PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- For all the talk about "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch and his family's wealth, the Tarrant County fugitive and his mother Tonya Couch were found to be staying in a shabby apartment four blocks from the beach in this Pacific coast resort city.
They were traced to the location after using a phone to order a pizza.
Couch was 16 years old in 2013 when he crashed his pickup truck into a group of pedestrians near Burleson, killing four of them. He was sentenced to 10 years' probation, but failed to appear for a mandatory meeting with his probation officer three weeks ago.
His disappearance triggered an international manhunt.
We understand that Ethan, now 18, was handcuffed by Mexican officials inside the four-story white building at the corner of Argentina and Colombia streets at around 6 p.m. on Monday.
According to a police report issued by the Jalisco state prosecutors' office, the Couches used one of their phones to order pizza in their room, ABC News reported. A U.S. Marshals Service agent tipped authorities in Mexico about the location of the phone on Monday.
A photograph of Couch being taken into custody was snapped by a neighbor.
People in the neighborhood definitely noticed the arrival of Ethan Couch and his mother. They said it was unusual for someone in this part of the city not to speak Spanish; it's not clear whether Tonya Couch was fluent in the language.
Ethan Couch, his hair darkened, was also said to have regularly visited a corner store across the street from the apartment. He would eat in the back of the store by himself.
This is a busy part of Puerto Vallarta, a city about the size of Grand Prairie, and not a place you would expect to find a fugitive from justice who's trying to lie low.
ABC News reports that the mother and son had initially checked in to the Los Tules resort hotel on the beach near downtown Puerto Vallarta. A few days ago, the pair moved to the shabby apartments less than two miles to the west.
On Tuesday, the Couches were moved 120 miles inland to Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, for further processing.
Multiple sources told WFAA's sister station KHOU that the pair are expected to arrive in Houston on Wednesday evening. They will be met there by Tarrant County authorities who will then return them to North Texas.
