As federal, state and local authorities continue to investigate the disappearance of Alabama police officer Vicki White and murder suspect Casey Cole White, the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office says the evidence shows she helped the prisoner escape.
“The question is whether she did it voluntarily or was forced to do so by Prisoner White, threatening her and / or her family or otherwise,” Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to the press on Saturday afternoon.
Vicki White, assistant director of the Lauderdale County Correctional Facility, and Casey Cole White, a man who has been jailed on death charges, have been unaccounted for since they left jail on Friday morning at 9:41 a.m. connected.
Sheriff Rick Singleton said the main focus right now is finding the two. Before leaving jail on Friday, Vicki White told prison officials to prepare Casey White for transport to Lauderdale County Court for mental health assessment, the sheriff said, although no such appearance was planned.
Vicki White also told colleagues she would seek medical help after leaving Casey White out of court because she was not feeling well, but Singleton said there was no such medical examination.
“Our secondary focus is on investigating the escape itself,” Singleton said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “There are indications, as no court appearance has been scheduled that AD (Assistant Director) White helped escape.
The sheriff released a schedule on Saturday detailing the chain of events and what happened in the investigation into the disappearances of Vicki White and Casey White.
The two never arrived at the courthouse in central Florence, about half a mile from the county jail.
At 11:34 a.m., about two hours after they left prison, a Florentine police officer saw White’s patrol vehicle. It was parked among vehicles on sale. The officer, like other law enforcement officials, was unaware at the time that Officer White and Casey White had disappeared.
At 3:30 p.m., a prison official told the administration that she had tried to contact Deputy White, but could not contact her. The officer also said that Casey White had not returned to prison.
After law enforcement officials said the couple had disappeared, according to the sheriff’s office, a public official said he saw the patrol vehicle parked in a mall. Deputies searched the vehicle but found no evidence.
By 5:30 p.m., about 20 local investigators were working on the case, reviewing surveillance videos from the courthouse, prison, shopping mall and elsewhere.
As of Saturday morning, lawmakers are still searching for any traces of a vehicle that may have been used after White’s patrol vehicle was abandoned.
The FBI, U.S. marshals and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency are assisting in the search. The state issued a blue signal.
“Casey White is considered a serious threat to the correctional officer and the public,” the report said.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference Friday night, Sheriff Singleton said he believed Deputy White was in danger, citing a history of Casey White’s violence. “He was in jail for death,” the sheriff said.
He said Vicki White was an “exemplary employee” before violating the sheriff’s office policy by traveling alone with a prisoner. Two sworn MPs must accompany the detainees.
In 2020, Casey White was charged with two counts of lethal murder for the October 23, 2015 murder of Connie Jane Ridgeway. Rodgersville police found Ridgeway’s body in the living room of her apartment after a neighbor asked for a welfare check. The 59-year-old woman lived at Meadowland Apartments on Prince Drive in Rodgersville, across the street from the Lauderdale County High School football field.
In December 2015, White was charged with a crime in two states that left a dog dead and a woman injured. Police said he committed multiple shootings, a home raid and two car thefts in North Alabama and South Tennessee. In 2019, he was found guilty of a total of nine charges, including attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping of her two roommates.
Anyone who sees Casey White is advised to contact 911 immediately. Authorities say it is not safe to approach the 38-year-old man. He was described by authorities as 6 feet 6 inches tall and 252 pounds. He has hair with salt and pepper, hazel eyes and tattoos on both hands, according to state police.
Vicki White, who has worked in Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office for more than 16 years, has been described by authorities as 5 feet 5 inches and 160 pounds tall. She has brown eyes and blond or strawberry hair, according to state police. She is 56.
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