Body of man discovered underneath house following heartbreaking plea from widow
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Beaufort County Sheriff's Office/WJCL 22
A body has been found under a home ten days after a 60-year-old man was reported missing from his vacation home, according to police.
Stanley Kotowski had disappeared after leaving the residence in South Sea Pines Drive in South Carolina on August 16.
Footage shows the dad leaving the rental property belonging to his family at around 10.30am with bare feet.
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Stanley's wife Jackie added that he had not taken his phone with him when he left the house.
Officers from Beaufort County Sheriff's Office had responded to calls of suspicious activity at a home at around 11.30am ten days later on Monday August 26.
A statement from the department said that they had carried out an 'investigation' after arriving.
This led them to discover 'the body of a deceased male' under a property 'four houses down' from Kotowski's rental, with the statement adding that they believe the body to be that of the missing Stanley.
Following its discovery, the body is now set to be sent for an autopsy on August 27 which will provide more information about the deceased.
Stanley, from Massachusetts, was last seen on August 16 in the South Sea Pines Drives area.
Jackie described how he had suffered with anxiety and had been becoming 'a little paranoid'.
Speaking to WJCL at the time, she said: "He just walked out the door. He had really bad insomnia for about a month.
"He doesn't have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse, and he started to get a little paranoid."
She added: "We love him and we miss him and we just want him to come home."
Jackie had also previously said that she would not return home until her husband is found, posting on Facebook: "My husband is still missing and we are still here. I’m not leaving until he is found. The BCSO is working very closely with us."
A statement from Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said: "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 statement added: "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 body was recovered from underneath the home at about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, to determine the manner of death, as well as positively identify the decedent."
Meanwhile, Jackie wrote in an update on Facebook: "It is with deep sorrow that I share the heartbreaking news that Stan has been found. Sadly, he is no longer with us. Our hearts are heavy with grief as we begin to process this unimaginable loss."
A further statement from Beaufort County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the body found had belonged to Stanley, and that he had died by suicide.
A statement shared with UNILAD said: "On August 27, 2024, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy, positively identifying Mr. Kotowski and determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation by hanging; manner of death to be suicide.
"Coroner David Ott said Mr. Kotowski’s time of death was the day he went missing, August 16, 2024."