Couch is serving 10 years probation in the juvenile justice system for the June 2013 crash that also left nine people injured.
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The mother of Ethan Couch, the Texas teen who used “affluenza” as a defense in a drunk driving wreck that killed four people, is now missing as well. It says a reward of up to $5,000 “is offered for information that leads to the whereabouts and arrest of Couch”.
Anderson told CBS DFW that he believes Couch chose to flee after the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office began investigating a video that surfaced online allegedly showing the teen at a party with several people playing beer pong.
Couch was supposed to be accompanied by a parent for a regular visit December 10 with his probation officer.
The U.S. Marshal’s Service is also checking financial records, and travel records to see if the pair may have fled the country. Authorities have issued the juvenile equivalent of an arrest warrant for Couch, whose case is still in juvenile court.
Authorities are asking the public’s help in finding a wanted Tarrant County teenager and his mother who are believed to be on the run together.
Ethan Couch killed four people in the drunken 2013 crash but was sentenced to only probation after his lawyer argued that he suffered from “affluenza” and blamed his irresponsible lifestyle on being coddled too much by his wealthy parents.
Tonya Couch is suspected to be helping her son, the sheriff said Monday, but it can not be proved, and it is not at the point where she is named as a suspect. State District Judge Jean Boyd, now retired, sentenced Couch to 10 years of probation and therapy, including a stint at a state hospital in Vernon. The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread criticism and ridicule.
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Anderson, the Tarrant County sheriff, said Couch’s father, Fred Couch, told investigators that he hasn’t heard from his son or ex-wife in about two weeks.
