U.S. Marshals believe a Mississippi man charged with raping a young girl may have faked his own death and now may be hiding in Denver.

A Denver TV station reported that marshals are searching for Jacob Blair Scott, 42, in the Denver area where he has family.

Prosecutors in Jackson County charged Scott with raping a 14-year-old girl, the TV station reported.

Scott disappeared days before he was set to plead guilty in the case. Investigators said they found a small, inflatable boat floating in the Gulf of Mexico off Orange Beach, Alabama. In the boat was a gun, conspicuously tied to the boat and a note described as a suicide note.

Investigators said the lack of physical evidence in the boat made them suspicious from the beginning.

“Normally in situations where somebody is shot, committed suicide, you’re going to have other forensic-type evidence. For example, brain matter, hair, skin, bone,” U.S. Marshal Katrina Krouse told Denver’s channel 7. “None of that was found.”

No body was ever found.

“Normally bodies will float to the surface,” Crouse told the TV station.

Metro Denver Crime Stoppers offers up to $2,000 reward for information in criminal cases. Call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867.)