Mother Named a Missing Person in Hunt for "Affluenza" Teenager

Rich Teen Kills 4, Avoids Prison Thanks To "Affluenza"
Photo The authorities have intensified their search for Ethan Couch, releasing new details and offering a$5,000 reward. Credit U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE, via Agence France-Presse Getty Images

The manhunt for Ethan Couch, a Texas teenager who was the topic of an intense debate about so-called affluenza after he was sentenced to probation for driving drunk and killing four people, intensified as the authorities released new details in the search for him and his mother.

On Facebook, the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office posted photos of a black Ford F-150 pickup truck that belongs to Mr. Couchs 48-year-old mother, Tonya Couch. The truck, with the Texas license plate number BC50945, has some damage to the rear passenger panel.

In the post, the authorities also included a photo of Ms. Couch, and said that she had been added to a national missing persons database.

Photo Tonya Couch Credit Tarrant County Sheriff"s Office

Then theyll get a hit on her name and on the missing person it says shes possibly accompanying a fugitive, Sheriff Dee Anderson told reporters on Monday. So hopefully everyone will understand that once they saw that hit on the computer that they need to investigate a little further.

Mr. Couch, 18, and his mother have been missing since at least early December, about two weeks after a person shared a video to Twitter that appeared to show the teenager playing the drinking game beer pong with friends, which would violate his 10-year probation sentence.

The Tarrant County Sheriffs Office said last week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service had joined the search, and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Mr. Couch. On Tuesday, Mr. Couchs lawyers, Reagan Wynn and Scott Brown, said in an email that they had received no new information about their client.

Because of the obvious uncertainty surrounding this matter, it would not be appropriate for us to make any additional public statements at this time, they wrote in a statement.

In June 2013, Mr. Couch and his friends stole beer from a Walmart. Later, he drove a pickup truck into four pedestrians, killing them and seriously injuring a friend who was traveling in the trucks bed. Mr. Couch was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.24, three times the legal limit. He was convicted of vehicular manslaughter.

In court, the case made headlines when a psychologist called by the defense described Mr. Couch as suffering from affluenza, a term used to describe the psychological problems associated with children born to wealthy families.

I wish I hadnt used that term, G. d**k Miller, the psychologist who offered that defense in court, told CNN at the time. We used to call these people spoiled brats.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/us/affluenza-teenager-ethan-couch-mother-tonya-couch-missing-person-texas.html