The feds have joined the hunt for missing 18-year-old Ethan Crouch who killed four people while driving drunk at age 16 in 2013.
Couch is 2 years into a 10-year probation sentence. He avoided jail time after his lawyers argued that his rich parents sheltered him and he didn’t understand the consequences of his actions.
The controversial strategy was dubbed the “affluenza defense” by the news media.
Couch went missing last week after a woman uploaded a Snapchat video on Twitter.com showing him participating in a game of beer pong — a violation of the terms of his probation.
Couch failed to show up for a scheduled meeting around the time the video leaked online. His probation officer was unable to contact him or his mother.
A Dallas judge issued an arrest warrant and the FBI joined the search for Couch who is believed to have crossed state lines and may even be in another country.
“They had a good head start,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told CNN. “My gut feeling says they’ve gone a long way, they have the money, they have the ability to disappear and I’m fearing that they may even be out of the country.”
The sheriff is coordinating the manhunt with the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI. “You can run, but you’re always going to be looking over your shoulder,” said Anderson.
“We’re not going to give up. We’re going to come after you. We’re going to find you, wherever you are.”
