Multiple law enforcement agencies are continuing the search for a murder suspect who escaped from an Alabama jail by apparently faking a trip to court with a corrections officer, according to authorities.
Vicki White, deputy director of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, was last seen escorting inmate Casey White to the local courthouse Friday morning for a “purported mental health evaluation,” Sheriff Rick Singleton told reporters. Saturday. The two are not related, the sheriff said.
Casey White, 38, was arrested in 2020 and charged with two counts of capital murder that authorities say was murder-for-hire in a case that went cold for nearly five years. AL.com reported at the time.
“The indications are” that Vicki White, who has worked for the sheriff’s office for 25 years, assisted in the escape, but it is not clear if she did so voluntarily or if Casey White forced her to do so “by threatening her and/or her family or other means,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Investigators are looking for any footage that may shed light on what happened and are also reviewing Casey White’s phone calls and previous interactions between him and Vicki White to determine if the leak was premeditated, Singleton said.
Here is a timeline of events, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
Friday, April 29
8:47 a.m.: Transport van No. 5 leaves the detention center with seven inmates, escorted by two deputies.
8:56 a.m.: Transport van No. 2 leaves the detention center with five inmates, escorted by two deputies.
9:20 a.m. Vicki White directs a corrections officer to prepare Casey White for transport to court. The officer then takes Casey White out of his jail cell and onto the reservation, where the officer handcuffs him and puts his legs in shackles.
9:41 a.m.: Vicki White leaves the detention center with Casey White on patrol for a “mental health evaluation” of the inmate. Before leaving, Vicki White tells the registration officer that she is the only officer available who has a firearms certification and that she will leave him with other officers at the courthouse and then go to Med Plus, an urgent care center, because she does not feel well.
11:34 a.m.: A police officer from the Florence Police Department, unaware of the situation at the time, sees the squad car in a parking lot near the cars that are for sale.
3:30 pm: A booking officer informs the detention center administration that he has been trying to contact Vicki White to see how she is doing, but her phone goes straight to voicemail. The record officer also reports that inmate Casey White has not returned to the detention center with the other inmates.
The administrator contacts the sheriff’s office, and officers begin a search of the courthouse to determine if Casey White is still in the building. Over the next few minutes, they determine that Casey White was not in court and that there was no court appearance or evaluation scheduled. Security footage shows that Vicki White never made it to court.
After a national bulletin with details of Casey White and Vicki White is published, a witness reports that he saw the patrol vehicle during his lunch break at a shopping mall. Deputies recover the patrol car but find no information about its whereabouts.
5:30 pm: About 20 agents from the US Marshals, FBI, ATF, Secret Service and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency join the investigation.
Saturday, April 30
morning: The son of Connie Ridgeway, the woman Casey White is accused of killing, tells ABC’s Huntsville, Alabama affiliate station VERY GOOD that he doesn’t believe his mother’s accused killer is on the loose.
“I’m in shock,” Austin Williams told the station after Casey White was on the run for at least 24 hours. “I mean, how could someone with that rap sheet get off so easily?”
Singleton announces during a press conference that it was a “strict violation of policy” for Vicki White to be alone with an inmate, adding that Casey White should have been escorted by two officers, given her charges.
In her role as deputy director of corrections, Vicki White is in charge of coordinating transportation between the detention center and the courthouse, Singleton said. The breach of protocol was not pointed out by her employees.
To become night: Singleton tells ABC News it appears the escape was “orchestrated.”
Casey White previously planned to escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but officials foiled the plot before she could try, Singleton said. When prison officials learned of the plot, they found a homemade knife in White’s possession and learned that he planned to take a hostage.
Casey White was later transferred to a state prison, where he remained until earlier this year, and would return to the Lauderdale County facility for court appearances related to the murder, Singleton said.
Vicki White is “an exemplary employee” well-liked by all of her colleagues, Singleton said. She interacts with inmates several times a day as part of her job, Singleton said, adding that she is not aware of any relationship between Vicki White and Casey White.
“We are very concerned about his safety,” he said.
Sunday, May 1
morning: The US Marshals Service announces a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the capture of Casey White.
“Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public,” US Marshal Marty Keely said in a statement.
Afternoon: Singleton tells ABC News that Vicki White had been talking about retiring for three or four months before the leak. She turned in her paperwork on Thursday and Friday, when the leak happened, was scheduled to be her last day of work.
Jack Date, Meredith Deliso, Elwyn Lopez, Will McDuffie and Ben Stein of ABC News contributed to this report.
Reference-abcnews.go.com