Here is my interpretation of the evidence:
Airplane parked on reef.
Tide/surf take plane and drag it across reef, damaging landing gear.
Plane falls into ocean and sinks mostly intact.
Plane settles, possibly inverted, on reef slope.
Lamb. search and aerial photos show nothing unusual.
Three months pass, oleo strut finally gives, tire and gear float to surface to be washed up on edge of reef and are accidentally photographed by Bevington.
Plane remains undisturbed on reef slope, shallow enough to have pieces torn from it as recently as 1991 (2-2-V-1.)
Pieces washed ashore are found and used by natives, starting the rumor of the wrecked plane (misc. aluminum pieces, decorative inlays, anecdotal reports of plane parts) despite no reports by westerners of a wrecked aircraft.
Please poke holes in my interpretation so I can come up with something better :-D