What we know about escaped inmate, corrections officer from Lauderdale County captured

Inmate Casey White and corrections officer Vicky White were captured Monday after leading U.S. Marshals on a chase in the Evansville, Indiana area.

The two were seen the morning of Friday, April 29 leaving the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence. A Blue Alert was issued for the two later that afternoon when colleagues noticed the two had not returned.

Soon after, an investigation revealed the escape plan must have been underway well before then.

Here's what we know about their capture and how they escaped.

Inmate and officer captured in Indiana

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton announced Monday afternoon that Casey White and Vicky White are in custody.

Casey White and the jailer led U.S. Marshals on a chase after they were spotted at a motel near Evansville, Indiana. The Cadillac they were in wrecked, leaving Casey White, who was driving, with minor injuries.

Singleton said a tip from a citizen led to the hotel where the couple was staying.

In custody: Casey White, Vicky White captured after U.S. Marshal chase in Indiana

Vicky White dies from self-inflicted gunshot

After U.S. Marshals crashed into the Cadillac the couple was in, Vicky White shot herself, Falkenberg County, Indiana Sheriff Dave Wedding said during a news conference. She was taken to Deaconess Hospital, where she later died Monday night, said Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear.

What will happen to Casey White?

Casey White will be brought back to Lauderdale County, and despite overcrowding in the jail, Singleton said he will be locked in a cell alone. He said Casey White would be kept in handcuffs and shackles even when he's in that cell.

Whenever Casey White is brought back "if it's at 2 o'clock in the morning" a judge will come in for an immediate arraignment, and White will go back to state prison, Singleton said.

What happened when they went missing?

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.

Sheriff Rick Singleton said Vicky White 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.

Rather than going to the courthouse, she drove to a strip mall and abandoned the sheriff's unit there. Investigators now know they got into a 2007 Ford Edge that Vicky White had purchased sometime before, and apparently left it in the parking lot in an area where vehicles for sale are often left overnight.

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'Special relationship' confirmed between Vicky White, Casey White

The sheriff's office in a statement 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."

Thursday, Singleton clarified that Vicky White and Casey Cole White had been in contact by phone between 2020 and 2022.

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Warrant issued for Vicky White

Lauderdale County authorities on Monday, May 2 obtained a warrant for Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky White, accusing her of permitting or facilitating an escape.

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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 on Monday, May 2, 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.

A warrant has been issued for Vicky White's arrest on charges of 1st degree committing or facilitating escape.

"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-for-hire slaying of Connie Ridgeway. She was found dead in her Meadowland Apartments home. Charges in the case were brought in September 2020, WAFF TV reported.

Singleton said his office had thwarted an escape attempt planned by Casey White while he was held in their facility in 2020.

What is a Blue Alert?

A Blue Alert is activated when a local, state or federal law enforcement officer in Alabama has been killed or seriously injured and the perpetrator is at large, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The alert was issued the evening of Friday, April 29.

Donna Thornton, Miranda Prescott, Kirsten Fiscus, Houston Harwood, Jon Webb and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: What we know about Vicky White, escaped inmate Casey White