A manhunt has been ordered for a female Alabama jail officer, along with an inmate she helped escape.
Vicky White, 56, an Assistant Director of Corrections for the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, went missing on Friday, after reportedly escorting Casey Cole White, 38 (no relation), out of the detention center.
Vicky supposedly picked him up to take him to the county courthouse for a mental health evaluation, which was not on the schedule. Her patrol car was found at the parking lot of a nearby shopping center, an hour-and-a-half later.
The pair is believed to be armed, with Vicky carrying her 9 mm handgun at the time they left the county jail.
The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office released recent photos of Casey, and warned the public not to make contact if he is spotted, and to call 911 instead. He is serving 75 years in prison for being found guilty of nine charges, including an attempt to kill his girlfriend and kidnapping her roommates, holding them at gunpoint. The charges also include multiple shootings that killed a dog and injured a woman.
He is also on trial for capital murder, which he admitted to in June 2020, and is facing the death penalty.
Authorities are treating the investigation as if Vicky was taken against her will, but at the same time probing a possible romantic link between the two. “I don’t think there’s any question she assisted, but to do it willingly would be so out of character for the Vicky White we all know,” Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
Vicky’s mother, Pat Davis, came out to say her daughter had been awarded ‘employee of the year’ four times, and has never mentioned Casey. Vicky also has been living with her mother prior to vanishing, after having sold her house five weeks ago. Sheriff Singleton believes she may have a lot of cash, due to the sale.
An employee of the Sheriff’s Department for 17 years, Vicky filed retirement papers on Thursday, a day before she went missing.
She is now facing a charge of ‘permitting or facilitating an escape in the first degree.’ A Class C felony, it carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
As of Monday morning, Sheriff Singleton said they have no updates yet, but are following some strong leads.