Lauderdale officials: Jailer, escaped inmate had 'special relationship'

Donna Thornton, The Gadsden Times
·3 min read

A Lauderdale County Detention Center corrections officer and the prisoner she's accused of helping escape on Friday had a "special relationship," according to information released Tuesday by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office.

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 and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky Sue White over the weekend, and that investigators had confirmed the relationship by "independent sources and means."

The U.S. Marshals Service issued new posters in the search for the two.

U.S. Marshals issued a new poster and offered a reward for Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky Sue White, believed to have helped capital murder suspect Casey Cole White escape from custody. The search continues for both.
U.S. Marshals issued a new poster and offered a reward for Lauderdale County Assistant Director of Corrections Vicky Sue White, believed to have helped capital murder suspect Casey Cole White escape from custody. The search continues for both.

A reward of up to $5,000 is offered for information leading authorities to Vicky Sue White, along with the up to $10,000 reward offered for Casey Cole White. The Marshals Service, FBI, Alabama Bureau of Investigation and Lauderdale County investigators are continuing to search for the two.

The posters list both Vicky White, 56, and Casey White, 38, as armed and dangerous. The posters also show an updated photo of the male suspect, and an out-of-uniform image of the corrections officer.

U.S. Marshals issued a new poster with more recent images of capital murder suspect Casey Cole White. White and corrections officer Vicky Sue White have been missing since Friday morning.
U.S. Marshals issued a new poster with more recent images of capital murder suspect Casey Cole White. White and corrections officer Vicky Sue White have been missing since Friday morning.

Another poster released later Tuesday said Vicky White could be using the aliases April Davis or Renee Marie Maxwell, and said the two could be armed with an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun.

The reward offered in the location of Casey White was announced Sunday; the offer of financial incentive for the finding of Vicky White came after warrants were obtained for her, charging her with aiding or facilitating an escape.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton alerted the public about the escape Friday, revealing that on that morning, Vicky White told her subordinates at the jail that she was transporting Casey White to the courthouse for a mental evaluation; she said she was not feeling well and would seek medical attention herself after the transport.

More: What we know about escaped inmate, corrections officer missing from Lauderdale County

In fact, there was no mental evaluation scheduled for Casey White, and Vicky White never sought medial attention herself. The marked vehicle they left the detention center in was found in a parking lot; surveillance camera footage was found showing that they headed directly for that parking lot, not toward the courthouse.

Jail regulations called for two armed officers to transport a prisoner with charges such as capital murder; Singleton said those instructions had been emphasized with Casey White after an incident when he was jailed there in 2020. Jail staff got word of a planned escape attempt and found him with a shank. Singleton said White would have been aware of those concerns.

Still, Singleton said, it was Vicky White's job to arrange inmate transports and she was the boss; no one questioned her actions until later in the day, when jail staff realized Casey White had not returned and they were not able to reach the corrections officer by phone.

Vicky White sold home, was retiring

On Monday, more details were revealed. Vicky White had turned in paperwork to retire; Friday was to be her last day on the job. She closed on the sale of her Lexington home April 12 and had been living with her mother since then. Singleton said the sale of her home, for more than $95,000, could have given her some cash; no retirement money had come her way yet.

While Singleton said investigators are looking at the possibility of some sort of romantic relationship between the jailer and the inmate, he has said Vicky White could be in danger now regardless of her role in the escape.

The U.S. Marshals Service describes Vicky White as 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 145 pounds. Casey White, accused in the murder-for-hire stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway of Rogersville, and serving a 75-year sentence for kidnapping and other charges, was described as 6 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 340 pounds.

Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Alabama corrections office, escaped inmate had 'special relationship'