Alabama manhunt ends with capture of escaped prisoner and death of sheriff's deputy

Former Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White – who was on the run with inmate Casey White after helping him escape from prison – shot herself to death on Monday after authorities caught up with the couple after a week-long manhunt.

Casey was ultimately captured and is now back in police custody.

According to police reports, White and Casey were arrested after the conclusion of a lengthy three-state manhunt. Authorities finally caught up with the two in Evansville, Indiana and stopped them after a collision brought a high speed chase to an end.

Casey, 38, surrendered – but White, 56, took her own life.

“We got a dangerous man off the street today. He is never going to see the light of day again. That is a good thing, for not just our community. That’s a good thing for our country,” Sheriff Rick Singleton said, NBC Chicago reported.

The manhunt began on April 29 after White told co-workers she was taking Casey off site for a mental health evaluation, after which she claimed she would go to her own medical appointment.

The two, who are not related, then fled the area.

Search teams eventually found the pickup truck the couple used to flee, but no sign of the two was found until authorities obtained surveillance footage showing a man resembling Casey exiting a Ford F-Cam 150 at a car wash in Evansville. Soon after, the couple was spotted near the sheriff’s office but escaped upon being approached, starting a lengthy car chase.

Before the escape, Casey was being held in the Lauderdale County Jail after allegedly confessing in 2020 to killing a woman in Rogersville, Alabama in 2015. Casey pleaded not guilty and was being held in custody awaiting trial.

Previously in 2019, Casey was sentenced to 75 years in state prison for a series of crimes in Limestone County, including kidnapping, attempted murder, burglary and breaking and entering. Additionally, he attempted to shoot his ex-girlfriend and took her roommates hostage in 2015.

On May 2, a warrant was issued for Vicki White on charges of permitting and facilitating the escape of an inmate in the first degree. Her actions have been met with disbelief and her colleagues have reported feeling bewildered that an officer so close to retirement with a “spotless record” could act in such a way, CNN reported.

In recent months, Vicki bought a rifle and a shotgun and was also known to have a handgun. She sold her house for half the market value and bought an orange 2007 Ford Edge that she hid in a strip mall with no license plates.

"This escape was obviously well planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this. They had a lot of resources, cash, vehicles," Singleton said.

A video showed the couple driving to the mall from the jail, where they picked up the Ford and drove away, Singleton continued. Their escape went undiscovered for much of the day.