MAY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 5

AROUND THE COUNTRY BLUE

AROUND THE COUNTRY BLUE ALERT What we know about escaped inmate, corrections officer missing from Lauderdale County Detention Center in Alabama. ALABAMA – A nationwide manhunt is underway after Lauderdale corrections officer, Vicky White, and capital murder suspect, Casey Cole White went missing Friday April 29 from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama. The two were last seen Friday morning and a Blue Alert was issued for the two later that afternoon when colleagues noticed the two had not returned. Here’s what we know about where the case stands. What happened? Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White and inmate Casey Cole White, who are not related, left the Lauderdale County Detention Center at about 9:30 a.m. Friday, bound for the courthouse, and they have not been seen since. Sheriff Rick Singleton said Vicky White, a 25-year employee of the sheriff’s office, told subordinates she was taking Casey White for a mental health evaluation, and afterward would be seeking medical attention herself. He said investigators have since learned there was no scheduled mental health evaluation or any other court appearance, and that the officer never sought medical attention. It is not known whether this is a case of an assisted escape or if Vicky White was perhaps overpowered and kidnapped, the sheriff said. Authorities found the vehicle in which they left the detention center in the parking lot of a Lauderdale County shopping center. Singleton said Monday that surveillance video of the patrol vehicle that was timestamped at 9:49 a.m. Friday leads them to believe that they went straight to the parking lot where the vehicle was found. ‘Special relationship’ confirmed between Vicky White, Casey White The sheriff’s office in a statement released on Tuesday, May 2, said inmates at the detention center informed authorities of the purported relationship between capital murder suspect Casey Cole White, 38, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky Sue White, 56, over the weekend, and that investigators had confirmed the relationship by “independent sources and means.” Warrant issued for Vicky White Lauderdale County authorities on Monday obtained a warrant for Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, accusing her of permitting or facilitating an escape. Vicky White sold home, was set to retire the day of disappearance Vicky White is a 25-year employee of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, where she serves as the Assistant Director of Corrections. Singleton said Monday that Vicky White had sold her home about a month ago and had talked about going to the beach. Friday was to be her last day at work before retirement. “Those of us who work with Vicky White, and have worked with her for years, this is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination. She has been an exemplary employee,” Singleton said Monday. Who is escaped inmate Casey Cole White? Singleton described Casey White as 6 feet 9 inches tall; a “Blue Alert” issued by Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says he is 6 feet 6 inches tall, 252 pounds. He was an Alabama Department of Corrections inmate but had been brought to Lauderdale County in February 2022 to face capital murder charges. The News Courier in Athens reported in April 2019 that Casey White had been sentenced to 75 years in prison after his conviction for two counts of first-degree kidnapping and attempted murder. He was accused of trying to kill his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping her two roommates. He also was convicted of first-degree robbery, first-degree and third-degree burglary, burglary of a vehicle, animal cruelty for shooting a dog, and attempting to elude. He faced capital murder charges in the 2015 murder-forhire slaying of Connie Ridgeway. She was found dead in her Meadowland Apartments home. Charges in the case were brought in September 2020. Singleton said Monday that his office had thwarted an escape attempt planned by Casey White while he was held in their facility in 2020. UPDATE: As of Thursday, May 5, 2022, Investigators continue to chase leads in the search for Alabama corrections official Vicky White and the inmate she disappeared with, including reported sightings from Florida to Kentucky, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told CNN. But “at this time,” he said, “we do not have any clue where they’re at.” Now, with the search entering its seventh day, authorities are investigating “promising” leads and tips they’ve received. “I can tell you that we’ve had multiple reports of sightings from Florida all the way up to Kentucky,” Singleton said -- though not all of them have proven fruitful: In one instance, a woman went into a convenience store and handed a clerk a note that said, “I’m Vicky White, I’ve been kidnapped, help me,” Singleton said. She wasn’t. 30 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 31