Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton could not give a reason why the police officer helped escape, saying the action was not “Vicki White we know.”
“Obviously there was a country of Vicki White that we were not aware of,” he told CNN. “She coordinated this and took advantage of her knowledge of the system and played it to her advantage, and, you know, that made it very difficult.”
A warrant was issued Monday for Vicki White on charges of allowing or facilitating first-degree escape. The U.S. Marshall Service released photos of Vicki White on Thursday showing what she looks like with her blonde hair and what she might look like with brown hair if she changes her appearance.
Both Vicky White and Casey White should be considered armed and dangerous, the Marshall Service said.
As the hunt for Vicki White and Casey White enters its seventh day, questions about the former correctional officer continue to arise. Here’s what we know about her:
She was not abducted or forced to help the prisoner escape
Singleton told CNN that Vicki White appears to be deliberately helping Casey White.
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 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway in 2015, U.S. marshals said.
“She is absolutely helping him. We still don’t know 100% that it was intentional, but it seems so, “Singleton said.
Vicki White said she is taking Casey White to court for a mental health assessment and will then go for medical treatment because she is not feeling well. Authorities later revealed that no hearing or assessment was scheduled for Casey White that day, and Vicki White never arrived at the hospital. Her patrol car was found abandoned Friday morning in a mall parking lot less than a mile from the detention center.
Officials received a video showing the patrol car they took from prison.
The video shows that the car stopped at an intersection eight minutes after leaving prison. The intersection is about two blocks from the mall’s parking lot, where the car was later found abandoned, Singleton said.
“Obviously from the evidence we’ve gathered, it wasn’t that he didn’t kidnap her or force her, or anything else about the car after they left the facility,” Singleton said.
Despite “promising” tracks and reported sightings from Florida to Kentucky, officials currently “have no idea where they are,” he said.
People who knew Vicki White admired her
Vicki White was an “exemplary employee” with an “impeccable record,” Singleton said. “All her colleagues, all the sheriff’s office staff, the judges, they all have the utmost respect for her,” he said.
Despite her stellar professional reputation, Vicki White broke protocol on Friday when she took Casey White out of the detention center alone, the sheriff said. Politics demanded that Casey White be escorted by two sworn MPs.
Now it looks likely Vicki White acted of her own accord, the sheriff said.
“I guess we’re trying to keep the last drop of hope that maybe for some reason she was threatened and did it under duress … but you will absolutely feel betrayed,” Singleton said. “All her colleagues are devastated. We’ve never had a situation like this with Vicki White. She was a model worker.”
Lauderdale County Attorney Chris Connelly last spoke with Vicki White the day before he disappeared and said he was “absolutely stunned” when he learned of the situation. Connelly described the officer as “the strongest man in prison.”
“I would entrust my life to her,” he said. “I’m so disappointed in her. She’s been trusted and she’s taking advantage of that trust.”
Pat Davis, Vicki White’s mother, who lived next door to her and saw her daughter every day, told CNN that they last spoke on Friday.
“The whole thing was a nightmare. I just want my daughter to go home. And come home alive,” Davis said.
Davis said he had no idea about his daughter’s plans. “She went home after work, had dinner at my house and took her dog. “She was walking her dog, and that was her daily routine,” Davis told CNN.
Vicki White had a “special relationship” with the prisoner
Vicki White and Casey White had a “special relationship,” Singleton said.
“We have confirmed through independent sources and other means that there was in fact a relationship between Casey White and Vicki White outside of her normal working hours – not physical contact – but a relationship of a different nature,” Singleton told CNN.
Singleton said the inmates had hinted to officers about the special relationship between the two.
“We were told that Casey White had special privileges and was treated differently while in the facility than other inmates,” Singleton said.
In the course of the investigation this week, inmates said Casey White was “getting extra food on her trays” and “getting privileges that no one else has.” And it all came from her, “Singleton said.
Confirmation of the connection came from “other sources outside the detention center,” according to Singleton.
Investigators have been following the connection until early 2020, when Casey White was brought to Lauderdale County on charges of murder he faces for Ridgeway’s death in 2015, according to the sheriff.
“As far as we know, this was the earliest physical contact they had,” Singleton said.
Casey White was returned to state prison after the indictment to continue serving a 75-year sentence for a series of crimes he committed in 2015. The sheriff said the police officer and the inmate kept in touch by phone.
Casey White was returned to Lauderdale County Jail in February to attend court hearings related to his murder charges.
Connelly expressed distrust of the idea that Vicki White would have a romantic relationship with the prisoner.
“I would never have thought that in a million years,” he told CNN, adding that it was “so shocking that she was involved and it’s just stunning.”
She is no longer an employee of the sheriff’s office
The day Vicki White disappeared was supposed to be her last day on the job after nearly two decades in the department, Singleton said. She submitted her retirement documents last week. Vicky White did not mention her retirement to her mother, Davis told CNN WAAY.
She is no longer working in the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, an e-mail statement said.
“According to Sheriff Rick Singleton, Vicky White’s employment status is currently no longer in the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office,” the email said. “Friday was her last day at work, but her retirement documents have not been finalized. This is a personal matter that will be discussed at a later date.”
Singleton said Vicki White had talked about retiring three or four months before her disappearance, adding that she had talked about moving to the beach.
Although pension fund documents were not processed, she recently sold her home and had access to a large sum of money, according to Singleton.
Shortly before her disappearance, Vicki White sold her home for $ 95,550, well below current market value. Online records from Lauderdale County list the total value of the home’s plot at $ 204,700.
She also bought a 2007 orange or copper Ford Edge, which the U.S. Marshall Service said the missing prisoner and officer could travel.
“It’s clear that a lot of planning has been put into this,” Connelly told CNN.
CNN’s Paradise Afshar, Jamiel Lynch, Michelle Watson, Amara Walker, Jade Gordon, Ryan Young and Jade Tim-Garcia contributed to this report.
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