British man facing rape charges disappears from California beach and 'may have faked his own death' Kim Gordon of Inverness was reported missing from Monastery Beach last week But U.S. officials said there was no proof the Scotsman had entered the water He is said to be facing 24 rape charges and is suspected of faking his deathBy Tim Stickings For Mailonline Published: 17:53 GMT, 3 March 2019 | Updated: 17:57 GMT, 3 March 2019 Viewcomments Suspect: Kim Gordon (pictured), who is reportedly facing rape charges in Scotland, is suspected of faking his own disappearance in the U.S. A British man facing rape charges in Scotland is suspected of faking his own death after vanishing from a beach in the United States. Kim Gordon, from Inverness, was reported missing from California's Monastery Beach on Monday by his 17-year-old son who said his father had gone swimming. But U.S. officials believe he may still be alive, saying there was no proof he had ever gone into the water. The Scotsman is facing 24 rape charges in his home country, U.S. media reports. Monterey County Sheriff's Office captain John Thornburg said dive teams had searched the water for two days but found no trace of him. Detectives said the son's story was inconsistent and that he had not actually seen his father enter the water. As the story unravelled police discovered the allegations against him in Scotland, he said. Mr Thornburg said: 'We got a 911 call saying that he had gone swimming off one of our beaches and hadn't returned. 'This was 7.15pm, which was a little unusual to go swimming because it was dark. 'At that time we treated it as a missing person, as a swimmer in distress, so the fire department, the sheriff's office and state parks began searching. 'Monastery Beach is the area where he was reported to have gone. It's a very dangerous beach, getting out of the water is very difficult. 'For the next two days we put dive teams into the Pacific Ocean there to try and locate him and he wasn't.' Search: Divers look for the 'missing' Scotsman in a two-day hunt in the Pacific Ocean before California police concluded he may not be missing at all Investigation: California police, pictured at the scene, now believe the Scotsman is still alive and say there is no proof he ever entered the water He said when the incident was further examined it began to be treated as suspicious and added 'we've got to a point now that we don't believe he went into the ocean, we don't think he went swimming'. He said: 'We can't prove that he went into the water.' Mr Thornburg believes the pair were on a two-week break in the States and flew in to Los Angeles, but said there was 'no indication' of how they got to Monterey County, where they were staying or if they had a vehicle. He said the missing man's son was taken into protective custody during the rescue operation and has since returned to Scotland. Inquiries in the US are continuing and the country's Marshals Service is now involved in the case. A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'Our staff are assisting the family of a British man who is missing in the United States and are in touch with the local authorities'. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility