According to the local sheriff in charge of the investigation, authorities believe that an Alabama police officer “willingly” participated in the escape of a suspect in the murder.
“The pieces of the puzzle just came together,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told ABC News in an interview with Good Morning America on Wednesday.
“I think all our employees, myself included, really hoped that she did not participate in this voluntarily. But all indications are that she absolutely did it, “he added. “We are very disappointed because we had the greatest confidence in her as an employee and as an assistant director of corrections.”
Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office Vicki White and Prisoner Casey Cole White.
Wednesday marked the sixth day of intense searches for Lauderdale County Assistant Correctional Officer Vicki White, 56, and inmate Casey White, 38. The couple – who authorities said were unrelated – disappeared from Florence, Alabama, on Friday. That morning at the Lauderdale County Detention Center, Vicki White said she told her colleagues that she was taking Casey White to the local “mental health assessment” courtroom, even though he had no scheduled appearance in court. According to the sheriff, she violated the policy by escorting the prisoner herself.
The surveillance video shows Vicki White driving her patrol car in Florence, Alabama, on the day of the escape: April 29, 2022.
“This particular person and someone like him, no, that should never have happened, even if we had to postpone bringing him to court,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday.
Casey White has been charged with two counts of murder in September 2020 for stabbing 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway. He could face the death penalty if convicted, according to the sheriff.
“He was already serving a 75-year sentence for a crime in 2015, which included breaking into a home, car theft and police harassment,” according to the US Marshals Service.
“Investigators have learned that during the pre-sentencing report in 2015, he threatened his ex-girlfriend and her sister, warning that if he ever came out, he would kill them and that he wanted the police to kill him,” US marshals said. . , adding that authorities had discussed Casey White’s “potential targets” and “taken appropriate protective action”.
Casey White had previously planned an escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but authorities thwarted the plot before he could try it, the sheriff said. When authorities learned of the scheme, they found a household knife in his possession and learned that he was planning to take a hostage, according to the sheriff. Casey White was later transferred to state prison, where she remained until February 2022, when she returned to Lauderdale County’s facility to appear in court on a murder charge, the sheriff said.
Investigators have since learned that Casey White and Vicki White had a “special relationship” and communicated after he was transferred from the county jail to state custody, according to the sheriff. The nature of this communication was not immediately clear.
“We know they kept in touch while he was in the correction department until and including, until he was returned here on February 25 this year,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday.
The pair “must be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, pistols and shotgun” and may drive a 2007 orange or copper Ford Edge with minor damage to the left rear bumper, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. . Casey White is 6 feet 9 inches tall.
Casey White and Vicki White could drive an orange or copper 2007 Ford Edge with minor damage to the left rear bumper, according to the U.S. Marshall Service.
The U.S. Marshall Service is offering a $ 10,000 reward for information leading to Casey White’s capture and a $ 5,000 reward for information leading to Vicki White. A warrant has been issued for Vicki White, accusing her of allowing or facilitating her escape.
Investigators have “had no idea where they may be since Wednesday morning,” the sheriff told ABC News.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton appeared in Good Morning America, May 4, 2022.
“We have made good progress in this. We may be hindered now that some of this information has come out, “he added. “But, you know, we’re still working around the clock to find them and try to get them back in custody.”
Singleton described Vicki White, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, as an “exemplary employee.” He said she had been talking about retirement for the past few months and handed in her documents last Thursday. The day she and Casey White disappeared was supposed to be her last day on the job, according to the sheriff.
“My message would be: Vicki, you’ve been in this business for 17 years, you’ve seen this scenario happen more than once, and you know how it always ends,” Singleton told ABC News on Wednesday. “Now go ahead and finish now, get to the phone and call 911, surrender and help us get Casey White back behind bars, because you know this is where he will end up.
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