Web post claims software tycoon John McAfee captured

Fugitive software pioneer John McAfee may have been captured on the Belize-Mexico border, according to a post on his website that appears to have come as a surprise to authorities in central America.

In the latest twist to the bizarre case, whoismcafee.com– a website set up by Mr McAfee after he went on the run from police wanting to question him over the murder of a neighbour – stated in an update that it had received an "unconfirmed report" of his detention.

Yesterday however, authorities in Belize appeared to dismiss the reports. “I do not know where he is supposed to have been captured, but he certainly isn’t here at San Pedro police station,” said an officer stationed in the town Mr McAfee has called home since 2008.

On the run

The British-born computer programmer, who built up a fortune on the back of the internet security company that bears his name, has been on the run since November 11th, when the body of American businessman Gregory Viant Faull was discovered at a nearby property.

The pair were known to have quarrelled in the past, but Mr McAfee – named as a person of interest in the case – has always maintained his innocence.

In a blog, which Mr McAfee began after he disappeared, the fugitive has updated supporters and the media about his life as a fugitive. On Friday, he gave an interview with CNN from an unknown location, during which he bemoaned the lack of baths and poor food available to him since going on the run.

He granted the American network an interview only after it agreed to a series of checks to ensure that his secret hide-out would not be uncovered. – (Guardian service)