Authorities confirm body found in South Carolina is missing Mass. man, announce his cause of death

A body found under a home in South Carolina on Monday is that of a missing Massachusetts man who had been the subject of an extensive search, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

The body of 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski, of Methuen, was discovered in a crawlspace beneath a home in the Sea Pines section of Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Eric Calendine announced during a joint news conference alongside Sheriff P.J. Tanner and Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.

A security officer at the Sea Pines Resort, where Kotowski was last seen on Aug. 16, was patrolling the area on Monday when he noticed a foul odor coming from a home and spotted flies, according to Calendine.

Tanner described the crawlspace as “very unique and very small,” noting that it was no more than three feet in height.

“I completely understand how he was not found until there were some evidence or clues that led us in that direction,” Tanner said. “This is a very secluded area. It’s underneath townhomes.”

Ott confirmed Kotowski’s identity during an autopsy on Tuesday morning and determined that his cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging. Ott offered limited details on the manner of his death, only labeling it as a “suicide.”

“At this time, that is all the coroner’s office is going to release,” Ott said. “He is positively identified and we’re going to leave it at that.”

Ott noted that he believed Kotowski had been dead since about the day he vanished and that he was wearing the same clothes he had on the last day he was seen.

Kotowski and his family had been vacationing at a nearby rental property before he went missing. His wife previously said that he had developed “really bad” insomnia in the weeks leading up to his disappearance.

“His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse. He started to get a little paranoid. He thought someone was chasing him,” Jackie Kotowski said.

Calendine revealed Tuesday that Kotowski was “going through a mental crisis” and that he had sought medical help just days before he went missing.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said Kotowski did not take any personal items with him when he left the rental property.

An investigation remains ongoing.

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