Alabama sheriff says missing corrections officer had 2-year relationship with escaped inmate
The female corrections officer who escaped with an Alabama inmate facing murder charges had a relationship with the man spanning at least two years, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
Inmate Casey White, 38, disappeared on Friday with Lauderdale County Jail assistant director for corrections Vicky White, 56, sparking an ongoing manhunt for the two.
The two individuals, who are unrelated, had a “special relationship” that may have been romantic, the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said this week.
Sheriff Rick Singleton told local news channel WBRC on Wednesday the two communicated by telephone while Casey White was serving time in federal prison for a series of crimes he committed in 2015.
The relationship stretched back to at least 2020, when the inmate was transferred from federal prison in Montgomery to Lauderdale County Jail for an arraignment hearing on a capital murder charge.
Singleton told WBRC he believes they kept in contact until Casey White was again transferred back to Lauderdale County Jail in February.
“I have no information that there was any kind of physical contact,” Singleton said. “The contact I’m aware of and the special treatment he got was in the form of, she was taking really good care while he was here.”
Casey White was getting extra food on his tray and other privileges that fellow inmates did not get, Singleton said.
Vicky White, who is no longer employed with the Lauderdale County Jail, disappeared Friday morning with Casey White after taking him out for a mental health evaluation. It was her last day of work, as she was planning to retire.
Two guards must escort an inmate away from a detention facility, Singleton said, but White was assistant director of corrections and her authority was likely not questioned at the time.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency are searching for Casey White, who was charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020.
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