Warrant issued for missing jail official
FLORENCE, ALA. — Authorities issued an arrest warrant Monday for a jail official who they say helped an inmate awaiting trial on a murder charge to escape from an Alabama jail. A search was on for the pair.
Inmate Casey Cole White, 38, was shackled and handcuffed when he and Vicky White, the facility’s assistant director of corrections, left the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, on Friday morning. They have not been seen since, although the patrol vehicle that the pair used when leaving the detention center was found at a nearby shopping center parking lot after their absence was discovered.
Authorities have no idea where they are, although the inmate should be recognizable by his size. He stands 6 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 260 pounds. Authorities warned that anyone seeing the pair should not approach them.
“We consider both of them dangerous and in all probability, both individuals are armed,” U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said at a press conference Monday. He noted that Casey White “will stand out” because of his size even if he has changed his appearance.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Monday that they had issued an arrest warrant for Vicky White, 56, on charges of permitting or allowing an escape. She is not related to White.
She violated a policy that required more than one official to be involved in transporting him, according to Singleton. The policy was put in place when White was jailed two years ago and authorities believed he was planning to escape.
“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.
Vicky White told co-workers she was taking him to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. But Singleton later said no such evaluation was scheduled. He said video showed the pair left the jail and went straight to that parking lot.
“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.
White was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder, robbery and burglary when he disappeared. He had been brought back to the jail because of his latest charge. He was set to go to trial next month on a capital murder charge accusing him of stabbing a 58-year-old woman to death during a burglary in 2015. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 for information.
The sheriff said they were shocked by the events that transpired.