US Marshals Circulate Wanted Poster For Missing ‘Affluenza’ Teen

Authorities are still searching for a troubled Texas teen who may have violated his probation after killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving accident – and they now fear he may have fled the country.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson suggested that Couch may have hit the left the country, making him a top fugitive. News 8’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments, blasting Couch, the judge who gave him probation, and the idea of “affluenza”.

Anderson also had a message for Couch and his mother: “We’re going to find you, wherever you are”. “We’re going to find you, wherever you are”, he added.

Couch’s attorneys Scott Brown and Regan Wynn confirmed “for the last several days, the juvenile probation officer has been unable to make contact with Ethan or his mother with whom he has been residing”. Couch’s lawyers claimed in court that he suffered from “affluenza”, a made-up, non-medical condition.

The disappearance comes a couple of weeks after a video surfaced online, appearing to show Ethan at a party surrounded by alcohol, which would be a violation of his probation.

Sheriff Anderson admitted the young man had slipped through the net.

Authorities believe he may have skipped the appointment with his probation officer in anticipation of his arrest for violating his probation.

The Marshals Service could obtain a federal warrant accusing Couch of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said Danny Defenbaugh, a former FBI supervisor and founder of Defenbaugh and Associates, a Dallas-based security and consulting firm. “We sat down and talked to him. The families impacted will never have their loved ones back; Ethan Couch must have consequences for his actions”. The teen, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to 10 years probation.

“We all know the family has plenty of money and I think this was planned and they’re going to run far and try to hide”, said Anderson in an interview with Reuters.

Former State District Judge Jean Boyd handed down the terms of Couch’s probation, setting off a national firestorm.

Four other people were injured, two seriously, in the crash south of Fort Worth.

Terry Grisham, a spokesman for the Tarrant County’s sheriff’s office, told NBC News that the search could be ongoing for quite some time, “unless we get a real lucky break”.

“If he’d have been locked up and held accountable the first time, none of this would’ve happened”, Tarrant County Sheriff Anderson told Fox News 4.

They’re also seeking the boy’s mother, Tonya Couch, with whom he had been living.

Authorities said that Couch had a blood alcohol content of 0.24 percent – three times the legal limit for an adult – and that he was driving 70 miles per hour in a 40-mph zone.