Massachusetts man goes missing while on vacation in South Carolina

(BEAUFORD, S.C.) — A Massachusetts man vacationing with his family in South Carolina has been missing since Friday and is endangered, authorities said.

Stanley Kotowski, 60, was last seen Friday morning leaving his family’s vacation rental on Hilton Head Island, according to his family. He is believed to be barefoot and did not take any personal items such as his phone or wallet, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Kotowski has been struggling with anxiety recently, his family told ABC Savannah, Georgia, affiliate WJCL.

“He had really bad insomnia for about a month. This is like a brand-new thing,” his wife, Jackie Kotowski, told WJCL. “He doesn’t have dementia. His anxiety just kept getting worse and worse and worse and he started to get a little paranoid, and he thought someone was chasing him.”

His son, Zak Kotowski, told WJCL that his father is otherwise healthy.

“He’s a strong person, he’s athletic. He could, even in a delirious state, shoeless, he could get a few towns over,” Zak Kotowski told the station.

Kotowski was reported missing by his family about two hours after he was last seen, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Master Sergeant Daniel Allen. He 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, Allen said.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office continued to search for Kotowski on Tuesday.
 

Search efforts have included K9s, helicopters, drones, boats, and foot patrol, the sheriff’s office said. There have been some tips but none that have panned out, Allen said.

“Unfortunately with all the efforts that they’ve been putting out, from literally air, land and water, we have not made contact with him at this point,” Allen told ABC News on Tuesday.

Kotowski’s information has been entered into national databases and sent out to agencies statewide, the sheriff’s office said.

His family said they are not leaving Hilton Head Island without him while pleading for people to help.

“We just want him to come home,” Jackie Kotowski told WJCL. “We need help from anybody who can assist us in finding him.”

Zak Kotowski also had a message for his dad: “We love you. Come home, we just want you home.”

Kotowski was last seen wearing a gray Coors Light T-shirt, dark-colored shorts and no shoes, as captured on a Ring camera footage shared by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. He is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs around 200 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes and a thick Boston accent.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has asked residents to review their cameras and check their property for any signs of Kotowski. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 843-524-2777.

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