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Ethan Couch blamed his spoiled upbringing for his bad behaviour and escaped jail. Picture: ABC News
THE manhunt has intensified for the “affluenza teen†who killed four people while driving drunk two years ago.
US police in Texas believe Ethan Couch, 18, who skipped at least one of his probation check-ins, may have left town — or even the country — with his mother.
A judge issued a “directive to apprehendâ€, similar to a warrant, on December 11 and now the search for the pair has stretched into a second week.
Hundreds of tips have been called in over the past 11 days, but Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said they could be a “double-edged sword†because many were not likely to lead to Couch.
Still, District Attorney Sharen Wilson said, “Every lead is being investigatedâ€.
His mother, Tonya, was declared a missing person as of Sunday — and authorities believe they could be using her pick-up truck as a getaway vehicle.
“We believe she is helping or assisting him, but we can’t even prove they are together at this time,†Anderson said.
The FBI is hunting ‘affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch.Source:Supplied
US Marshals have joined the search for Ethan Couch, a teenager who was serving probation for killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck after invoking a defence that he suffered from ‘affluenza’. Picture: US Marshals Service via APSource:AP
The FBI is assisting local authorities and the US Marshals Service in the investigation, and authorities announced a cash reward of $5000 and issued a wanted poster to help find him.
Couch’s infamy is the result of a heartbreaking drink-driving incident in 2013 in which a number of pedestrians were struck and killed by an out-of-control vehicle he was driving.
Aged 16 at the time, the Texas teenager got drunk, got behind the wheel of a car filled with drunk passengers and ran down four people.
Instead of serving jail time, a judge infamously gave him 10 years of probation — after his lawyer successfully argued that Couch’s wealthy upbringing meant he needed rehab instead of prison. This earnt him the nickname of the “affluenza teenâ€.
He was convicted of four counts of intoxication manslaughter.
Things got worse last week when a video emerged of him at a beer pong contest. As part of Couch’s probation, he is not, under any circumstances, to drink alcohol.
After the video was published on Twitter, Couch and his mother went missing.
Tonya Couch is reportedly on the run with son Ethan.Source:Supplied