FORT WORTH — The search for Ethan Couch and his mother, Tonya, expanded vastly Thursday as the U.S. Marshal's Service and FBI joined the effort.
Couch became notorious as a 16-year-old when a juvenile court judge gave him 10 years probation after Couch killed four people in a drunk driving crash. His "affluenza" defense and lack of jail time triggered an emotional reaction across the country.
Ethan and Tonya Couch disappeared sometime in early December, about the time a video hit Twitter appearing to show him laughing at a beer pong party. Terms of his probation forbid use of alcohol.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson says the FBI and U.S. Marshal's fugitive task force have an excellent record of finding people around the globe, and can work with foreign governments, if necessary.
"[They have the] Ability to look at financial records, obtain telephone records, cell phone records… passport lists, flight lists. They have the ability to do that, and do it quickly," Anderson said late Thursday.
The U.S. Marshals service Friday released a "Wanted" poster in the search for Couch.
Sheriff's investigators have been beating the bushes locally, including talking to Ethan's dad, Fred Couch. Fred and Tonya Couch did not live together.
"We visited with his father today," Anderson said. "We sat down and talked to him. He cooperated, to the extent that he could. He's adamant he hasn't heard from them in a couple weeks."
Anderson told News 8 Wednesday that his department was "working every angle" it could. Authorities have speculated as to whether Couch has left the country.
Billy Woodrich, the popular owner of Billy's Oak Acres BBQ in north Fort Worth, says, as a former bounty hunter, he would only be looking at one thing if he were tracking Couch: money.
"You gotta find the money. You find the end of the money, you find the kid. Bottom line," Woodrich said. "They are a wealthy family."
Woodrich says it's possible Ethan and his mother are still in the area, although he admits the theory they fled south of the border could be right. He says if they used passports, or passed through another country's customs, that wouldn't take long for federal authorities to determine. If they planned to flee, though, he says it doesn't take much to avoid detection.
"They coulda driven down toward South Texas, then hopped a little 'bugsmasher' plane over the border, or knew somebody there," he said. There are so many scenarios."
Ethan Couch turns 19 in April. A hearing is scheduled for January to transfer his case to adult court, which could expose him to the threat of prison for future violations. Sheriff Anderson is more hopeful that massive new resources and massive publicity will lead to Couch's arrest.
"So it's across the country now," the sheriff said. "Not just here. So if they're still in the states, no matter where they are, hopefully we'll be able to smoke them out."
Anderson said it's important to find Ethan Couch for the families of the four people he killed. And for Sergio Molina, the young man left paralyzed.
"He's going to have to look over his shoulder the rest of his life," Anderson promised on Wednesday. "Any time he gets anywhere we could apprehend him, we're going to find him. And we're going to keep looking and we're not going to stop."
