Vicky White, a former assistant director of improvements for Lauderdale County in Alabama, was once considered an ideal employee and a person her colleagues could rely on.
So when she disappears with Casey White—a prisoner who was being charged with murder—in a speedy escape that authorities believe may have been premeditated, blinded by those who knew her. was feeling
Vicky White, a 56-year-old widow without children, was last seen on April 29 when she said she was taking Casey White – who is not related to her – for a mental health evaluation at the county courthouse. No evaluation or trial was scheduled for the prisoner that day, officials later found.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton could not provide a reason why the officer assisted in the escape, saying the action was “not the Vicki White we know.”
“Obviously there was a side to Vicky White that we weren’t aware of,” he told Nation World News. “He’s coordinated it and leveraged his knowledge of the system and played it to his advantage and, you know, it made it very difficult.”
A warrant was issued on Monday for Vicky White on charges of allowing or facilitating an escape in the first degree. The US Marshals Service on Thursday released photos of Vicky White showing what she looks like with her blond hair, and what she might look like with gray hair if she changes her look.
The US Marshals Service said that both Vicky White and Casey White should be considered armed and dangerous.
As the search for Vicky White and Casey White enters the seventh day, questions about the former corrections officer continue to arise. Here’s what we know about him:
He was not kidnapped or forced to help the prisoner escape
Singleton told Nation World News that it appears Vicky White is intentionally assisting Casey White.
According to the US Marshals Service, Casey White was serving a 75-year sentence in 2015 for a range of crimes including home invasion, carjacking and police stalking. The US Marshal said he was also facing two counts of murder for the 2015 stabbing of 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway.
“She’s totally assisting him. We still don’t know 100% whether it was intentional, but it’s looking that way,” Singleton said.
Vicki White said she was taking Casey White to a courthouse for a mental health evaluation and then would go to medical care because she was not feeling well. Officials later found that no hearing or evaluation was scheduled for Casey White that day, and that Vicky White never arrived at the medical facility. His patrol car was found Friday morning in the parking lot of a shopping center, less than a mile from the detention center.
Officers have received video showing the patrol car that took the couple from jail.
The video showed the car stopped at a crossroads eight minutes after leaving the prison. Singleton said the crossroads shopping center is about two blocks from the parking lot where the car was later abandoned.
“It’s clear from the evidence we’ve gathered that it wasn’t — that he didn’t kidnap her or force her or anything into the car,” Singleton said.
Despite being “promising” and reported sightings from Florida to Kentucky, officials currently “have no clue where they are,” he said.
People who knew Vicky White admired him
Vicky White was an “exemplary employee” with “an impeccable record”, Singleton said. “All his coworkers, all the sheriff’s office staff, the judges, all have the most respect for him,” he said.
The sheriff said that despite his illustrious professional reputation, Vicky White violated protocol on Friday when he removed Casey White from the detention center. The policy required Casey White to be escorted by two sworn incumbents.
The sheriff said that now it appears that Vicky White acted of his own free will.
“I think we’re just trying to grab that last straw of hope that maybe for some reason he was threatened and he did it so forcefully…” All his coworkers are devastated, said Singleton. We have never had such a situation with Vicky White. She was a model employee.”
Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly spoke for the last time the day before Vicky White went missing and said he was “absolutely shocked” to learn of the situation. Connolly described the officer as “the most solid person in prison”.
“I would trust him with my life,” he said. “I’m very disappointed in him. He was trusted and he took advantage of that trust.”
Vicky White’s mother Pat Davis, who lived next to her and saw her daughter daily, told Nation World News that they last spoke on Friday.
Davis said, “The whole thing has been a nightmare. I just want my daughter to come home. And come home alive.”
Davis said he had no idea about his daughter’s plans. “She would come home after work, eat dinner at my house and take her dog. She would walk her dog and that was her routine,” Davis told Nation World News.
Vicky White had a ‘special relationship’ with Inmate
Vicky White and Casey White had a “special relationship,” Singleton said.
“We have confirmed through independent sources and other means that there was indeed a relationship between Casey White and Vicky White outside of her normal work hours – not physical contact – but a relationship of a different nature,” Singleton told Nation World News.
Singleton said the prisoners told officers about the special relationship between the two.
“We were told that Casey White had special privileges and was treated differently in the facility than other inmates,” Singleton said.
During this week’s investigation, inmates said Casey White was “getting extra food on his tray” and “privileges no one else was getting. And it was all coming from him,” Singleton said.
According to Singleton, the relationship was confirmed by “other sources outside the detention center”.
Investigators trace the links back to early 2020, when Casey White was brought to Lauderdale County to stand trial on murder charges that he was facing for Ridgeway’s death in 2015, according to the sheriff.
“As far as we know, that was the very first physical contact,” Singleton said.
Casey White was returned to state prison to continue serving a 75-year sentence for a series of crimes committed in 2015. The sheriff said the officer and the prisoner maintained communication by telephone.
Casey White was brought back to the Lauderdale County Jail in February to attend court hearings related to his murder charges.
Connolly expressed disbelief at the idea that Vicky White would be romantically involved with the prisoner.
“I never would have thought that in a million years,” he told Nation World News, “it’s such a shock that he’s involved, and it’s just amazing.”
she is no longer an employee of the sheriff’s office
Singleton said the day Vicky White disappeared was the last day on the job after nearly two decades with the department. She submitted her retirement paperwork last week.
Vicky White didn’t mention her retirement to her mother, Davis told Nation World News affiliate WAAY.
The department said in an emailed statement that he no longer serves the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
“Per Sheriff Rick Singleton, Vicky White’s employment status is currently ‘not employed by the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office,'” the email said. “Friday was his last working day, however, his retirement papers were not finalised. It is a personnel issue which will be discussed at a later date.”
Singleton said Vicky White had spoken of retiring three or four months before she went missing, adding that he talked about going to the beach.
According to Singleton, while the retirement fund paperwork wasn’t processed, she recently sold her home and moved up to a large sum of money.
Shortly before she disappeared, Vicky White sold her home for $95,550, which is well below the current market price. County records list the property’s total parcel value at $235,600.
He also purchased a 2007 orange or copper-colored Ford Edge, which the US Marshals Service said would be traveling missing inmates and officers.
“Obviously a lot of planning went into this,” Connolly told Nation World News.
