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Corrections officer dead, escape inmate back in custody
Chris Cato reports
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Vicki White, the Alabama corrections officer who allegedly walked a murder suspect and convicted felon out of the Lauderdale County Jail last month, has died. She was 56 years old.
The days long manhunt for an escaped Alabama murder suspect Casey Cole White and the high-ranking jail guard, Vicky White, came to a close on Monday – more than 10 days after the pair fled, according to officials.
A U.S. Marshal Service spokesperson confirmed the news in an email to Fox News Digital Monday, acknowledging that Casey was in custody. Vicky was originally hospitalized with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Indiana law enforcement officials confirmed.
"Casey White and Vicky White are in custody," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton confirmed to reporters during a press conference later on Monday. Law enforcement caught up to the couple in Evansville, Indiana, on Monday afternoon, when a police chase ensued, Singleton said.
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Press conference: Alabama fugitive, corrections officer apprehended
Officials announce arrest of corrections officer Vicky White and escaped inmate Casey Cole White
CASEY WHITE ESCAPE: TIMELINE FOR ALABAMA MURDER SUSPECT ON THE RUN WITH CORRECTIONS OFFICER
The couple then crashed the vehicle, at which time Casey White surrendered, and Vicky White was taken to an area hospital for treatment before she died.
(Photos: US Marshals)
"What I’m very thankful for tonight is that no one was hurt. No citizens were hurt. No law enforcement officers were hurt as a result of this escape," Singelton went on.
Vicky and Casey White are not related, but share a "special relationship," according to Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton.
Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Sheriff Dave Wedding told reporters law enforcement became aware of a vehicle matching the description of a possible suspect vehicle, which had been spotted near the sheriff's department office.
Surveillance cameras inside recorded Vicky White opening a steel door and, without looking back, holding it for Casey White, who slips out with his head down, dodging it as it swings closed. The two vanish through what looks like an exterior door wit …
Officers and federal agents went to investigate and "soon thereafter the male and female fled in the vehicle," Wedding said. He said Vicky White was driving and described the vehicle as a Cadillac.
Shortly thereafter, the suspects drove through a grassy area where Marshals "intercepted the actually collided with them, to try to end the pursuit," Wedding went on.
"When this occurred, the female driver of the vehicle shot herself and the passenger was injured, not too seriously," he said. "They’ve both been taken to local hospitals to be examined for their injuries."
Inmate Casey White, right, and Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White (Photos courtesy Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office)
Asked how long the pair had been in Evansville, Wedding said investigators knew so far that the vehicle that was recovered had a date of May the 3."
"It’s hard to believe that they’ve been here that many days, but we were lucky that we stumbled upon them today," Wedding said.
Neither suspect resisted after the crash occurred.
Casey White, a convicted felon facing pending murder charges, has a history of carjackings and violent crime and was considered armed and "extremely dangerous."
He has a long rap sheet, with convictions for attempted murder, armed robbery, animal cruelty and kidnapping, and is facing a pending murder case for the 2015 slaying of Connie Ridgeway, a 59-year-old mother, in her home.
CASEY WHITE MANHUNT: ALABAMA JAIL BOSS VICKY WHITE VISITED HOTEL MORNING BEFORE INMATE ESCAPE
The suspect allegedly confessed to the crime, saying he had been hired to kill Ridgeway, but then pleaded not guilty due to insanity. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
"We got a dangerous man off the streets," the sheriff said of Casey, after the arrest. "He is never going to see the light of day again."
Vicky White was the assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Detention Center and is accused of helping the suspected killer escape.
New images released by the U.S. Marshal Service show Vicky White featuring darker hair. (US Marshal Service)
She was expected to retire Friday and had recently sold her house, according to the sheriff. She also spent months telling colleagues, who said they were shocked to learn of her alleged involvement in the escape plot, that she planned to relocate to the beach.
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Previous: Alabama authorities give update on manhunt for escaped murder suspect, fugitive corrections officer
The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office in Alabama held a press conference on Friday, May 6, after announcing that the getaway SUV used by escaped murder suspect Casey White and corrections officer Vicky White had been found in Tennessee.
Before the capture
Monday marked Day 11 of the manhunt for the pair, who are not related. Vicky, 56, and Casey, 38 had been in the throes of a "jailhouse romance" when they slipped away from the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, on April 29, Singleton previously told reporters.
Vicky White was charged Monday with identity theft and second-degree forgery, according to a warrant for her arrest released that day. She was previously charged with a felony for permitting/aiding an escape.
"These charges stem from her using an alias to purchase the vehicle, a 2007 Ford Edge, used to facilitate the escape," officials said.
On Friday, the USMS revealed they had received a tip around 11 p.m. Thursday about a vehicle matching the description of the 2007 Ford Edge, and had since been able to confirm the SUV was the same one used by the fugitive pair.
With the help of the tip, they were able to track the vehicle to a tow lot in Williamson County, Tennessee, about two hours north of where the manhunt first began, the office said.
Tennessee's Williamson County Sheriff's Office said in a Friday tweet that the fugitive vehicle had been reported abandoned "a week ago" in Bethesda. "There is NO sign the two are still in our area," the tweet stated.
Image shows the SUV believed to have been used by fugitives Vicky White and Casey Cole White. The vehicle was discovered on April 29 in Bethesda, Tennessee, and was brought back to Florence, Alabama on May 9, 2022. (Fox News Digital)
Authorities later shared images showing that the SUV’s rear bumper had been spray-painted a distinct green color before it was discovered. The SUV was returned to Alabama investigators just after 12:30 p.m. Monday for further investigation.
The vehicle was pulled by a truck with Alabama license plates into the Lauderdale County courthouse parking lot, where investigators with cameras took pictures and confirmed the VIN number before towing it to a storage facility.
Singleton said his office was investigating whether the pair ditched the Ford SUV because the vehicle broke down.
"I think that vehicle was abandoned," he said. "I don’t think as part of the plan."
"Every day we get new leads. I’m confident that’s how we’re gonna catch them," he said. "Somebody is gonna call in a tip, and it’s gonna be the tip."
Dave Katz, CEO of Global Security group and a former DEA special agent who took part in the 1990 manhunt for the mobster Constabile "Gus" Farace, previously told Fox News Digital that the public should "assume" that Casey's White's history of carjackings "allows them to change transportation easily."
Officials were offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads law enforcement to the couple.