A 2007 Ford jeep officials believe Vicki White, 56, and inmate Casey White, 38, were traveling during an escape from Lauderdale County Detention Center in Alabama more than a week ago. in Tennessee, said Sheriff Rick Singleton on Friday during a press conference.
“The car was cleaned,” the sheriff told CNN on Saturday. “There was nothing left in the vehicle. Apparently they took everything they had with them.”
The correctional officer, who is no longer working at the sheriff’s office, left the prison with the inmate on the morning of April 29, saying he would take him to court to assess his mental health. She also said she would seek medical help for herself after leaving him because he was not feeling well.
The two have never arrived in court or a medical facility that has launched a prosecution involving local and federal authorities.
The two are not related, but may have had a romantic relationship, Singleton said.
“It was a difficult week, a challenging week, a daunting week,” Singleton told CNN on Saturday. “Ultimately, as a sheriff, I am responsible for the prison, and that is on my shoulders.
“I want to see Casey White back behind bars, and I want to see Vicki White so we can figure out exactly what she was thinking,” Singleton added.
Although the location of the SUV gave authorities a sense of the direction the couple was heading, investigators are still trying to assemble their movement days after leaving prison with a patrol car.
‘In the beginning’
A video of surveillance from the detention center shows the couple boarding a patrol car at the facility on the morning of their disappearance, with Casey White in handcuffs and shackles, officials said.
The patrol car was later abandoned in a parking lot at a mall near the jail with Vicki White’s prison keys, radio and handcuffs inside. The two then drove off in an orange Ford SUV that Vicki White had bought and left in the same parking lot the night before, Singleton said.
Authorities said on Friday they had found the SUV, which had been towed to Tennessee for about a week. The jeep was taken there after it was found abandoned in the woods and without any identifying information last Friday.
Authorities believe the SUV may have had mechanical problems that led to a sudden shutdown in this area.
The discovery means the couple drove about two hours north to Williamson County, Tennessee, after disappearing from a prison in Florence, Alabama, Singleton explained at a news conference on Friday.
“Now we know where the car is, we know which way they went,” the sheriff said. “We are trying to inspect the witness area, we are also trying to investigate, to see if stolen vehicles have been reported in this area during this time.
Investigators still do not know if the two stole another vehicle or drove with someone else, the sheriff said.
“We’re going back to the beginning,” he said. “After Friday afternoon, when they abandoned this car, we didn’t know which way they were going.”
The experience of a former officer can hinder the search
Vicki White’s law enforcement experience has helped the couple escape capture, officials say.
“Her knowledge of the corrections and her knowledge of the procedures we use here in the sheriff’s office were definitely in her favor. “I think it was a very well-thought-out plan,” Singleton told a news conference on Friday.
Vicki White had submitted her retirement documents before she disappeared, and the day of the escape was to be her last day on the job.
She now has an active arrest warrant for allegedly allowing or facilitating first-degree escape. She is no longer working in the sheriff’s office, the service said.
Investigators believe she had a large sum of money when she and the prisoner went missing and she used pseudonyms, including to buy the vehicle, Singleton said. “I guess she probably dropped those nicknames and probably already got some new identities,” he explained.
In addition, the couple must be considered armed and dangerous and may have an AR-15 rifle, pistols and a rifle, warned the US Marshals Office.
Before fleeing, Casey White served 75 years for a series of crimes in 2015, including home burglary, car theft and police harassment, according to the U.S. Marshals Office. He also faces two counts of murder for the piercing death of 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway in 2015, the service said.
The U.S. Marshals Office has offered up to $ 10,000 for information leading to the prisoner’s arrest and up to $ 5,000 for the former officer. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also said an additional $ 5,000 reward for information leading to the couple’s arrest.
CNN’s Ryan Young, Jade Tim-Garcia, Paradise Afshar, Nadia Romero and Christina Maxuris contributed to the report.
Add Comment