Scot ‘who faked own death’ sold house before he vanished in US
Extraordinary twist in riddle of ‘fugitive’ trader
THE mystery disappearance of a Scot suspected of faking his own death in the US has taken a bizarre new twist.
Kim Avis, a street trader from Inverness, was reported missing last month after apparently failing to return from swimming in the sea while on holiday in California.
But US police suspect his disappearance was staged and it emerged the 54-year-old was facing rape charges in Scotland.
Now the Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that Mr Avis put his Highland home up for sale before he set off to the States.
The house has now changed hands and, according to its new owner, Mr Avis’s wife has quit Scotland to move to the US.
Last week, buyer Michael Dohrn, a retired consultant surgeon with NHS Orkney, said: ‘I bought the house in January. Mrs Avis has gone to the United States.’
Mr Avis, 54, is known variously as Kim Gordon, Kim Vincent, and Kem Vincent Avis. He is well
‘This person never went swimming’
known in Inverness for busking and selling gothic jewellery from a stand on the city’s High Street, and has been praised for his charity fundraising efforts.
He was reported missing on February 25 by his son Ruben at Monastery Beach, in Carmel, Monterey. The area lies about 77 miles south of San Jose.
While the sea was described as ‘flat calm’ that day, it is a notorious spot for drowning deaths.
Ruben, 17, told county police he had gone for a hike while his father went for a swim. But after a highprofile search, officers concluded Mr Avis was alive.
Commander John Thornburg, from Monterey County Sheriff’s Department, told US broadcaster KSBW News: ‘This person never went swimming.’
He added that Ruben’s account had started to ‘crumble and fall apart’ after he was questioned about how he and his father had got to Monterey from Los Angeles. Mr Avis subsequently failed to appear on March 11 at the High Court in Edinburgh, where he was due to stand trial on multiple charges of sexual offences. It is not known exactly when his wife Brooke Mhyre-Avis left their Highland property, called The Wolves’ Den. But she answered the door to reporters there at the beginning of this month, telling them it would be ‘inappropriate’ to comment on the allegations.
Mrs Mhyre-Avis is thought to be a US citizen. The couple wed in Montana in 2017 and have a child together – a 22-month-old girl.
The property, at Bunchrew, southwest of Inverness, was worth an estimated £221,000 but Mr Dohrn declined to confirm how much he had paid for the home.
Mrs Mhyre-Avis had been selling several items of furniture via her Facebook page. That account has since been deleted and her family declined to comment.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘There are serious questions to answer as to how this situation can have arisen, not least why he was not being monitored more closely.
‘Victims, their families and the Scottish public need to see justice being done.’
A police spokesman said: ‘Police Scotland has been made aware that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Kim Gordon after he failed to appear at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, March 11. We are actively progressing enquires to execute this warrant.’
A spokesman for the US Marshals said they had not received an official request to start hunting for Mr Avis.