Man may have faked death to avoid charges

After days of searching, investigators think a Scottish man facing rape charges at home may have faked his death in the US last week.

Divers repeatedly scoped the picturesque Monastery Beach, off California's coast, looking for Kim Gordon, a Scottish tourist, after his teenage son told a harrowing story of his father vanishing into the waves of the Pacific Ocean on the night of February 25.

The 17-year-old said his father went into the ocean about 7:15pm at the beach, which is known for treacherous 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 US 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 his background and found he was due to be tried on two dozen counts of rape.

His son's story began to fray within hours of his report, authorities said. Sheriff's Captain John Thornburg said most people desperate to find their loved ones can provide detailed accounts, but not this boy.

"The story we were given by the son can't answer those questions, and that's where it all started to fall apart," Thornburg said.

Authorities then began to suspect the man's disappearance was potentially a hoax in order to escape the charges against him in Scotland.