South Carolina police find body of Massachusetts man who vanished from Hilton Head family vacation ‘underneath a residence’

South Carolina authorities said on Monday that they believe they found missing Massachusetts man Stanley Kotowski’s body “beneath a residence” in the Sea Pines area of Hilton Head, South Carolina.

“At about 11:30 a.m., today, August 26, 2024, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a home in Sea Pines in connection to suspicious activity. Throughout the course of the investigation, the body of a deceased male was located underneath a residence,” the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted to Facebook. “It is believed that the deceased male is 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski of Massachusetts. Mr. Kotowski was reported missing on August 16, 2024.”

The sheriff’s office added that his body “was recovered from underneath the home at about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon,” and the county coroner will conduct an autopsy on Tuesday.

Ring doorbell footage released over the weekend shows Kotowski leaving his family’s Hilton Head, South Carolina, rental residence on the same day he disappeared. 

In the video released by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Kotowski can be seen walking out the front door of the South Sea Pines Drive rental, barefoot, and out into the street on Aug. 16, the same day his family reported him missing.

Kotowski also appears to be confused in the video as he stops walking and looks around in the middle of the street before continuing on. He has not been seen since. 

“We continue to ask for the public’s help locating missing and endangered 60-year-old Stanley Kotowski,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post accompanying the new video. “He was last seen wearing a dark in color, possibly gray, Coors Light t-shirt, dark in color shorts, possibly dark blue or black, and no shoes.”

The Hilton Head community held an organized search for Kotowski on Monday afternoon in cooperation with the sheriff’s office.

His family asked Hilton Head-area residents who may have seen Kotowski to contact authorities and look through their security camera footage for any potential sightings of the missing man. 

“Over the last month, he has been struggling with severe insomnia and has become increasingly anxious,” his wife Jackie wrote on Facebook. “During the week of Aug. 19, Stan became paranoid, thinking that people, including authorities, were pursuing him.”

The family added that the sheriff’s office had been very supportive and “are doing everything in their power to bring Stan home,” including conducting both land and water searches. 

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Kotowski to contact the non-emergency dispatch line at 843-524-2777.