Alabama authorities are trying to find a corrections officer and inmate who never made it to courtroom

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 are usually not associated.

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

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

Singleton said that though Casey White was supposedly being transported for a mental well being evaluation on the courthouse, they've since discovered that no such evaluation or different court docket hearing for him was scheduled for Friday.

"Understanding the inmate, I think she's at risk whatever the circumstances... He was in jail for capital murder, and he had nothing to lose," Singleton mentioned.

Authorities are now all potentialities of what happened, including if the corrections officer helped Casey White escape.

"Whether she assisted him or not, we do not know, and we cannot address that till we have now absolute proof that that's what happened. We're assuming at this point that she was taken towards her will, except we will absolutely show otherwise," Singleton added.

Authorities stated they're nonetheless looking out and investigating any interplay between the corrections officer and Casey White, as well as any telephone calls he had obtained.

When Vicki White escorted Casey White out of the jail, she told the guard she was going to drop him off on the courtroom after which go seek medical attention because she wasn't feeling nicely.

The sheriff stated Casey White was never dropped off at court docket and Vicki White did not make it to the place the place she mentioned she was going to seek medical consideration.

Authorities did not realize they have been lacking until a number of hours later.

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

Round 3:30 p.m., officers on the jail were concerned and tried to reach her, but her telephone 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 had been in place. The query we have now for Director White is why she violated policy," Singleton mentioned.

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