Newly released video shows Alabama corrections officer at hotel morning of escape
Video footage released by authorities Saturday shows a missing former corrections officer at a hotel in Alabama the morning she reportedly helped an inmate escape.
The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office released the video. The office said it shows Vicky White checking out of a Quality Inn in Florence, Alabama, on April 29, the same day she is believed to have helped capital murder suspect Casey White flee the Lauderdale County Detention Center.
Vicky White and Casey White are not related.
In the 14-second clip, Vicky White approaches the front counter at the hotel and leans over it, appearing to look for something. An employee is not at the counter.
NBC affiliate WAFF of Huntsville reported that Vicky White was at the hotel the morning she allegedly helped Casey White escape.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said the hotel was near where the getaway car was parked. The car was later found abandoned.
Authorities said the pair left the jail for a purported mental health evaluation in court, but investigators learned that no such evaluation had been scheduled. Before she left, Vicky White told a booking officer that she was going to a medical appointment after she dropped off Casey White, who was awaiting trial after he confessed to the 2015 stabbing death of Connie Ridgeway.
Singleton said investigators determined that Vicky White did not have a medical appointment scheduled that day. He also said she transported Casey White by herself, which violates department policy that requires two sworn deputies to be present with an inmate facing serious charges.
The sheriff said on ABC's "Good Morning America" that they believe Vicky White willingly helped the inmate escape. During their investigation, authorities learned Vicky White and Casey White had a roughly two-year relationship. Singleton previously told WAFF that it was not physical or sexual in nature.
Vicky White, 56, is no longer employed with the sheriff's office, although Singleton did not say whether she had been fired. On the day of the escape, she was supposed to retire but her retirement papers were not finalized.
On Friday, authorities announced the reward for Casey White was increased to $15,000 and the reward for Vicky White is $10,000.
