Casey White manhunt: Sheriff's office releases video of Vicky White before fleeing jail
Officials released a video showing fugitive corrections officer Vicky White at a hotel the morning that she fled from a county jail with a murder suspect. (Credit: Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office)
A days-long manhunt for a fugitive Alabama murder suspect and high-ranking corrections officer who allegedly helped him escape from jail came to an end on Monday, authorities announced.
Casey Cole White and Vicky White, who are not related but did have a "special relationship," were apprehended after they wrecked their vehicle during a police chase in Evansville, Indiana.
Vicky was hospitalized with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died Monday evening, according to Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding. Casey is expected to be extradited back to Alabama in the coming days.
Vicky White and Casey White were arrested after a days-long manhunt on Monday. (US Marshals)
Casey White was being held in Alabama on murder charges for the 2015 slaying of 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway, which he allegedly confessed to before pleading guilty due to insanity. He has a long rap sheet, with convictions for attempted murder, armed robbery, animal cruelty, and other violent crimes.
CASEY WHITE MANHUNT: ESCAPED ALABAMA MURDER SUSPECT IN CUSTODY, FUGITIVE JAIL GUARD HOSPITALIZED
Vicky White, who was the assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Detention Center, is facing charges of identity theft, second-degree forgery, and aiding an escape.
Inmate Casey Cole White and Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White (no relation) were last spotted when they left the detention for the court appearance at 9:30 am Friday according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff's office. (Lauderdale County Sheriff's office)
Friday, April 29
Vicky White, a former employee of the year at the county jail, was expected to retire at the end of her shift, according to colleagues.
But shortly after 9 a.m., Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Detention Center, tells colleagues that she is taking Casey Cole White, a convicted felon facing pending murder charges, to the county courthouse for a mental health evaluation. She also said she felt ill and would go to see a doctor afterward, buying more time.
Neither claim turned out to be real, according to investigators.
Newly released surveillance video appears to show Vicky White leaving the Lauderdale County Detention Center Friday morning with Casey White walking behind her in leg shackles and handcuffs.
Surveillance cameras inside capture Vicky White opening a steel door and, without looking back, holding it for Casey White, who slips out with his head down, dodging it as it swings closed. The two vanish through what looks like an exterior door with a car parked outside.
At 9:41 a.m., the pair walks out of the jailhouse, with her allegedly telling the booking officer that she’s the only deputy available with a firearm certification, according to a timeline provided by investigators.
Eight minutes later, according to the sheriff, Vicky White’s police vehicle shows up on surveillance video pulling into a shopping center’s parking lot.
Casey Cole White, the imposing murder suspect who escaped from an Alabama jail Friday morning with the alleged help of a prison official, warned cops in 2015 that he’d kill his ex-girlfriend if he got the chance, according to court documents. (Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, Alabama Department of Corrections)
"The patrol car left the detention center and went straight to the parking lot," Sheriff Singleton said Monday. "There was not enough time for them to even attempt to try to come to the courthouse."
Several hours went by before deputies attempted to reach Vicky White by phone and reported that the calls went directly to voice mail. They also discovered Casey White had never arrived at the courthouse or returned to his cell.
The jailer and murder suspect were last seen driving in the copper Ford Edge on this day.
ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR MISSING ALABAMA CORRECTIONS OFFICER IN MURDER SUSPECT'S ESCAPE
Sunday, May 1
The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office also released a series of images showing Casey White in an orange jumpsuit, socks and sandals walking down a jail hallway.
LAST PHOTOS OF CASEY WHITE:
The U.S. Marshals announce their involvement in the manhunt for Casey White and offer a $10,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.
The U.S. Marshals are offering $10,000 for information leading to the capture of an Alabama inmate who escaped from jail as well as the location of an endangered correctional officer. (U.S. Marshals Service)
"Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public," U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said in a statement.
In addition to outstanding murder charges, Casey White was already serving a 75-year sentence for a violent crime spree in 2015 that involved the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, multiple stolen cars and the execution of a pet dog.
"He stated that he wanted to kill her and have the police kill him," a police report from December of that year concludes. "His only regret was that neither was successful. He stated that if he was released he would kill the victim."
ALABAMA ESCAPED INMATE SEEN IN NEW PHOTOS, AS MANHUNT FOR MISSING CORRECTION OFFICER ENTERS DAY 4
Monday, May 2
Sheriff Singleton announces a new warrant for the arrest of Vicky White, whom he said might have been coerced or manipulating into taking part in the plot.
"To do it willingly would be so out of character for the Vicky White we all know," he said.
Casey Cole White, 38 and Vicky White, 56, were last seen Friday morning on surveillance video ditching a marked vehicle at a parking lot on Florence, Alabama, about 70 miles west of Huntsville, according to authorities. (Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office)
She sold her home about a month ago, according to the sheriff, and had talked about relocating to the beach for months.
Tuesday, May 3
The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office announced that investigators had confirmed a "special relationship" between Vicky White and Casey White after receiving tips from other inmates.
"That relationship has now been confirmed through our investigation by independent sources and means," authorities said.
They also revealed details about the couple’s last known whereabouts, in Rogersville, Alabama, driving the Ford Edge and possibly armed with a semiautomatic rifle and shotgun.
Wednesday, May 4
Sheriff Singleton announces that Vicky White is officially "no longer employed by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office."
Her pending retirement is a "personnel issue" he said would be discussed at a later date, but despite her last scheduled day being April 29, she had failed to finalize her retirement papers.
Thursday, May 5
Casey White and Vicky White "were in contact via phone" between 2020 and 2022, while the inmate was in the custody of William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, Sheriff Singleton says in an emailed press statement Thursday.
Casey White was transferred from the Donaldson facility to the Lauderdale County Detention Center in 2020, after confessing to the 2015 slaying of Connie Ridgeway. The pair met there and maintained contact after he returned to Donaldson between 2020 and 2022.
He was sent back to the county jail in February of this year to await trial.
The facilities are located just over 110 miles from each other.
And the U.S. Marshal service release new images showing what Vicky White would look like if she changed her hair color from her normal blonde to a darker shade, or if she shortened it from her typical length.
Several new images show the numerous tattoos Casey White bore on both sides of his chest, his arms and his back. The tattoos include a horseshoe emblem with a red-colored flower on his left pec; ink encompassing his full right shoulder and another tattoo covering part of his left arm; and a confederate flag on his back emblazoned by the words "Southern Pride" in a crude script.
He is allegedly linked to the local "Southern Brotherhood," a "white supremacist prison gang."
Marshal Service images also depict the differences in size between the pair while standing next to each other, or while standing near the vehicle authorities believe the pair might have fled in – an orange- or copper-colored 2007 Ford Edge SUV.
Friday, May 6
Agents with the U.S. Marshal Service announce they have located they vehicle they say Casey White and Vicky White used after their disappearance.
Investigators received a tip around 11 p.m. Thursday about a vehicle matching the description of the 2007 Ford Edge, and have since been able to confirm the SUV is the same one used by Vicky White and Casey Cole White after their April 29 disappearance, the USMS announces.
With the help of the tip, they were able to track the vehicle to a tow lot in Williamson County, Tennessee, about two hours north of where the manhunt first began in Florence, Alabama, the office says.
Tennessee's Williamson County Sheriff's Office says the fugitive vehicle had been reported abandoned "a week ago" in Bethesda. "There is NO sign the two are still in our area."
Meanwhile, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announces a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Casey White, in addition to the reward of up to $15,000 being offered by U.S. Marshal Service.
Saturday, May 7
Sheriff Singleton releases surveillance video showing corrections officer Vicky White at a hotel the morning she fled a county jail with murder suspect Casey White.
Vicky White can be seen at the counter of a Quality Inn hotel in Florence, Alabama, on April 29, the same day that she allegedly assisted Casey White, 38, in escaping from the jail.
Monday, May 9
Casey White and Vicky White were apprehended in Evansville, Indiana, after crashing their vehicle during a police chase.
Vicky White was hospitalized with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and succumbed to her injuries hours later, according to authorities. Casey White was apprehended at the scene and will be transferred back to Alabama in the coming days.
"What I’m very thankful for tonight is that no one was hurt. No citizens were hurt. No law enforcement officers were hurt as a result of this escape," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said at a press conference.
Photo shows the exterior of Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, where Casey White had been transferred while awaiting trial for a 2015 murder. (Credit: Fox News Digital)
New Fox News Digital images show the exterior of Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, where Casey White had been transferred while awaiting trial for a 2015 murder.
CASEY WHITE MANHUNT: ALABAMA JAIL BOSS VICKY WHITE VISITED HOTEL MORNING BEFORE INMATE ESCAPE
Photo shows the empty parking space presumably reserved for Vicky White, the high-ranking jail employee who fled with Casey White on April 29. (Courtesy: Fox News Digital)
A second image shows an empty parking spot reserved for "Assistant Director Only." The space is presumably reserved for Vicky White, who was an assistant director when she allegedly fled with Casey White.
Vicky White’s marked car currently in a lot across from the Lauderdale County Courthouse. Inside in the cup holder is a half-empty Dasani water bottle, uncapped, and a few pairs of gloves. (Courtesy: Fox News Digital)
And a different photo shows Vicky White's marked Lauderdale County Sheriff vehicle parked across from the Lauderdale County Courthouse. A half-empty Dasani water bottle, uncapped, and a few pairs of gloves could be seen inside the sedan.
The U.S. Marshal Service reveals that agents believe they have found a second vehicle used by the pair and then abandoned in the days following their April 29 escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama. Local news station WAAY 31 suggests it is the same vehicle reported stolen in Tennessee shortly after the couple ditched the getaway car used earlier in their escape.
SEE THE IMAGES OF THE VEHICLE FOUND ABANDONED AT AN INDIANA CAR WASH:
Marshals received a tip on Sunday night about the vehicle, which agents discovered at a car wash in the 2000 block of South Weinbach Avenue in Evansville.
New surveillance images show a man wearing a red-colored, collared shirt, khakis and a baseball cap, and standing next to the F-150 in question. A different photo shows the man, who was also wearing sunglasses, with what appeared to be a tattoo on his right forearm.
The photos show a timestamp dating back to Tuesday, May 3. No woman could be seen in any of the photos provided by authorities.
Authorities also release a new arrest warrant for Vicky White, charging her with identity theft and second-degree forgery in addition to the previous felony count of permitting/aiding an escape.
"These charges stem from her using an alias to purchase the vehicle, a 2007 Ford Edge, used to facilitate the escape," officials say.
Later in the day, Casey and Vicky White lead local and federal law enforcement on a brief chase before U.S. Marshals "basically rammed the vehicle and pushed it into a ditch," Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding tells reporters.
Vicky is driving a Cadillac at the time, while Casey is sitting passenger, Wedding says.
Both suspects are taken into custody and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Vicky White later dies.
Tuesday, May 10
Casey White arrives back in Alabama after 11 days on the run. (Fox News)
Casey White waives his extradition and is picked up in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, to be brought back to Lauderdale County. He is carted into Lauderdale County Courthouse just before 10 p.m. local time. Wearing a yellow jail-issued jumpsuit and shackles and staring straight ahead, White stays quiet as he is led inside.
He briefly appears before a judge before he is sent to the state-run William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility.
Earlier in the day, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding describes how Casey White told officers he likely would have engaged in a shootout with law enforcement had the pair's vehicle not crashed
"He said that he was probably going to have a shootout at the stake of both of them losing their lives," Wedding said.
Wedding further says the pair was found to have had wigs, $29,000 in leftover cash and multiple guns, including an AR-15.
A booking photo made public by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office shows Casey White just hours after his capture.
Casey White mugshot photo, Vanderburgh County Sheriff (Vanderburgh County Sheriff)
U.S. Marshals confirm that Casey White called Vicky his "wife" after the crash. And sheriff's office officials release dashcam footage from Casey White's arrest.
Wednesday, May 11
Fox News Digital obtains the Warrant of Arrest for Casey White, which charges him with escape in the first degree and briefly details how Casey and Vicky White slipped away from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, on April 29.
"Casey Cole White was transported to Lauderdale County AL on pending felony charges," the document states. "Casey Cole White was transported by Corrections Deputy Vicky White on 4/29/2022 from Lauderdale County Jail at approximately 9:40 a.m. for an alleged mental health evaluation at the Lauderdale County Courthouse."
"Corrections Deputy Vicky White and Casey Cole White did not arrive at the Lauderdale County Courthouse and never returned to the Lauderdale County Jail," the warrant further states.
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Meanwhile, multiple reports indicate the Vanderburgh County Coroner ruled Vicky White's death a suicide.
Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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