The Texas teenager who was diagnosed with "affluenza" after killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving crash has been apprehended in a popular Mexican resort town after two weeks of extensive press coverage of his disappearance.

The notorious teen's orange hair was dyed brown in pictures released Monday by Mexican authorities, but his beard and mustache retained the distinct shape shown in wanted fliers.

Ethan Couch, 18, now faces extradition to the U.S., where he may face jail time for allegedly violating his probation by skipping check-ins with his probation officer and then fleeing the country.

Couch’s mother, Tonya Couch, also was apprehended in Puerto Vallarta.



Couch's disappearance coincided with his alleged appearance in a grainy video that purported to show him cheering enthusiastically during a game of beer pong.

Tarrant County, Texas, Sheriff Dee Anderson said at a Tuesday press conference his detectives learned the Couches hosted "something akin to a going away party before they left town," driving to the Mexican border in a pickup truck.

Anderson declined to provide much information about the alleged party, or who attended the gathering.

The sheriff said Couch's mother will face a criminal charge for hindering an apprehension when she is returned to the U.S. There's a Jan. 19 hearing scheduled to transfer the teen's case from the juvenile court system to the adult criminal system, he said.



"I would like to see him put in an adult prison and serve out the remainder of his 10-year sentence," Anderson said.

But that’s not likely to happen. Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said the most Couch faces is 120 days in jail for violating his probation, or less time if his case is not transferred to adult court.

He’d have to commit another probation violation to face longer than 120 days behind bars, she said, with multiple consecutive 10-year sentences possible if that happens.

“It is the horns of a dilemma of Texas law,” she said. “We are bound by the sentence he received from the juvenile judge.”



In lieu of up to two decades behind bars, Couch's original penalty included a ban on consuming alcohol and 10 years of probation for the deadly crash, which also seriously injured friends who were riding in his vehicle when it plowed into a group attending to a broken-down car.

The teen also was ordered to complete 12 hours of community service.

Couch’s case ignited national outrage because of his light penalty’s connection to a psychologist’s diagnosis of his having “affluenza,” a condition that purportedly makes the privileged children of wealthy people unable to discern right from wrong.

Dr. G. Dick Miller, the psychologist who diagnosed Couch with affluenza, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in December 2013 he regretted using the term and largely has kept a low profile since then.

Though publicly listed phone numbers for Miller’s Texas practice have been disconnected, he was reached by U.S. News earlier this month through a professional association.



Miller recognized the nature of the inquiry when told he was speaking with a reporter.

“It’s about the affluenza case. He-EY. I’m the affluenza doctor,” he said. Miller said he had "a lot” to say about developments in the case, but was unable to talk at the moment.

“May I call you back, a couple hours?” he asked.