Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner and Coroner David W. Ott revealed Tuesday morning what many in the community feared: that the missing Hilton Head Island vacationer, husband and father Stanley Kotowski was confirmed dead with the cause ruled as a suicide. His body was discovered Monday at 11:30 a.m. in a crawl space under a villa in Sea Pines, approximately 150 yards from the villa where his family was vacationing. The manner of death was “asphyxiation by hanging” according to Ott.
”We estimate the day of death is the day he went missing,” Ott said, referring to Aug. 16 when Kotowski was last seen on the doorbell camera of the Kotowski’s rental on South Sea Pines Drive. Ott did not specify an exact time of death.
Tanner and Ott did not reveal specifics of Kotowski’s death during the Tuesday morning press conference, other than to say there was an “apparatus” involved in the asphyxiation. Both men were asked for more specifics about the manner of death, given the unusual circumstances of where the body was found. Ott said, “It’s definitely asphyxiation, but there’s no other word other than hanging. Unfortunately, people believe that hanging means you rope up to a ceiling and you drop. It’s definitely not like that … It’s mainly cutting off the flow (of oxygen).”
While on a daily canvass of the area around 11 a.m. Monday, 11 days after the search began, a security officer from Sea Pines came across evidence that led him to the villa where Kotowski would eventually be found. Eventually, the search team was able to find Kotowski’s body underneath the home.
Lt. Eric Calendine spoke about the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office’s 11-day search effort up until Monday. The Kotowski family, including his wife Jackie, traveled to Hilton Head from Massachusetts on Aug. 11. The sheriff’s office received a call from the family at 12:42 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16. Personnel from the sheriff’s office and Sea Pines security fanned out to begin the search for Kotowski.
A canine unit of three dogs then did an article search along with a free air sniff throughout the entire complex, Calendine said. Investigators received several tips about Kotowski’s potential whereabouts, including video from Salty Dog Cafe featuring a subject who resembled the man. Upon further review, the department confirmed Kotowski was not in the footage.
The search team used a multitude of efforts, including drones, boats, helicopters and door-to-door canvassing over the course of the 11 days. The Department of Natural Resources, Coast Guard, Bluffton Police Department, Hilton Head Fire Rescue and Sea Pines security assisted in different capacities during the search.
“We covered the vast majority of the south end of Sea Pines,” Calendine said.
Members of the community were also involved in the search, even scheduling their own organized search at 1 p.m. Monday. At the Tuesday afternoon press conference, Tanner confirmed that the family had called off that search once they were made aware that a body had been located. The sheriff said as long as the community and the Sea Pines security team was on board with a community search, the sheriff’s office would be as well.
Asked why it took so long to find a man who was so close to the last place he was seen, Tanner said that he initially had the same question. “Once I had an opportunity to review where the body was recovered, I completely understand why he was not, until there was some evidence that led us in that direction,” Tanner said. Deputies initially attempted to enter the crawl space from under the home’s deck but later discovered a small hatch near the outdoor shower that served as an entry point.
Tanner said that this news should remind the entire community to be more attentive to mental health issues, even in idyllic destinations like Hilton Head. Kotowski was experiencing paranoia in the days before his disappearance, and even sought out medical attention prior to and during their vacation, Calendine said.
Calendine added that sheriff’s office and coroner were also responding to another body found on Hilton Head less than a mile away Monday afternoon, contributing to confusion about whether the response pertained to Kotowski’s case.
Source Agencies
