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Alabama Inmate And Corrections Officer Have 'Plenty' Of Cash, Authorities Say
The car used by Vicky White and Casey White to escape from an Alabama jail was found abandoned in Tennessee, according to authorities.
The vehicle authorities believe Alabama inmate Casey White and corrections officer Vicky White used to make their getaway after a brazen jail escape was discovered abandoned in Tennessee, but there’s still no sign of the missing fugitives.
The rust-colored 2007 Ford Edge was discovered April 29—the same day the pair slipped out of the Lauderdale County Detention Center and went on the run—approximately two hours north in Bethesda, Tennessee, according to a Friday press conference streamed by AL.com.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 1:50 p.m. that afternoon that there was an abandoned car along a rural county road.
The car was towed at 2:37 p.m. and taken to an impound lot, but it was hours before authorities would realize the pair were missing and the local tow company wouldn’t make the connection that the vehicle matched the description provided by Alabama authorities until nearly a week later.
“It was abandoned so quickly that they probably had mechanical problems with it because it was abandoned pretty much in the middle of nowhere on the side of a county road where it would obviously draw attention and be found,” Singleton said.
There was evidence that they tried to spray paint the car, but Singleton described the paint job as “botched up.”
Before abandoning the vehicle, Casey White and Vicky White—who have no relation to one another—cleared the SUV of all their belongings.
“There is NO sign the two are still in our area,” The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said on social media while announcing the vehicle’s discovery.
Singleton said investigators are now trying to piece together where Casey White and Vicky White may have gone from there and are trying to determine whether anyone in the area reported a stolen vehicle around that time.
“We’re sort of back to square one as far as a vehicle description right now,” Singleton said.
Vicky White, a corrections officer set to retire the day she disappeared, is believed to have helped murder suspect Casey White escape from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Alabama around 9:30 a.m. that morning, after telling her coworkers she was taking him to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation.
There was never any mental health evaluation scheduled, however, and instead the pair drove directly to the Florence Square shopping center where they left Vicky White’s patrol car and took off in the SUV, which had already been stashed at the location, authorities said.
“I think at this point it’s obviously a jail house romance or something, but that’s the only explanation I really have,” Singleton said of Vicky White’s apparent motivations.
Investigators believe the pair likely has a large stash of cash at their disposal. Vicky White had sold her home for $95,500, an amount much less than its appraised value, before she disappeared and authorities have said she took $90,000 in cash out of her bank accounts before going on the run.
“They had plenty of cash,” Singleton said Friday.
The former corrections officer had also purchased an AR-15 and a shotgun. She left her patrol vehicle keys, police radio and handcuffs behind in the abandoned patrol car; however, investigators do believe she also has her service weapon with her on the run.
Casey White’s former attorney, Dale Bryant, has described the capital murder suspect to AL.com as a mentally ill man with a past drug problem who poses a significant danger to others.
“When Casey is on his medication and in a jail in a structured environment, Casey’s an alright guy,” he said. “When he’s off his medication, he usually self-medicates through drugs, usually methamphetamine, and that’s when things become a problem.”
Casey White was already serving a 75-year prison sentence for a violent string of crimes in 2015, including firing multiple shots at his ex-girlfriend and two of her male roommates, killing a dog in the process. He was convicted in 2019 of nine charges, including first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, attempted murder and kidnapping.
He had recently been moved from prison to the detention center in anticipation of a murder trial for the 2015 slaying of Connie Jane Ridgeway, 59, who was found dead in the living room of her apartment.
Singleton said Friday he is afraid for Vicky White’s safety and described Casey White as a volatile man with a troubled past.
“I would say to Vicky, ‘You know we’re going to find you. Hopefully we find you safe. If you’re safe right now, get out while you can,” he said.
He believes Vicky White’s extensive background in law enforcement could be helping the pair on the run.
“Her knowledge and corrections and the procedures we use in the sheriff’s office most definitely played to her advantage,” he said. “I think this was a very well thought out plan, a very calculated plan. We’re at a loss.”
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Casey White or Vicky White is urged to contact authorities.
Casey White has been described as being 6’9” tall, weighing 330 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes, ABC News reports. He also has numerous tattoos from a white supremacist gang.
Vicky White is said to be 5’5” tall, weighing approximately 145 pounds with brown eyes and blond hair. The U.S. Marshals Service has said it's possible she may have altered her appearance by dying her hair.
