An Alabama inmate who disappeared with a corrections officer while being transported to court for a non-existent appointment is seen in new surveillance photos in jail before his disappearance.
Casey Cole White, 38, went missing alongside Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White, 56.
Cole was seen in photos released Sunday, May 1, clad in an orange jail outfit, walking the halls of the jail just before he disappeared.
The convicted murderer and the corrections officer were last seen about 9:30 a.m. Friday April 29, when they left the local jail, officials said.
A manhunt is underway for the two, who are not related though they share the same last name.
Vicki White told colleagues she was bringing the inmate to a mental health evaluation, but there was no such appointment on the court’s schedule, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Friday.
Vicki White had also said that after dropping the prisoner off, she was going to seek medical attention because she didn’t feel well, Singleton said.
She was alone when she transported the accused murderer, “a strict violation of policy,” Singleton said at a press conference.
The US Marshals Service is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Casey Cole White’s capture.
Casey White “is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public,” Marty Keely, US Marshal for the Northern District of Alabama, said in a statement.
The inmate was charged with two counts of capital murder in September 2020 in the stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway, 58, the agency said.
He had been serving a 75-year sentence for a 2015 crime spree, including holding six people at gunpoint, and shooting one of them and a dog.
Vicki White has been with the department almost 17 years and she was voted by her peers as Supervisor or Employee of the Year in four of the last seven years.
Someone spotted her patrol vehicle in a shopping center parking lot on Saturday, April 30, Singleton said.
Authorities searched surveillance footage in the area where the vehicle was found, but did not turn up any evidence showing the two getting into another vehicle, CNN reported.
“We continue to view video footage for possible leads but have recovered nothing that has had a significant impact on the investigation,” Singleton said, adding that investigators don’t know whether they are still in Alabama.
In 2020, Casey White planned to escape the jail and take a hostage, but staffers caught him, Singleton told CNN.
The facility then established a policy requiring two deputies to accompany him at all times, including during transportation to the courthouse, he told the network.
