FBI, US marshals join search for ‘affluenza’ teen

Anderson also believes the teen’s mother, Tanya Couch-also missing-may be aiding her son in avoiding captivity, a crime she would be charged for should it turn out to be the case.

According to Fox News, U.S Marshalls have joined the hunt for Ethan Couch, the Texas teen whose “affluenza” defense in a deadly DUI crash gained nationwide attention in 2013.

“Any mess-ups from now on, he’s going to be over with us”, Terry Grisham, the spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office, said to Raw Story. “And we’re going to keep looking and we’re not going to stop”, he added. We’re going to find you, wherever you are.

Samantha Jordan, the Tarrant County district attorney’s spokeswoman, confirmed to The Dallas Morning News Thursday the U.S. Marshals Service is involved in the search for Ethan Couch, 18.

Couch dodged jail time two years ago after his attorneys successfully argued that the rich kid suffered from “affluenza”, and his spoiled upbringing meant he didn’t understand the consequences of his actions since his parents never set limits.

His most immediate problem is that he ditched probation and his probation officer could not find him, which prompted the “directive to apprehend”, a term used in juvenile cases that is the equivalent to an adult arrest warrant. This is egregious. “Affluenza” aside, Ethan Couch appears to show blatant disregard for the law, and he must be held accountable.

One possible factor in his disappearance is a video that was posted on Twitter that appears to show Couch at a party near a beer pong table.

After Ethan Couch crashed his ute at more than 104 km/h into a group of people who had stopped to help a stranded motorist, he was sentenced to drug-and-alcohol-free probation and time in a rehabilitation centre. One suffered a severe brain injury and is unable to move or talk.

Sheriff Anderson gave CNN a message for Couch and his mother during an interview earlier this week.

Couch was 16-years-old at the time when he drove drunk and killed four people in a vehicle accident in Burleson.

Under the terms of his probation, Couch isn’t supposed to lose contact with his probation officer, his lawyers said.

The Washington Post reports that “crash killed four people working on the disabled auto”.

Authorities say Couch recently violated his parole by leaving the country.

Lawyer Scott Brown said Couch would have to be “under the thumb of the justice system for the next 10 years”.

The name “Ethan Couch” may have faded from the memory.

People like Couch aren’t comfortable enough in criminal or gray-market circles to quietly get their hands on the money one needs to remain a fugitive, Ahearn says. Couch pled guilty but – despite facing a maximum of 20 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter – was let off with ten years on probation and a mandatory stay at a rehab facility after presenting a controversial “affluenza defence”.