Dennis Recker Obituary, Death; – Authorities have identified an 81-year-old man who was reportedly shot and killed by his wife last week at a nursing home on Hilton Head Island. Dennis Recker, a resident of Bluffton, was declared dead from a gunshot wound at 11:26 a.m. at the Preston Health Center, as reported by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. Efforts by first responders to save his life at the care center were unsuccessful.

The police apprehended the man’s 82-year-old wife, Harriett Kay Recker, after she was discovered in her husband’s room at the facility. She has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The Preston Health Center is a skilled care facility with 58 beds, providing short-term, long-term, and memory care services, according to its website. It is situated within The Cypress of Hilton Head, a retirement community located in the larger Hilton Head Plantation gated neighborhood.

Public records indicate that the Reckers have resided in the Bluffton area since 2012, when they acquired a home in Sun City Hilton Head. Prior to that, the couple had an address listed in Madison, Mississippi, for approximately seven years. The police have not disclosed a potential motive for the homicide. As of Monday afternoon, Harriett Recker remained in custody at the Beaufort County jail. Given the severity of her charges, her bond must be determined by a circuit court judge. The circuit court is scheduled to resume in Beaufort County on September 22, according to judicial records.

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publish police booking photographs, or mugshots, under the following circumstances: When a public figure or an individual in a position of public trust is arrested; in instances where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety; and in cases where the arrested individual is accused of a crime that reporters believe involves multiple, unidentified victims. Reporters will refrain from using mugshots as primary images for online articles to limit their dissemination on social media, except in situations where the public benefits from immediate identification.