Authorities in Lauderdale County, Alabama, are searching for a corrections officer and a capital murder suspect who both disappeared Friday morning.
Deputy Vicki White and inmate Casey Cole White were last seen leaving a local detention center at around 9:30 a.m. Friday.
The vehicle in which the two left the detention center was found in a shopping center parking lot in Florence at around 11 a.m., WVTM-TV reported.
Officials realized the pair were missing at about 3:30, according to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office.
Despite sharing a last name, Vicki and Casy are not related to each other, the sheriff’s office said.
At a Friday evening news conference, Sheriff Rick Singleton said Vicki told her colleagues that she was taking Casey to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. She also told a booking officer that she was going to seek medical attention for herself because she did not feel well.
The two never reached the courthouse. Furthermore, there was no mental health evaluation scheduled for Casey.
Vicki’s decision to transport Casey by herself constituted a policy violation, the sheriff said. Vicki was armed with a 9mm gun when they left the detention center, CBS News reported.
“Knowing the inmate, I think [Vicki] is in danger, whatever the circumstances,” Singleton said. “He was in jail for capital murder and, you know, he had nothing to lose.”
He said Casey should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.”
The sheriff said police are investigating the case “aggressively” and looking for video footage that may provide more information.
“Did she assist him in escaping? That’s obviously a possibility,” Singleton stated. “So we’re looking into that as one angle of the investigation. Was she kidnapped en route to the courthouse and, you know, taken against her will?”
“She’s been an employee for 25 years, and I can tell you that every employee in this office is shocked that she’s missing and that this has happened,” he added. “We’re just in disbelief. She’s been an exemplary employee.”
According to WVTM, Casey’s capital murder charge stems from the “brutal death” of a woman in Rogersville in 2015. The charge also includes first-degree burglary, the outlet reported.
Anyone who sees the deputy or the suspect is asked not to approach the duo and to immediately call 911.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
