LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. —
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has increased the rewards for information leading to the apprehension and arrest of former Lauderdale County Corrections assistant director Vicky White and escaped inmate Casey White (no relation).
Ivey authorized an additional $5,000 each, adding to the previous reward of $10,00 offered by the U.S. Marshals Service.
UPDATE: May 6, 2022:
Search continues for former Lauderdale County Corrections officer Vicky White and inmate Casey White.
The Williamson County, TN Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the care believed to be driven by Vicky White and Casey White was found in Williamson County. The car was reported as an abandoned vehicle the same day White escaped. It was towed by the Sheriff's Office, but at that time they did not know the significance of the vehicle.
Authorities said Vicky White sold her home a month ago, and she was supposed to retire on April 29, the day she and Casey White disappeared.
An update from the U.S. Marshals Service says:
"Casey Cole White, 38, was charged with capital murder in September 2020 in the brutal stabbing of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway. He was already serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 crime spree that involved home invasion, carjacking, and a police chase. White confessed to the murder and was awaiting trial at the Lauderdale County Jail when he disappeared.
"Investigators have learned that during pre-sentence reporting in 2015 he made threats against his ex-girlfriend and her sister, warning that if he ever got out, he would kill them and that he wanted police to kill him. USMS and local law enforcement authorities have been in contact with his potential targets to advise them of the threats and the escape and have taken appropriate protective actions. Investigators with Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office have also recently learned through inmate interviews that the jail official and the inmate had developed a “special” relationship."
This relationship allegedly included extra food and other items that other inmates did not get.
Casey White stands 6 feet 9 inches and weighs approximately 330 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. He has numerous tattoos, including some affiliated with the Alabama-based white supremacist prison gang Southern Brotherhood.
Anyone with information on the Whites’ location is urged to call 9-1-1 or the USMS Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the U.S. Marshals Tip App.
The USMS has put together two example images to identify the height differentiation between Casey White and Vicky White in relation to each other as well as the vehicle they are believed to be driving.
Vicky White is 5 feet 5 inches and weighs approximately 145 pounds. She has blond hair (but may have tinted it a darker shade) and brown eyes and reportedly has a "waddling gait".
Investigators say Vicki White purchased a 2007 orange or copper-colored Ford Edge. It is believed that they could be traveling in this vehicle. It is unknown what license plate is on the vehicle, or if it even has a license plate. There is minor damage to the rear left bumper. Some Facebook users have leveled accusations of wrongdoing against the owners of that dealership. The U.S. Marshals would like to assure everyone that the owners have been very helpful in this investigation and that no one at the dealership is suspected of helping the pair avoid law enforcement.
White and White should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns, and a shotgun. These are actual photos of the vehicle they are believed to be in.
UPDATE: May 5, 2022:
An Alabama sheriff said Wednesday that a jail official communicated by phone with a murder suspect before helping him escape last week and that her actions suggest their plan had been in the works for some time.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said the communication indicates the two had some type of a relationship for possibly up to two years before the escape. The phone calls occurred after the inmate was transferred out of the county jail in 2020 because of a suspected escape attempt then and before his return to the jail in February for court proceedings in the ongoing murder case against him.
The sheriff says that his previous statement about Vicky White visiting Casey White at Donaldson prison were incorrect, and that the contact was by phone.
According to investigators, Casey White received additional food and other things that other inmates did not get.
A nationwide manhunt is ongoing for Casey White, who was awaiting trial on a capital murder case, and Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, after the pair disappeared Friday. Singleton said the ongoing contact stretched back two years and that Vicky White's actions, such as selling her house recently and purchasing an apparent getaway car, indicated there was advance planning.
UPDATE: May 2, 2022 10:30 a.m.
In a news conference this morning, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said that a warrant has been issued for Lauderdale County Corrections Assistant Director Vicky White for the charge of Permitting or Aiding Escape in the First Degree. A warrant for Casey Cole White was issued for Escape Second Degree.
The case is now considered a major case by the U.S. Marshals Service and officials believe she was involved in inmate White's escape. Being designated a "major case" allows for additional resources on the case.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Sunday that it is offering up to $10,000 for information about an escaped inmate and a “missing and endangered” correctional officer who disappeared Friday after the two left a jail in north Alabama. Submit tips at 1-800-336-0102 or click here. Investigators emphasized that Casey Cole White is 6'9" tall, which would make him stand out.
They may be traveling in a 2007 orange or copper-colored Ford Edge. It is unknown what license plate is on the vehicle, or it may have no license plate. The subjects should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns, and a shotgun. These are actual photos of the vehicle they are believed to be in. There is minor damage to the rear left bumper.
Casey White stands 6 feet 9 inches and weighs approximately 330 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He should be considered armed and dangerous.
Vicky White is 5 feet 5 inches and weighs approximately 145 pounds. She has blond hair and brown eyes and reportedly has a waddling gait.
Anyone with information on the Whites’ location is urged to contact 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.
During a news conference, Sheriff Singleton explained how the policies in place for inmate transport. Department policy states that inmates much be escorted by two deputies. Earlier in the day, two vans of inmates left for the courthouse, one with five inmates, one with seven each, with two officers. After they left, Director White asked for inmate Casey White to be brought for transport. She said she was the only firearms-certified deputy available.
Casey White was brought out and handcuffed and shackled and the two left at 9:41 a.m. Director White said she was taking him to the courthouse for a mental evaluation and would give him to other deputies. Video surveillance showed her car at a nearby intersection at 9:49 a.m. The video was not clear enough to show any individuals. Sheriff Singleton said that she would not have had time to go to the courthouse, drop him off, and get to that location.
On Friday, the sheriff said that no appointment had been scheduled and they never showed up at the courthouse.
Officials now believe that Director Vicky White was involved in the planning and executing the escape. They don't know yet if there was a previous relationship between the two or if any threats or coercion were involved. Sheriff Singleton said they are reviewing video and phone records to see if there was any unusual interaction between them. He did state that in her position, she does walk the halls of the detention center and has the opportunity to interact with any given inmate.
Inmate Casey White was transferred to the Lauderdale County Detention Center from the Alabama Department of Corrections for pending court hearings. He was charged with capital murder in the death of Connie Ridgeway in 2015. While inmate White was at LCDC in 2020, Officials heard rumors of an escape plan and found a shank in White's cell. He was transferred back to ADOC. The transport policy of two deputies per inmate was emphasized after this incident, and the sheriff says Director White was aware of it.
Inmate White is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous, and Sheriff Singleton cautioned all law enforcement officers to not take any chances with him.
According to the sheriff, Director White had been talking about retiring and sold her home earlier this year. Friday, April 29 was to be her last day of work. 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.
May 2, 2022
The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office released new pictures of inmate Casey Cole White. According to the Sheriff's Office, this is the most current photo of inmate Casey Cole White. The search for White and Lauderdale County Corrections Assistant Director Vicky White (no relation) continues.
May 1, 2022: Reward offered
The U.S. Marshals Service said Sunday that it is offering up to $10,000 for information about an escaped inmate and a “missing and endangered” correctional officer who disappeared Friday after the two left a jail in north Alabama. Submit tips at 1-800-336-0102 or click here.
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Lauderdale County corrections officer Vicky White is missing in the line of duty. White is the Assistant Director of Corrections.
AD White left the detention center to escort inmate Casey White (no relation) at approximately 9:40 a.m. to the courthouse. Casey White is 38 years old, 6'6", 252 pounds. He was in custody on charges of capital murder in the death of Connie Ridgeway.
At about 11:30, AD White's patrol vehicle was located in a parking lot in Florence. In ALEA's Blue Alert, they state that, "Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public."
According to a timeline released by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, at 9:20 a.m., White left the detention center to escort inmate Casey White to the Courthouse for a mental health evaluation. She reportedly told the booking officer that she was the only deputy available who was firearms certified and she was dropping him off to other deputies at the courthouse.
They never arrived.
If you have any information or have seen AD White or Casey White, please call 911.
U.S. Marshals, FBI, ATF, Secret Service, and ALEA are al working on the investigation. According to the timeline, AD White's car was searched but, "no evidence was located to assist [us] in the investigation."
Timeline released Saturday, April 30.
In a news conference on Friday, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said:
She was escorting inmate Casey White to an alleged mental health evaluation this morning at Courthouse. We have confirmed that there was no mental health evaluation scheduled. They left jail at 9:41 this morning. Shortly after 11:00 today, someone spotted her patrol vehicle parked in a parking lot at a local shopping center, so we know it was there as early as 11:00 or shortly after.
When she left the detention center, she informed the booking officer that she was going to drop the inmate off here at the courthouse with other deputies and that she was going to seek some medical attention because she wasn't feeling well. We confirmed that she never made that appointment. Wasn't exactly an appointment - she was going to one of the local Express Med kind of places and she never showed up there.
At 3:30 that booking officer reported to the other assistant director Missy Smith that they had been trying to contact Director White and couldn't get her, couldn't get in touch with her, couldn't get her to answer her phone. In fact, her phone was going to straight voicemail. So they became concerned and at that time knowing that she left that morning with inmate White they confirmed that he was not back at the detention center either. That was about 3:30 this afternoon. We immediately began our investigation, our search to see what we had going on. That's where we're at now. We are still aggressively investigating trying to find out what happened and trying to locate Deputy White and inmate White.
In reponse to reporter questions about policies for transporting inmates, Sheriff Singleton said, "She was along, which was a strict violation of policy. Our policy is any inmate under those charges are to have two sworn deputies escort them and that did not happen. Now, Director White was over the operations of the detention center. She coordinates all the transport from the detention center to the court, and so forth. So I'm sure her subordinates didn't question her when she told them she was bringing him to court for a mental evaluation. that she left that she was that he was being transferred. No matter No. We've confirmed there were no mental evaluations. No other court appearance."