Alabama corrections officer wanted for allegedly helping inmate escape
Authorities issued an arrest warrant on Monday for a corrections official who they say helped an inmate arrested on a murder charge escape from an Alabama jail. The search for the pair continued.
The inmate, Casey Cole White, 38, disappeared on Friday after he left the Lauderdale county detention center in the city of Florence with Vicky White, the facility’s assistant director of corrections. They have not been seen since.
Vicky White told co-workers she was taking the inmate to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. But the Lauderdale county sheriff, Rick Singleton, later said no such evaluation was scheduled.
“Casey White, as you’ve heard me say over and over and over, is an extremely dangerous person, and we need to get him located and get him off the street,” Singleton said at a press conference on Monday.
Authorities noted his large size. He is 6ft 9in and weighs about 260lbs, according to the US Marshals Service.
A US marshal, Marty Keely, said
Casey White “will stand out” even if he is has changed his appearance.
The 38-year-old was serving a prison sentence for attempted murder and burglary, and was set to go on trial next month over the stabbing death of a 58-year-old woman, a charge in which he would face the death penalty if convicted. The US Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 for information.
Singleton said they had issued an arrest warrant for Vicky White on charges of permitting or allowing an escape. She is not related to the inmate.
“We know she participated. Whether
she did that willingly or if she was coerced, threatened somehow to participate in the case … not really sure. We know for sure she did participate,” Singleton said.
The sheriff said they were shocked. “This is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination,” the sheriff said.
The patrol vehicle the officer and the inmate were in when they left the detention center was found at a nearby shopping center parking lot, according to the sheriff’s office. Singleton said the inmate was handcuffed and shackled when he left the jail.
He said video showed the pair left the jail and went straight to that parking lot.
The US Marshals Service said people with information about Casey White’s location or Vicky White’s disappearance could call the service at 1-800-336-0102. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the US Marshals Tip App.
This article was amended on 2 May 2022 to correct the headline. The inmate has been charged with murder and will go to trial next month, rather than convicted as originally stated.