FLORENCE, Ala — An intense manhunt is underway across Alabama as authorities work to track down an escaped inmate and corrections officer who were last seen leaving the Lauderdale County Detention Center on Friday morning.
Authorities said the escaped inmate, 38-year-old Casey White, had been in state prison for other crimes in 2020 but also confessed to the 2015 stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway, according to WHNT-TV. He was already serving time for a 2015 crime spree that involved home invasion, carjacking, and a police chase, the U.S. Marshals Office said.
Inmate and assistant director of corrections Vicky White, 56, left the Lauderdale County Detention Center on Friday morning after she told coworkers the 38-year-old inmate needed to go to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. The two are not related, authorities said.
“Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public,” the U.S. marshal for northern Alabama, Marty Keely, said in a statement Sunday.
Since their departure, they have not been seen. It has been six days.
Vicky White told coworkers she'd be taking Casey White to the courthouse, an act she performed alone, which the Lauderdale County Sheriff said is a violation of department policy.
“Our policy is for any inmate with those kinds of charges to have two sworn deputies escort them. And that did not happen,” the Associated Press reports Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
Singleton also said there was no mental health evaluation for the inmate scheduled at the courthouse. And the two never showed up, authorities said. A warrant was issued Monday for Vicky White's arrest on charges of assisting in an escape.
April 29 was Vicky White's intended last day of work. She reportedly had plans to retire, and the U.S. Marshals Office said she sold her home months ago. Her retirement paperwork had been filed with the state but not completed, as she had to have a conference with the personnel director. Without completed paperwork, benefits could not be released.
Those who worked with her say this is not the Vicky White they knew. She had been with the department for 16 years.
“This is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination,” Singleton said Monday.
Family members and colleagues said they are bewildered by the alleged involvement of Vicky White, who had worked for the sheriff’s office for 16 years, with the inmate who was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other crimes.
“I just can’t picture Vicky running off with that man,” her former mother-in-law, Frances White, said in a telephone interview, AP reports. She remained fond of her daughter-in-law decades after she divorced her son in 1991. He died earlier this year.
She said her former daughter-in-law was kind and always wanted to help others, but added that she was sometimes private.
“Vicky was a person who kept all of her thoughts and troubles to herself,” she said.
Vicky White had no children, her former mother-in-law said, and had recently sold her house, a sprawling property of 4 acres she had originally bought to be close to her parents. The property, which included a trailer and barn, was “really too big” for one person, Frances White said.
However, as of Tuesday, the sheriff's office believes the two had a "special relationship" and have reason to believe Vicky White assisted in the inmate's escape.
“Investigators received information from inmates at the Lauderdale County Detention Center over the weekend that there was a special relationship between Director White and inmate Casey White. That relationship has now been confirmed through our investigation by independent sources and means,” the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to news outlets, the AP reports. The office did not elaborate on the nature of that relationship.
The car that the officer and inmate were in when they left the detention center was found at a nearby shopping center parking lot, according to the sheriff's office. Deputies have tried to contact Vicky White, but their calls have gone unanswered as her phone went to voicemail.
The U.S. Marshal Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the capture of Casey White. There is also a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads them to Vicky White, the corrections officer believed to have helped him escape.
Casey White stands 6-feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 260 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. Lauderdale County corrections officer Vicky White is missing in the line of duty, the U.S. Marshals Office says. A Blue alert for White’s disappearance was issued.
It's possible that they are traveling in a 2007 orange or copper-colored Ford Edge. The license plate is unknown, or it may not have a license plate. There is minor damage to her rear left bumper.
Anyone with information on Casey White’s location or Vicky White's disappearance is urged to contact law enforcement. You can call the USMS Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the U.S. Marshals Tip App.
Officials advise the public to "not attempt to apprehend this fugitive." Officials believe Casey White and Vicky White to be considered dangerous. One or both may be armed with an AR-15 rife, handgun or shotgun, according to law enforcement.