Tragic cause of death of beloved father confirmed after he disappeared from Hilton Head vacation home

A Boston-area man who disappeared on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina on August 16 has been found dead.

The large-scale search for Stanley Kotowski ended after his body was found Monday beneath a mansion in the island's Sea Pines neighborhood, not far from where his family was vacationing at the time of his disappearance, The Island Packet reported.

Beaufort County Coroner David Ott ruled the death a suicide.

“We believe the day he died is the day he disappeared,” Ott said, according to the New York Post.

The cause of death was “asphyxiation by hanging,” Ott said, according to the Island Packet.

BREAKING NEWS: Missing Sea Pines man Stanley Kotowski was found dead 4 units out under the house, according to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them🙏 pic.twitter.com/LnapJwHv3y

— Riley Miller (@RileyWJCL) 26 August 2024

Ott said a “device” was involved, but did not provide details.

“It's definitely asphyxiation, but there's no other word for it than hanging. Unfortunately, people think hanging means you rope yourself to the ceiling and fall down. It's definitely not like that. … It's mainly cutting off the blood flow [of oxygen]”, he said.

A Sea Pines security officer found evidence that led the search party to the mansion where Kotowski's body was found.

Sheriff PJ Tanner said Kotowski suffered from paranoia before his disappearance and sought treatment both before and during his family's vacation on the holiday island.

Several police agencies were involved in the manhunt, and dogs were also used to track Kotowski. But after he left the villa rented by his family, there was no trace of him.

Sheriff Tanner said search crews initially attempted to search the area where Kotowski's body was found, but were not granted access.

They later discovered a hatch that provided access to the room, he said.

60-year-old Stanley Kotowski and his family were over a thousand miles from their home in Boston when he walked barefoot out of his family's rented apartment and disappeared.

— ABC 13 News – WSET (@ABC13News) 28 August 2024

During the search, Jackie Kotowski, Kotowski's wife, said her husband had recently been suffering from insomnia.

“His anxiety was getting worse and worse. And he was getting a little paranoid. He thought someone was following him,” Jackie Kotowski said, according to WFXV.

During the search, the couple's son, Zak, begged his father to come home.

“And you're not in trouble, Dad. We love you. Yes. Come home. We just want you to come home,” he said.