How Did Police Find "Affluenza" Teen Ethan Couch? A Domino's Pizza Order Gave Him Away

Uncredited/AP
Impact

Texas teenager Ethan Couch, who killed four people in a drunk driving accident in 2013 and used the unofficial illness "affluenza," a combination of affluence and influenza, as a defense, was arrested Tuesday with his mother in Mexico after the police tracked him down through his Domino's pizza order, the Associated Press reported. Couch avoided a 20-year prison sentence and was put on probation instead; however he may have violated that probation by skipping town.  

Uncredited/AP

Couch and his mother Tonya Couch were arrested in the beach resort town of Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, on Monday after they fled the United States earlier this month. They used a phone to order Domino's pizza while hiding, according to the AP. The phone's location was tracked and a U.S. Marshals Service agent told authorities of its location Monday. 

It's unclear whether Couch violated his probation by fleeing to Mexico, but if he did, he could face up to 10 years in jail. Couch and his mother fled in mid-December after his probation sentencing and officials assumed they had used their wealth to privately leave the country. "We fear that he has left the country," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said earlier this month, according to Reuters. ""He got way out ahead of this and got away before any of us knew he was missing ... they [the Couch family] have lots of money, which gives them access to private planes and boats."

When authorities found Couch and his mother, he had changed his appearance by dying his hair dark brown and letting his facial hair grow out. 

Dec. 30, 2015, 11:40 p.m. Eastern: This story has been updated.