Facebook.
“Stan became paranoid, believing people, including the authorities, were after him.”
During family vacations, Kotowski noted that he had fears about the ocean due to “exposure to the sun, jellyfish and sharks.”
Ring camera footage from Aug. 16 shows Kotowski walking barefoot out the front door of his rental home and onto the street.
He appears confused in the video, at one point he stops and looks around in the middle of the road before continuing on his way.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or Suicide Prevention Lifeline.org.
