Vicki White, assistant director of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, was last seen accompanying inmate Casey White to local court Friday morning for an “alleged mental health assessment,” Sheriff Rivo Singh told the report. The two have nothing to do, the sheriff said. Casey White, 38, was arrested in 2020 and charged with two counts of manslaughter that authorities said were murder for hire in a case that had been frozen for nearly five years, AL.com reported at the time. “The evidence is that Vicky White, who has worked in the sheriff’s office for 25 years, helped escape, but it is not clear if she did it willingly or if Casey White forced her to do so” by threatening her and / or her. “family or other means,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Casey White appears in an undated image released by the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office on May 1, 2022. Investigators are looking for any material that could shed light on what happened and are also examining Casey White’s phone calls and examining past interactions between him and Vicky White to determine if the escape was premeditated, Singleton said. Here’s a timeline of events, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
Friday, April 29
8:47 a.m .: Transport truck No. 5 leaves the detention center with seven detainees, accompanied by two deputies. 8:56 a.m .: Transport truck No. 2 leaves the detention center with five detainees, accompanied by two deputies. 9:20 a.m. Vicky White instructs a correctional attorney to prepare Casey White for transfer to the courthouse. The MP then removes Casey White from the prison cell and takes him to the detention center, where the deputy handcuffs him and ties his legs. 9:41 a.m.: Vicky White leaves the detention center with Casey White in a patrol car for a “mental health assessment” of inmates. Before leaving, Vicky White tells the bookmaker that she is the only deputy available with a firearms certification and that she leaves him with other MPs in the courthouse and then goes to Med Plus, an emergency room, because she is not feeling well. 11:34 a.m .: A police officer of the Florence Police Department, ignoring the situation at the time, locates the patrol car in a parking lot near cars for sale. 3:30 pm: A booking officer tells the detention center management that they were trying to contact Vicky White to check on her, but that her phone goes directly to the answering machine. The detainee also advises that detainee Casey White has not returned to the detention center with the other detainees. The administrator contacts the sheriff’s office, and officers begin a search of the courthouse to determine if Casey White is still in the building. In the next few minutes, they find out that Casey White was not in the courthouse and that an appearance or evaluation was not planned. Security plans show that Vicky White never made it to court. Following the release of a national bulletin detailing Casey White and Vicky White, a witness reported seeing the patrol car during her lunch break at a mall. The deputies withdraw the patrol car but do not find information about their whereabouts. 5:30 p.m.: About 20 agents from the U.S. Army, the FBI, the ATF, the Secret Service and the Alabama Law Enforcement Service are involved in the investigation. Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama.
Saturday, April 30
Morning: The son of Connie Ridgeway, the woman accused of killing Casey White, tells ABC Huntsville, Alabama, at the WAAY subsidiary that he does not believe his mother’s murderer is free. “I’m shocked,” Austin Williams told the station after Casey White was away for at least 24 hours. “I mean, how is it possible that someone with this rap sheet came out so easily?” Singleton told a news conference that it was a “grave breach of policy” for Vicky White to be alone with a detainee, adding that Casey White had to be accompanied by two MPs, given his charges. In her role as assistant director of correction, Vicky White is responsible for coordinating the transfer between the detention center and the courthouse, Singleton said. The violation of the protocol was not pointed out by its employees. Night: Singleton tells ABC News that the escape appears to have been “orchestrated”. Casey White had previously planned to escape from Lauderdale County Detention Center in the fall of 2020, but officials prevented the plot before attempting to do so, Singleton said. When prison officials learned of the plan, they found an improvised knife in White’s possession and learned that he was planning to take it hostage. Casey White was then transferred to a state jail, where he remained until the beginning of this year, and would return to Lauderdale County to testify in court about the murder, Singleton said. Vicky White is “an exemplary employee” that all her colleagues like, Singleton said. She interacts with inmates several times a day as part of her job, Singleton said, adding that she does not know of any relationship between Vicky White and Casey White. “We are very concerned about her safety,” he said.
Sunday, May 1
Morning: U.S. Army Service announces a reward of up to $ 10,000 for information leading to Casey White’s arrest. “Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the prison staff and the public,” said US Gen. Marty Kylie in a statement. Lauderdale County Sheriff Vicki White’s office worker and inmate Casey Cole White. Afternoon: Singleton tells ABC News that Vicky White was talking about retirement three or four months before the escape. She handed in her papers on Thursday and Friday, when the escape happened, was her last day at work. ABC News’ Jack Date, Meredith Deliso, Elwyn Lopez, Will McDuffie and Ben Stein contributed to this report.
