Inside look at the search for Scottish rape suspect arrested in Colorado Springs
A Scottish man believed to have faked his death in California to avoid sex assault charges was arrested in Colorado Springs last week.
Kim Gordon, who also goes by Kim Avis, was reported missing by his 17-year-old son in February. It prompted a two-day search by Coast Guard helicopters and dive teams, but after coming up empty-handed, authorities grew suspicious.
It’s the rocky Monestary Beach off of the Pacific Coast where Kim Gordon is suspected of faking his own death.
The Monterey Sheriff’s Office says the area is often referred to as “Mortuary Beach,” with more than 30 people killed in the same area.
Because of how likely it is for swimmers to get lost in the currents, dive teams and the Coast Guard launched a desperate search, only to find no sign of Gordon.
“But as we dug deeper and as the deputies started looking into it with the assistance of the detective and the sheriff’s office, it [the report] started to crumble and fall apart,” said Capt. John Thornburg with the Monterey Sheriff’s Office.
It was soon after that they discovered Gordon has 24 pending sexual abuse charges from Scotland.
They believe Gordon’s son, who reported him missing, lied about his disappearance to help him escape the allegations.
Thornburg spoke to our media partners shortly after the search saying they spent thousands of dollars on his search.
“This person never went swimming and he may in fact be using it as a ruse of sorts to try to avoid criminal prosecution,” Thornburg said.
We now know Gordon was arrested sometime last week in Colorado Springs by U.S. Marshals.
Law enforcement was able to track him down, in part, due to a report that he was spotted driving a newer white Ford van. It’s unclear what he was doing in Colorado Springs, but he held a street trader license to sell goods and play music in Scotland.
Gordon’s son is not facing charges for helping him and instead was sent back to Scotland with the help of Child Protective Services.
After calling our local sheriff’s offices, we learned there’s a good chance Gordon is already on a plane back to California.
