Who is Casey White? Marshals offer $10,000 reward for info on missing Alabama jail inmate and officer
FLORENCE, ALABAMA: Casey Cole White has been missing since Friday morning, April 29, when he left the Lauderdale County Detention Center in a transport vehicle with Vicky White, the jail’s assistant director of corrections. The US Marshals Service on Sunday, May 1 offered a $10,000 reward for information on the inmate and the corrections officer as she transported him to court for an appointment that was never on the books. The two never arrived at the courthouse, which is located in downtown Florence, about half mile from the county jail. A manhunt was launched for the two, who are not related though they share the same last name.
Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky, 56, picked up inmate Casey, 38, from the Lauderdale County Jail at 9:41 am on Friday, April 29. She told a booking officer she was taking him to the county courthouse for a mental health evaluation, but no such evaluation was scheduled that day. She also said she was going to a medical appointment for herself, which also never happened. An hour and a half later, they were both missing and her patrol car was found abandoned at a nearby shopping center.
RELATED ARTICLES
Who kidnapped Martha Mitchell? Watergate whistleblower was held hostage in California hotel in 1972
Lily Peters murder: Who is Adam Berger? Suspect's PEDOPHILE dad described him as 'the best of me'
Sheriff Singleton told WRBC on Friday, April 29, that while evidence points to Vicky helping Casey escape, her motivations are unclear. "We are trying to determine was that done willfully, or was she somehow coerced or threatened into participating?" Singleton said, pointing to the various excuses she used to justify breaking protocol by taking Casey out of jail without other officers present. The sheriff said it would be nearly impossible for Casey to get out of his handcuffs and free himself without any help, but he added that helping Casey would be out of character for Vicky. "I don’t think there's any question she assisted, but to do it willingly would be so out of character for the Vicki White we all know," he said. This claim was echoed by Vicky's family who called her a 'sweet person' who wouldn't have helped a 'killer' escape.
The sheriff believed Vicky is in danger, despite the circumstances. "He was in jail for capital murder and he had nothing to lose. Whether she assisted him or not, we don't know and we won't address that until we have absolute proof that's what happened," he added, noting: "We are assuming at this point that she was taken against her will, unless we can prove otherwise."
Who is Casey Cole White?
Casey, was charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 for the stabbing death of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway, police said. He was already in jail at the time for a 2015 crime spree conviction involving a home invasion and car jacking. Casey is awaiting trial on capital murder charges but is also serving a 75-year sentence for a violent crime spree, including holding six people at gunpoint and shooting one of them and a dog.
While Vicky is a 25-year veteran of the department and is in charge of coordinating all the transport from the detention to the court. The sheriff says she’s been with the department almost 17 years and mentioned that four of the last seven years she was voted by peers as Supervisor or Employee of the Year. Sheriff Singleton says White should be considered armed and dangerous since director White had a handgun when they left the facility. Vicky had recently spoken about quitting, with Law and Crime reporting that she had turned in her retirement papers on April 28.
The escaped inmate “is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public,” Marty Keely, US Marshal for the Northern District of Alabama, said in a statement.“Do not attempt to apprehend this fugitive,” said Keely. Information can be provided at the USMS Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the US Marshals Tip App.