EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The escaped inmate from Alabama and the former corrections officer who helped him escape were hiding in an Indiana town for days before a tip from a car wash led to their capture, the local sheriff said Tuesday.
Former correctional officer Vicky White, 56, took her own life and later died, and inmate Casey White, 38, turned herself in after authorities briefly pursued the couple on Monday afternoon, ending in a multi-state search that began when the couple escaped from an Alabama prison last month.
Casey White has signed an extradition waiver and Alabama sheriff’s deputies are making arrangements to pick him up in Indiana, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding said Tuesday. Wedding said Casey White was not going to be charged in Indiana because he would face more serious charges in Alabama.
Police say Vicky White and Casey White, who are not related, had a ‘prison romance’ but offered some clues as to why Vicky White helped the man who was facing a charge of murder and was serving a 75-year prison sentence on other violent offenses.
Over the weekend, law enforcement officials around Evansville, Indiana, began gathering evidence that the couple may be in the area, Wedding said.
Casey White told investigators that he and Vicky White stopped in Evansville to “get their bearings and then figure out their next place to travel,” Wedding said. They have booked a hotel room for two weeks in the area, Wedding added. Authorities said they also have surveillance video of a car wash where Casey White and Vicky White changed vehicles.
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Members of a fugitive task force pursued the two on Monday afternoon after they were spotted leaving their hotel, Wedding said.
Police rammed the car the two were driving and overturned it, and Vicky White killed herself, Wedding said. An autopsy was pending on Tuesday afternoon, Wedding added. Armed with multiple firearms, Casey White told detectives he intended to start shooting during the chase, but his overturned car prevented him, Wedding added.
Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for kidnapping and attempted murder after being found guilty of trying to kill his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping his two roommates. He was also due to stand trial next month on capital murder charges in a 2015 murder-for-hire and could face the death penalty if convicted.
“We pulled a dangerous man off the street today. He will never see the light of day again,” said Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton, from where the couple fled to Alabama. But Singleton expressed uncertainty as to what prompted Vicky White’s involvement.
“I had complete faith in Vicky White. She was an exemplary employee. What provoked her, prompted her to do a stunt like this? I don’t know. I don’t know if we will ever know,” Singleton said Monday.
The search for Casey White and Vickey White began in late April after Vicky White told her colleagues she was taking Casey White to a courthouse appointment. But the couple never returned. Police later established that the couple had a “special relationship” and were planning their escape.
Indiana car wash tip led to arrest
Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin said Tuesday that a vehicle used by Casey White and Vicky White was first spotted in the Evansville area on May 2 when a police officer was conducting a traffic check. routine number plates in a parking lot to see if any vehicles had been reported stolen. .
Authorities received a call May 4 about the vehicle being at a car wash, but police were unable to tow it immediately, Bolin said. At that time, Bolin said police did not link the vehicle to the couple who had fled Alabama.
However, Wedding said police have surveillance video showing a pickup truck left at the car wash and a Cadillac car removed from the car wash.
The car wash owner provided security camera footage, which showed a man who looked like Casey White standing next to the vehicle. Marshals had described White as 6ft 9in tall and weighing around 330lbs.
“It was only over the weekend that it seemed more likely that they were there for sure. And again, after six days, it was just hard to believe they were there. I wouldn’t think anyone on the run would stay in a community like Evansville for six days,” Wedding said.
Authorities were able to track Casey White and Vicky White to the hotel when an Evansville police officer noticed the Cadillac in its parking lot on Monday, Wedding said.
Wedding said investigators do not believe Casey White and Vicky White have a prior connection to Evansville. He said police recovered $29,000 from their vehicle. They also had at least four handguns and an AR-15, he added.
The officers who pursued Casey White and Vicky White in the car chase suffered minor injuries, Wedding said, but he said the officers’ actions prevented further injuries.
“They knew they were facing a dangerous criminal,” Wedding said.
Other vehicles found in the search
The search was “back to square one” last week, Singleton said, after an abandoned orange 2007 Ford Edge was found in a Tennessee tow lot.
Singleton said Vicky White used a pseudonym to buy the car, but it was dumped and towed on April 29, the day the pair went missing.
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Surveillance video from the Lauderdale County Detention Center showed Vicky White escorting Casey White to her patrol vehicle and driving off on April 29. The patrol car was found abandoned in a mall later that day.
Vicky White sold her house, was due to retire before fleeing
Vicky White’s last day of work was April 29. She had retired and recently sold her home for more than $90,000, authorities said.
“This escape was obviously well planned and calculated. A lot of preparation was needed. They had lots of resources, had money, had vehicles,” Singleton said.
When Vicky White left prison with Casey White, she told her colleagues that she was taking him for a mental health evaluation. But no such appointment was scheduled and Vicky White was violating department policy by carrying Casey White alone, authorities said.
‘SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’:Alabama officer Vicky White, escaped inmate Casey White had a ‘special relationship’, sheriff says
Police later revealed the relationship between Casey White and Vicky White. Singleton said the connection dates back two years and included visits and phone calls beyond Vicky White’s working hours. Casey White also received special privileges that other inmates did not have, he said.
Contributors: Christine Fernando, N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Cady Stanton, USA TODAY; Associated press