Rewards in Hunt for Corrections Officer Who Disappeared with Inmate
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Rewards have been offered for a female corrections officer and an escaped murder suspect in Alabama after she was transporting him to court. Both have been missing for days.
On Friday, April 29, 2022, Vicky White, 56, a 17-year veteran and assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County detention Center in Florence, Alabama, was transporting murder suspect Casey Cole White, 38, (no relation), to the nearby courthouse.
Vicky had allegedly told colleagues she was taking Casey to the courthouse for a “mental health evaluation.” She transported Casey in a marked patrol vehicle. The pair never arrived.
Casey is charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 in the stabbing of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway, NBC reported. After the murder charge, Casey was already in jail on a 75-year sentence over a 2015 home invasion, carjacking, and a police chase. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, he had confessed to stabbing Ridgeway, pleading not guilty because of insanity.
At the time of last Friday’s disappearance, Casey was awaiting trial at the Lauderdale County jail.
Around 3:30 PM on Friday, officers realized the pair were missing when Vicky’s phone went straight to voicemail after repeated attempts to contact her.
Later, the marked 2013 Ford Taurus patrol car Vicky used to transport Casey was found at a shopping center. Surveillance video revealed the pair went straight to the shopping center and never stopped at the courthouse. Investigators confirmed that Casey was never returned to the detention center.
Sheriff’s investigators are now looking into whether the pair had any kind of relationship prior to this, reviewing jail video to see whether Vicky spent an inordinate amount of time near Casey’s cell.
Investigators are confused as several pieces of the puzzle don’t fit. Authorities are baffled as to why a dedicated officer like Vicky would suddenly assist a jailed murder suspect in escaping custody.
“We know she participated – now whether she did that willing or if she was coerced, threatened somehow to have participated in this escape, not really sure,” Lauderdale Sheriff Rick Singleton told reporters during a press briefing on Monday. “But we know for sure she did participate.”
Vicky violated policy by transporting Casey alone, as it requires two sworn deputies to transport a prisoner under his charges.
A month ago, Vicky sold her home and had talked about relocating to the beach for months, according to Sheriff Singleton, Fox reported.
“This is not the Vicky White we know by any stretch of the imagination,” Sheriff Singleton continued. “Everybody thought she was gonna retire. Nobody saw this coming.”
“To do it willingly would be so out of character for the Vicky White we all know,” the sheriff added.
Separate rewards have been offered for Vicky White and Casey Cole White. Authorities are advising anyone to approach the pair with caution, ABC reported.
Casey Cole White is described as 38 years old, very large at six-foot-nine inches tall, approximately 260 pounds, brown hair, and hazel eyes. He faces the death penalty if convicted of murder and is considered possibly armed and extremely dangerous with nothing to lose. The U.S. marshals are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
A $5,000 reward is offered for information leading to Vicky White. She had a 9mm firearm, and it is not known whether any other weapons were in the patrol vehicle.