After days of searching, investigators think a Scotsman who reportedly vanished after diving into the waters off Carmel may have faked his own death to evade justice in his native country, where he stands accused of multiple rape charges, authorities said.

A week ago, divers repeatedly scoped the picturesque Monastery Beach looking for Kim Gordon, a Scottish tourist, after his 17-year-old son told a harrowing story of his father vanishing into the waves of the Pacific Ocean the night of Feb. 25. The teen said his father went into the ocean about 7:15 p.m. at the beach, which is known for treacherously strong currents.

Dubbed “Mortuary Beach” by some, the number of deaths at Monastery has been so high, special fences have been installed in recent years to keep people out.

When teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Parks Department using a drone and a helicopter didn’t find a body in the deep waters after several days of searching, Monterey County Sheriff’s Department investigators began to dig into the background of the Edinburgh-area man and found he was due to be tried on two dozen counts of rape.

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