The U.S. Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to the capture of Casey White, a capital murder suspect, and the location of Vicky White, a “missing and endangered correctional officer,” who disappeared Friday in northwest Alabama, the agency announced Sunday.
Vicky White, 38, a Lauderdale County corrections officer, left a detention center around 9:40 a.m. Saturday to go to a courthouse but never arrived, the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said.
The two aren’t related.
Casey White.U.S. Marshals
“Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public,” U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said.
Casey White was charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 in the stabbing of Connie Ridgeway, 58, and he was already in jail for a series of crimes he committed in 2015, including home invasion, carjacking and a police chase, according to the Marshals Service. White confessed to the murder and was awaiting trial at the Lauderdale County Jail when he disappeared, according to the agency.
Casey White is 6-feet-9, weighs about 260 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes, according to the Marshals Service.
Anyone with information about Casey White’s location or Vicky White’s disappearance should contact law enforcement by calling the Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102 or submitting anonymous tips via the U.S. Marshals Tip App, the agency said.
“Do not attempt to apprehend this fugitive,” Keely said.
Vicky White and Casey White left the detention center purportedly for a mental health evaluation at court. But investigators have since confirmed that such an evaluation was never scheduled, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said.
At the time of her departure, Vicky White, an employee of 25 years, told the booking officer that she would be going to a medical appointment after she dropped off Casey White because she wasn’t feeling well. But she had no appointment scheduled, Singleton said.
She also transported the suspect by herself — a strict violation of the policy requiring two sworn deputies to transport a person under those charges, the sheriff said.
The marked 2013 Ford Taurus patrol car they traveled in was later found at a shopping center, Singleton said.
Officers realized the two were missing at around 3:30 p.m. Friday, when Vicky White’s phone went straight to voicemail after repeated attempts to contact her, Singleton said, adding that it was then confirmed that Casey White never returned to the detention center, either.
Vicky White had a 9 mm firearm, and it wasn’t known whether any other weapons were in the patrol vehicle, Singleton said.
Singleton said Friday that investigators were looking for any video of the shopping center where the patrol vehicle was found.
Investigators are seeking to determine whether Vicky White assisted Casey White in his escape but are operating as though she was taken against her will until they know otherwise, Singleton said Friday.
“I do think this, knowing the inmate: I think she’s in danger, whatever the circumstances,” the sheriff said Friday. “He was in jail for capital murder.”