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Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9

Q&A: A look at the search for Texas teen in ‘affluenza’ case

FILE - In this December 2013 image taken from a video by KDFW-FOX 4, Ethan Couch is seen during his court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities are investigating whether Couch, who killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck, and claimed as part of his defense that he suffered from "affluenza", has fled with his mother to avoid a potential violation of his probation. (AP Photo/KDFW-FOX 4, File)
FILE - In this December 2013 image taken from a video by KDFW-FOX 4, Ethan Couch is seen during his court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities are investigating whether Couch, who killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck, and claimed as part of his defense that he suffered from "affluenza", has fled with his mother to avoid a potential violation of his probation. (AP Photo/KDFW-FOX 4, File) FILE - In this December 2013 image taken from a video by KDFW-FOX 4, Ethan Couch is seen during his court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities are investigating whether Couch, who killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck, and claimed as part of his defense that he suffered from "affluenza", has fled with his mother to avoid a potential violation of his probation. (AP Photo/KDFW-FOX 4, File)

DALLAS (AP) – A manhunt is underway for a Texas teenager sentenced to probation in 2013 for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck after his defense lawyers claimed he suffered from “affluenza.” Authorities say he missed an appointment last week with his probation officer and the juvenile equivalent of an arrest warrant was issued for him. He’s believed to have fled with his mother, with whom he’d been living. Here are a few of the leading questions in the case involving 18-year-old Ethan Couch:

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DO AUTHORITIES KNOW WHERE COUCH MAY BE?

Officials say they don’t know his whereabouts and have expressed concern that he may have left the country, although Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office, says there’s no specific indication that he has crossed the border.

“He and his mother have the means to be able to travel to wherever they may want to travel,” Jordan said.