A Scottish man who was reported missing off Monastery Beach in Carmel, Calif., may have instead faked his own death to escape rape charges in his home country, authorities say.

About 7:15 p.m. Feb. 25, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office received a report of a missing man off the dangerous beach, a picturesque spot where tourists, unfamiliar with the deceptively strong currents, routinely perish.

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.

After receiving the call last Monday evening, deputies immediately rolled out, along with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to search for Gordon, whose 17-year-old son reported him missing.

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. "Monastery drops about 100 feet off, off the beach right there, which makes it so dangerous (for swimmers unfamiliar with the area). Getting in 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."

A deputy took a drone out to Monastery, and the California Highway Patrol was asked to search the area with its helicopter. The Coast Guard responded as well, scanning the area via rescue helicopter, Thornburg said.

Although the agencies were out there for several hours Monday, they were unsuccessful in their efforts to locate Gordon from the deep waters.

At that point, it became a recovery mission.

They returned Tuesday, and then Wednesday, with dive teams from the Sheriff's Office and California State Parks, trying to find Gordon before the oncoming storms made diving too dangerous or futile.

The son's story began to fall apart the very first evening, though, Thornburg said.

"There was a lack of detail," said Thornburg. "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 LAX 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," said Thornburg. "I was on the phone with the BBC this morning and they said he's due in court in two weeks. When that came up, we start to wonder if this is a hoax, and he’s trying to escape these charges out of Scotland."

Long story short, things did not add up for the authorities.

"We don't think he went swimming and got in trouble," said Thornburg. "We think it's more related to trying to get out of the charges.

"The son was here at the time -- that supports that he may have been here but we don't have anyone else that saw him," continued Thornburg. "We have confirmation he flew into LAX but we can't show how they got from LAX up to here. We don't know how they got to Monterey County, and the son has returned to Scotland (since making the report)."

Thornburg estimated at least four agencies were involved in the search, and spent upward of 20 hours searching for the ostensibly-missing man. While he couldn't say offhand how much money it cost taxpayers, he was certain it was "a lot."

The U.S. Marshals Service is working with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office to track down Gordon, if he is still in the U.S. At the moment, Thornburg said, authorities have no leads on Gordon's whereabouts but hope by getting the word out that it leads to some more information.

Once Gordon is found, U.S. authorities plan to turn him over to Scottish authorities, if they request his return, said Thornburg.

Gordon's son has not been charged with making a false report because he has returned to Scotland.

Kate Cimini is a reporter for The Salinas Californian covering environment, agriculture, and homelessness. Contact her at (831) 776-5137 or kcimini@thecalifornian.com. Help support The Californian's work to keep you up to date on key news here: https://bit.ly/2N7qWMo