By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) – Alabama authorities issued Monday an arrest warrant for the female corrections officer, who disappeared from Alabama jail along with the suspect. It was originally believed that she had been held hostage by him when he fled last week.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton confirmed that Casey White, the 38-year old inmate and Vicky White, Vicky White’s accused escape accomplice (56 years) are both now considered fugitives who have been armed and dangerous.

U.S. Marshals Service had been treating the manhunt of the couple, who aren’t related, as one their top investigations.

Casey White is charged with capital murder for September 2020 stabbing deaths. White has been serving time already for a crime spree that included home invasions and carjacking in 2015. He was last seen leaving Muscle Shoals in Alabama on Friday.

According to Singleton, at the time, he had been handcuffed, and chained in Vicky White’s custody. White was supposed to be transporting White by patrol car to the county courthouse to conduct a mental assessment.

Vicky White informed the jail booking officer that she intended to hand the detainee to another deputy at the courthouse and to then take a personal appointment for medical reasons. Singleton confirmed this.

Singleton stated that both the mental examination and the claim by Singleton she is feeling sick were part of the scam. Vicky White also claimed Vicky White was the only armoured officer who could transport the inmate. These statements violate protocols which stipulate every inmate must be accompanied at all times during transfers.

The patrol car that was left at a mall parking lot had been found abandoned by the police officer. Authorities discovered the couple were missing. Sheriff stated that investigators had received tip from the public that an inmate and officer changed to another vehicle.

Although Vicky White could have helped Vicky escape under duress, he stated that investigators are also investigating whether they had been in a relationship before Vicky White was released.

Singleton claimed Friday was her final day of work before her retirement. Vicky White (a 17-year veteran in corrections) had also sold her house one month prior.

He told reporters that “Nobody expected this to happen.” Vicky White’s colleagues, who have known her for decades, said that she would not do this unknowingly. “She has always been an outstanding employee.”

Singleton stated that Casey White was suspected of planning an escape from the same prison in 2020. He had been moved from a state jail to the county lockup Feb. 25, 2019, for pre-trial proceedings in relation to Connie Ridgeway’s murder.