Alabama authorities are searching for a corrections officer and inmate who never made it to court docket

Lacking Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White broke protocol when she escorted inmate Casey White from jail this morning to apparently take him to the courthouse in Lauderdale County, mentioned Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton. The inmate and the corrections officer aren't associated.

Authorities said Casey White was being held on capital murder charges and two sworn deputies ought to have been with him at all times, including throughout transportation to court.

Vicki White coordinates all transports from the detention middle to court and due to this fact knew the protocol, the sheriff added.

Singleton said that although Casey White was supposedly being transported for a psychological health evaluation on the courthouse, they have since learned that no such evaluation or other court hearing for him was scheduled for Friday.

"Knowing the inmate, I feel she's in peril regardless of the circumstances... He was in jail for capital murder, and he had nothing to lose," Singleton stated.

Authorities at the moment are all potentialities of what happened, together with if the corrections officer helped Casey White escape.

"Whether or not she assisted him or not, we don't know, and we cannot address that till we've absolute proof that that is what occurred. We're assuming at this level that she was taken in opposition to her will, unless we will absolutely prove otherwise," Singleton added.

Authorities said they are nonetheless searching and investigating any interplay between the corrections officer and Casey White, in addition to any phone calls he had received.

When Vicki White escorted Casey White out of the jail, she advised the guard she was going to drop him off at the court and then go search medical consideration as a result of she wasn't feeling nicely.

The sheriff mentioned Casey White was by no means dropped off at court docket and Vicki White did not make it to the place where she said she was going to seek medical consideration.

Authorities did not understand they were lacking till several hours later.

Her car, a 2013 Ford Taurus patrol automobile, was first noticed in a shopping center parking zone around 11 a.m. by someone who was on a lunch break, Singleton stated.

Round 3:30 p.m., officers on the jail had been concerned and tried to reach her, however her cellphone kept going straight to voicemail. They then realized Casey White had not been returned to the jail.

Vicki White has been with the division for 25 years and is eligible for retirement -- which she has talked about doing in the previous couple of months, Singleton added.

"All precautions have been in place. The query now we have for Director White is why she violated coverage," Singleton mentioned.

Casey White is 6'9" tall is being thought-about armed and dangerous. Vicki White "was armed with a 9 mm handgun, which means we're assuming he is armed," Singleton added.