Betrayed By Metadata: John McAfee Admits He's Really In Guatemala

By Eyder Peralta

Published December 4, 2012 at 12:24 PM EST

A Facebook page shows photos of John McAfee, the founder of the eponymous anti-virus company.

The story of John McAfee just keeps getting weirder. If you remember, the McAfee anti-virus software founder is on the lam, wanted for questioning in Belize for the shooting death of Gregory Faull, another expat who lived near him.

McAfee claims he's innocent and the victim of a corrupt government who is trying to get him.

Yesterday, the story took a surprising turn when Vice Magazine bragged that they had scooped everyone because they were "with John McAfee right now, suckers."

Along with the short story, the magazine posted a picture taken with an iPhone, and as The Next Web explains the magazine simply forgot to scrub the picture of the location metadata included within.

For a guy on the run, that's not great news. The Next Web tracked the GPS coordinates to a location in Guatemala near the Belize border.

McAfee claimed that he had falsified the data in the photo. He even apologized to Vice for interfering with "the objectivity of their reporting."

Today, another twist: McAfee fessed up in a blog post on his website:

"I am in Guatemala and will be meeting with Guatemalan officials this morning. If all goes well I will do a press conference tomorrow.

"Vice Magazine reporters are indeed with me in Guatemala. Yesterday was chaotic due to the accidental release of my exact co-ordinates by an unseasoned technician at Vice headquarters. We made it to safety in spite of this handicap."

Vice Magazine followed up with a short piece about McAfee's escape to a fancy resort in Guatemala City, a piece about how McAfee and his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend met with and hired a high-priced lawyer who he hopes will get him out this mess.

Update at 2:57 p.m. ET. McAfee Seeks Asylum:

The AFP reports that McAfee's attorney says he will seek asylum in Guatemala.

The AFP adds:

"'I have to manage his political asylum,' Guerra told AFP after meeting McAfee early Tuesday at a hotel in Guatemala City.

"McAfee 'is persecuted in Belize, persecuted politically because he stopped financing the government. They accuse him of a common crime. So what I have to obtain is an authorization of asylum,' the lawyer said."