HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — A business executive questioned by investigators in a couple's disappearance slashed himself six times with a steak knife and bled to death in a bathtub lined with a comforter and pillows, according to investigative reports released Wednesday.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner released the reports detailing Dennis Ray Gerwing's death because he said he wanted to put to rest any speculation that Gerwing was killed.
"I'm sure you would draw some conclusions that it is unbelievable, but the true facts reveal that it was a suicide," Tanner told reporters. "No one else is involved, there's no murder mystery here that we're looking at. It's a suicide that's odd."
John and Elizabeth Calvert, who live part time on a yacht at the Harbour Town marina they lease and manage, were last seen March 3. Police think Gerwing, a business associate of the couple, was the last person to see them.
People are also reading…
Gerwing, 54, had been dead for several hours by the time investigators identified him as a person of interest in the case on March 11. Gerwing's lawyer found his body in a condominium on this tiny resort island about 90 minutes after the sheriff's office made his name public.
A preliminary autopsy concluded Gerwing bled to death from multiple cuts, mostly from gashes on both sides of his neck and a slashed artery in his left forearm. He also slashed his inner right thigh.
Police found a serrated steak knife in the bathtub next to Gerwing's body.
The reports said Gerwing left two suicide notes: one on a bedsheet, the other on both sides of a sheet of paper found in the bloody bathroom with his naked body.
The sheriff refused to disclose the contents of the notes, saying investigators are still analyzing them.
The sheriff had no new information to offer on the search for the Calverts, but Gerwing remains a person of interest in their disappearance.
"With every day that passes, it diminishes the opportunity or possibility of finding them alive," Tanner said. "But then again, they could be on an extended vacation."
