'Convinced she orchestrated this': Vicky White flew under the radar before escape with Casey White
When Vicky White drove away from the Lauderdale County Jail with Casey White, an inmate convicted of attempted murder and charged with capital murder, her coworkers were busy preparing for her retirement party.
There was cake. There were gifts.
But Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections, never returned. What ensued has been a whirlwind manhunt and investigation into the disappearance of one of the sheriff's offices' top brass and an "extremely dangerous" man.
The two remain at large.
"Just stunned," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Wednesday. "Everyone here at our office, the community, we're all just in disbelief."
The two have been on the run since Friday, after Vicky White told coworkers she was taking Casey White to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation.
Instead, they drove the opposite direction from the courthouse to a strip mall about eight minutes away. There, she parked her patrol car and the two hopped into a 2007 Ford Edge she'd parked there the night before, Singleton said.
Under the radar
Little is known about Vicky White outside of her job, and had it not been for this escape, she likely would not have been widely known.
Vicky White's life revolved around Lauderdale County. She was born and raised in the county of about 93,000 and attended Rogers High School in the mid-1980s.
"She's sort of a private person," Singleton said as he leaned back in his desk chair. "I don't know of any social life she had. To my knowledge, she came to work and went home at the end of the day."
WHAT WE KNOW: What we know about escaped inmate, corrections officer missing from Lauderdale County
OFFICER, SUSPECT MISSING: Lauderdale County corrections officer, capital murder suspect missing
Vicky White had been living with her mother for the past month after selling her home well below market value at auction.
She had no known social media accounts, though the escape has fueled rampant speculation online. Social media sleuths uncovered the name of the man who recently sold the Ford SUV to Vicky White, prompting U.S. Marshals to comment on the seller’s full and cooperative involvement in the investigation.
Despite rumors that the two had been sighted, Singleton said none of those leads proved to be fruitful.
Vicky White first approached her superiors about retiring near the beginning of the year, Singleton said. Casey White, who'd been in prison serving time on his attempted murder and kidnapping convictions, was brought back to the Lauderdale County Jail in February for hearings in connection to the stabbing death of 59-year-old Connie Jane Ridgeway.
"This wasn't a spur of the moment thing," Singleton said. "She'd told us her plan was to retire by May 1, and we kept hoping she'd change her mind because she was such a valuable asset to us."
'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP': Lauderdale officials: Jailer, escaped inmate had 'special relationship'
REWARD OFFERED: Reward offered for information on missing Lauderdale County inmate and corrections officer
Despite this longstanding plan, Vicky White submitted the paperwork to retire only the day before she left with Casey White. That paperwork was never formally filed.
Tuesday, Singleton said, Vicky White was terminated from the sheriff's office, meaning her retirement forms will not be submitted to the state.
'She orchestrated this'
How does a well-respected corrections officer, with nearly two decades of experience, fall for one of the oldest inmate tricks in the book? That's what Singleton wants to know.
Jails train their officers to be vigilant against any coercion by inmates, and yet it still happens.
"It happened here," Singleton said, exasperated. "Inmates can talk people into anything. Just imagine being locked up with these guys for 12 hours a day. Corrections officers are going to be asked multiple times over their careers to smuggle something in or do something for them."
Vicky White was single with no children. Her ex-husband, who she remained close with after a divorce, died in January, Singleton said.
"I don't know if that had any bearing on any of this," the sheriff said.
OFFICER INVOLVEMENT: Could an Alabama corrections officer help an inmate escape? It's happened before
Singleton and his staff wanted to assume the best in Vicky White as the investigation began. They pursued the possibility that she or her family was being threatened by someone on the outside.
Then it became apparent that the two had been conversing since 2020. Vicky White visited Casey White in prison, Singleton said, and she'd been providing him with extra food and other special treatment while at the county jail, the sheriff said.
To Singleton's knowledge, their relationship was not physical before their departure.
"Personally, I'm convinced she orchestrated this and had been for a long time," Singleton said as he dropped his head.
Be on the lookout
U.S. Marshals offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of Casey White and a $5,000 reward for Vicky White.
Vicky White faces a charge of permitting or facilitating an escape.
According to a release from U.S. Marshals, Vicky White had her service weapon on her when she left, and the two might also be armed with an AR-15 rifle, multiple handguns and a shotgun.
Casey White is 6-foot-9 and weighs about 330 pounds. He's got brown hair and hazel eyes and has multiple tattoos.
Vicky White is about 5-foot-5 with blond hair and brown eyes and has "a waddling gait."
Anyone with information about the pair’s whereabout is urged to contact law enforcement by calling 911 or calling the USMS Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.
Contact Tennessean reporter Kirsten Fiscus at 615-259-8229 or KFiscus@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KDFiscus.