(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

OZARK, Mo. - After nearly two decades as a fugitive, a British man suspected of driving off with an armoured car loaded with cash worth about $1.5 million has been captured in southwest Missouri, where he appeared in federal court wearing blue jeans and asking for a court-appointed defence attorney because he didn't have enough money to hire one.

Edward John Maher, once dubbed "Fast Eddie" in news reports after the 1993 heist, is accused of stealing the armoured car while a fellow security guard was making a delivery to a bank in Suffolk, eastern England. The van was later abandoned. Fifty bags containing coins and notes worth 1 million pounds, or $1.5 million, were missing.

And so was Maher.

According to U.S. property records, Maher, 56, appears to have been in the U.S. for years, moving around New England, the South and the Midwest. News reports from 1993 said he had dreamed of living in the U.S., where he wanted to open a flight school.

FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said federal officials do not know what happened to the money.

Maher was arrested Wednesday in an apartment in the town of Ozark, 160 miles (260 kilometres) southeast of Kansas City, where authorities said he was living under a brother's name, Michael Maher, and working as a cable installer.

Edward Maher's guise began unraveling Monday when Ozark police received a tip that a man going by that name was a fugitive from Britain. An officer compared Maher's driver's license photo with a picture from 1993 and contacted the FBI, which also compared the photos and determined they were likely the same man.

He was arrested after immigration officials determined he was in the U.S. illegally.

Maher's family reluctantly opened the door to their two-story townhome Thursday to speak with an Associated Press reporter.

"He's an amazing dad," said son Lee King, 23. "He cares for us, provides for us and takes care of us. He's been to every baseball game, football game. Everything we've ever done in our lives, he's been there for us."

Maher's wife, Deborah Brett, who also goes by the name of Deborah King, said the family had lived in Ozark about 4 1/2 years.

After being taken into custody, Maher told an FBI agent he had been using his brother's name since 1998, when he began working in the U.S. He said he obtained a Social Security number under that name. Brett told agents her husband also sometimes used the name Stephen King.

She said if Maher is sent back to Britain, family members will go there with him.

"He's a wonderful father and a wonderful husband. He's never hurt anybody. Never caused any harm to anybody," she said, quietly comforting a younger boy who appeared to be about 15 as they both fought back tears.

In addition to immigration violations, federal prosecutors charged Maher with having illegal weapons.

Maher appeared calm during his brief appearance in federal court in Springfield on Thursday. He is in the custody of U.S. marshals and was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 22.