Missing Affluenza Teen Believes 'Law Doesn't Apply to Him': Sheriff

Ethan Couch, mom may be in her pickup truck, authorities say
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2015 1:48 PM CST
Missing Affluenza Teen Believes 'Law Doesn't Apply to Him': Sheriff
US Marshals wanted poster for Ethan Couch.   (US Marshals via Dallas News)

"Affluenza teen" Ethan Couch, the Texas 18-year-old who allegedly violated his probation after a drunk-driving crash that killed four bystanders, is still missing along with his mother. They may be traveling in her black 2011 Ford F150 pickup truck, authorities said at a press conference Monday. The Harley Davidson edition truck has 23-inch chrome wheels, a "crease" of damage on the passenger side panel, and Texas license plate BC50945. Per the Dallas News, a "visibly angry" Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Couch "continues to believe the law doesn’t apply to him, which is how he was raised. If he has enough money, he can get out of it." He added that investigators have a "strong suspicion" the two are together and Couch's mother is helping him flee the law, though they don't know for sure. Tonya Couch, 48, has now officially been reported missing, CBS News reports.

That means she's in a national database for missing persons, and authorities added a note saying she might be with a fugitive, which police will see if they look her up. Anderson said Couch did not appear to have any sympathy after killing the victims: "I said then, we’re not through with Ethan Couch—he’s not the kind of person who rehabilitates, who learns his lesson." Couch missed a probation meeting after a video surfaced that appeared to show him drinking alcohol, and authorities have been looking for him ever since. Anderson said Couch was prohibited from drinking as part of his probation, and likely wanted to escape the jail time he could have faced over the video. Couch's mother is divorced from his father, and authorities say Couch's father has been cooperating with investigators and told them he hadn't heard from his son or his ex, who lived together, in about two weeks. Investigators say they are looking into "hundreds and hundreds" of leads. (More Ethan Couch stories.)

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