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A massive search continues for a Massachusetts father who went missing while vacationing with his family in South Carolina.
Stanley Kotowski, 60, was last seen on August 16 when he abruptly left their vacation rental on Hilton Head Island around 10:30 a.m. He was not wearing any shoes and left behind his phone and wallet, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
His family, who is from Methuen near Boston, told local South Carolina news outlet WJCL that he had been struggling with anxiety and may have been suffering from a mental health crisis when he walked out of the house.
“He had, like, really bad insomnia for about a month,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, explained. “His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And he started to get a little paranoid. He thought someone was chasing him.”
Jackie reported her husband missing to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office whose deputies responded to the rental home at 226 South Sea Pines Drive around 12:42 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
She told deputies that her husband “believes Sea Pines is a ‘set up’” and has made statements about a conspiracy that the people here are “watching him” and are out to get him.
Before he left, Jackie said her husband told her: “Promise me you will go on without me.”
Kotowski has been listed as endangered due to his mental state, the length of time he has been missing and because he was last seen on a Ring camera without any shoes on, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sergeant Daniel Allen. Deputies have since deployed K9 units, boats, drones and helicopters, but there has been no sign of him.
An image from Ring camera footage released by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office shows Kotowski barefoot and wearing the same clothes he was last seen in when he vanished.
His wife posted an update in the Hilton Head Facebook group, pleading with residents and other vacationers in the popular beach area to check their cameras for possible sightings of Kotowski.
“Hi everyone - 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. We feel completely supported by them,” she wrote. “It has come to my attention that there are implications that the police are not doing enough and the family does not feel supported. This could not be more untrue. They have been amazing and we are fully confident in their work. Any other implication is unhelpful.”
“What would be very helpful is for more people to check their security cameras and look for footage of my husband,” she added. “We feel like he is hiding in an empty residence or pool shed or something like that probably in the Sea Pines area. Thank you for all your help, support, love and prayers.”
Jackie has also been keeping a detailed rundown of the information of her husband’s disappearance that she posts on her personal Facebook page.
The same day Kotowski went missing, two Hilton Head vacationers died in separate drownings due to rough waters from Hurricane Ernesto.
But Jackie said her husband was not a fan of the ocean and had concerns about sharks and jellyfish. She added that he most likely has taken shelter from the sun.
“He’s a strong person, he’s athletic,” his son Zak Kotowski told WJCL. “He could, even in a delirious state, shoeless, he could get a few towns over.”
Kotowski’s wife, two sons, and some close friends are still in Hilton Head as they continue their search.
"We love you,” Zak pleaded in a heartbreaking message for his dad. “Come home, we just want you home.”
Kotowski’s information has been entered into national databases and sent out to agencies statewide, the sheriff’s office said earlier this week. Firefighters have joined the search effort, combing residential and wooded areas.
The sheriff’s office said Kotowski, who is described as 6 feet tall, about 200 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a dark Coors light T-shirt, dark-colored blue or black shorts and no shoes. His family says he has a thick Boston accent. The sheriff’s office urged anyone with information to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 843-524-2777.
Jackie told local media that they are not giving up their search and will not leave Hilton Head Island without him.
“We just want him to come home,” Jackie said tearfully. “We need help from anybody who can assist us in finding him.”
