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

Missing 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, said Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton. The inmate and the corrections officer usually are not associated.

Authorities stated Casey White was being held on capital homicide fees and two sworn deputies ought to have been with him at all times, including during transportation to courtroom.

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

Singleton stated that though Casey White was supposedly being transported for a mental health evaluation at the courthouse, they've since learned that no such analysis or different courtroom listening to for him was scheduled for Friday.

"Understanding the inmate, I feel she's at risk regardless of the circumstances... He was in jail for capital homicide, and he had nothing to lose," Singleton mentioned.

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 won't tackle that till we've got absolute proof that that is what happened. We are assuming at this point that she was taken towards her will, except we are able to completely prove otherwise," Singleton added.

Authorities said they're still looking out and investigating any interplay between the corrections officer and Casey White, in addition to any phone calls he had acquired.

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

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

Authorities did not understand they were missing till a number of hours later.

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

Around 3:30 p.m., officers at the jail had been concerned and tried to reach her, but her phone kept going straight to voicemail. They then realized Casey White had not been returned to the jail.

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

"All precautions were in place. The question we have now for Director White is why she violated coverage," Singleton said.

Casey White is 6'9" tall is being considered armed and harmful. Vicki White "was armed with a 9 mm handgun, which suggests we're assuming he is armed," Singleton added.