Search Continues for Escaped Inmate, Jail Official

Search Continues for Escaped Inmate, Jail Official
Police tape is seen in this stock photo. Carl Ballou/Shutterstock
The Associated Press
Updated:

A manhunt is underway for Casey White, who was awaiting trial on a capital murder case, and jail official Vicky White after the pair vanished after leaving the Lauderdale County Detention Center on Friday morning.

The two are not related, authorities said.

Surveillance video released by Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office shows the jail official escorting the inmate to a sheriff’s vehicle and leaving the detention center.

On Friday morning, Vicky White, 56, told coworkers the 38-year-old inmate needed to go to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation.

She was escorting the inmate alone, which the sheriff said is a violation of department policy.

That afternoon, when she was not answering the phone, authorities discovered the two were missing, and no such evaluation had been scheduled.

Her patrol car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a shopping center.

Authorities say the inmate had a “special relationship” with the jail official authorities believe assisted his escape.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a Tuesday news release that inmates indicated there was a special relationship between the two, and investigators were able to confirmed that.

The sheriff’s office did not elaborate.