NOTE: This article contains details and descriptions that are graphic and disturbing. Please read at your own discretion.
It has officially been one week since Alabama corrections officer Vicky White helped capital murder suspect Casey Cole White (no relation) escape from jail.
On Friday police announced that the getaway car believed to be used by the pair was found in Tennessee last weekend – but at the time it was not linked to the escape. The 2007 copper coloured Ford Edge was impounded after it was abandoned in a rural area, though fugitives were nowhere to be found.
On Thursday, the U.S. Marshals Service released further information about the fugitives, who are believed to be in a romantic relationship.
This new information included the release of several photos of both Vicky and Casey, with particular mention of Casey’s “numerous tattoos, including some affiliated with the Alabama-based white supremacist prison gang Southern Brotherhood.”
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a US$10,000 reward for any information that leads to Casey’s capture, along with an additional US$5,000 reward for information leading to Vicky’s arrest. She’s facing first-degree charges of permitting or facilitating escape.
In 2015, Casey went on a violent crime spree including attempted murder, home invasion and a police chase. During pre-sentence reporting for those crimes, Casey said if he ever got out of jail he would kill his ex-girlfriend and her sister. He also said that he wanted to be killed by police.
Casey was first brought to the Lauderdale County Detention Centre — Vicky’s workplace from which he later escaped — in 2020 for a murder charge arraignment. In 2015, Casey allegedly stabbed 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway to death, a crime to which he confessed.
In the days leading up to Casey’s prison break, Vicky sold her home and told coworkers she was going to retire to the beach. April 29, the day of the escape, was meant to be her last day at work.
The escape began when Vicky asked another corrections officer to prepare Casey for transport to a bogus mental evaluation at the courthouse. She said she would escort the inmate herself, as all other certified officers were unavailable.
The fugitive couple then left the prison in a marked vehicle, which they ditched at a nearby shopping centre. They have not been seen since.
Earlier this week the U.S. Marshal released photos of the now-found getaway vehicle Vicky and Casey used to escape.
Additional images were released of what Vicky, who at the time of the escape had blonde hair, would look like if she dyed and cut her hair.
“They worked together in designing this plan to escape,” U.S. Marshal Marty Keely told CBS. Keely’s deputies are leading the hunt for Vicky and Casey.
Keely added that the escape was “well-planned.”
“She has a lot of knowledge about law enforcement procedures,” he said. “We’ve vetted out all the leads and so far, we have no legitimate spotting.”
The U.S. Marshal also maintains Vickey and Casey should not be approached if seen, as they are “considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun.”
— With files from Global News’ Kathryn Mannie