The man suspected of faking his death at Carmel's Monastery Beach in February to escape 24 rape charges in his home country of Scotland has been arrested in Colorado, Monterey County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Cmdr. Katy Pallozolo confirmed Friday the capture of Kim Vincent Avis, 55, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Avis also went by Ken Gordon-Avis.

About 7:15 p.m. Feb. 25, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office received a report of a missing man off the picturesque spot that's also perilous because of deceptively strong currents.

What sheriff's deputies found led them to conclude Kim Gordon faked his own death in order to avoid appearing in court on 24 rape charges, and, in fact, may never have made it to Monastery Beach at all.

Sometimes called "Mortuary Beach" by locals, more than 30 people have died there. Carmel installed a short fence and signs warning people of the danger in 2016 and 2017.

"It's a dangerous beach and we've had issues there before," said Capt. John Thornburg in a March interview. "Getting in (the water) is easy; the hard part is getting out. When you go out there, it drops off very quickly into a submarine canyon. The water turns and drags down, not like a normal beach. (Swimmers) can't get out, wear themselves out and the water drags them down."

After deputies, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Coast Guard searched the area for Gordon for three days after his 17-year-old son reported him missing, they came to the conclusion that something did't add up.

"There was a lack of detail," Thornburg has said. "The son, who reported it, couldn't even tell us where he went in under the water."

Gordon's son also couldn't easily explain how he got from the Los Angeles International Airport to Monterey County, nor could deputies find any witnesses on the beach or otherwise who had seen the missing man.

"Detectives start to look at it more, and find he is wanted in Scotland for 24 counts of rape," Thornburg has said. "[...]When that came up, we start to wonder if this is a hoax, and he’s trying to escape these charges out of Scotland."

Avis’s son was returned to Scotland with the help of Monterey County Child Protective Services. He did not face charges for filing a false report.

Over the next few months, deputies worked with The U.S. Marshals Service, Interpol, and Scottish authorities to secure an arrest and extradition warrant for Avis.

Last week, U.S. Marshals were able to track him to Colorado Springs due, in part, to a report in March that Avis was spotted in Monterey County driving a newer white Ford van in the Big Sur area, a post on the Sheriff's Facebook page said Friday.

Avis is being held by US Marshals until his extradition hearing in Colorado Springs scheduled for later this month.

Kate Cimini is a multimedia journalist at the Salinas Californian. Help support The Californian's work: https://bit.ly/2Qo298J