(NewsNation) — The disappearance of Alabama correctional officer Vicky White and her apparent plot to help inmate Casey White escape from jail has mesmerized true crime fans across the nation.
The two remain at large and an active manhunt seeks their whereabouts as surveillance video and details of their plan emerge.
Here is what we know about the case:
What happened?
Vicky White was the longtime assistant director of corrections in Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, Alabama, about 75 miles west of Huntsville.
On Friday, April 29, she drove to the detention center, telling colleagues she was taking inmate Casey White to the courthouse for a mental evaluation.
The deputy removed the inmate from his cell and took him to booking, where he was handcuffed and his legs shackled.
She loaded him into the back of a police cruiser and the pair then vanished nearly without a trace.
Vicky White was alone with the inmate, which the sheriff said violated department policy.
Authorities later learned Casey White’s mental evaluation at the courthouse was never scheduled and the patrol car was found dumped in an area without a security camera not far from the detention center.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said surveillance video led authorities to believe “that the patrol car left the detention center and went straight to the parking lot” where it was found.
Singleton also said a warrant was issued for Vicky White’s arrest for permitting or assisting in an escape.
WHO ARE THEY?
Vicky White lived 18 miles from the Lauderdale County jail, in a house that she sold just days before she disappeared, well under market value.
Vicky White had been with the department for 17 years and according to Sheriff Singleton, and had turned in her retirement papers just days before going missing.
Her colleagues at the jail “are in total disbelief and shocked that she has been involved in something like this,” according to the sheriff.
Casey Cole White, 38, had been jailed on a capital murder charge in the Lauderdale County Detention Center. He was facing a possible death penalty under Alabama Law. He has a lengthy rap sheet.
The Marshals Service said Casey is 6 feet, 9 inches tall, and weighs about 260 pounds. He has brown hair hazel eyes and several tattoos.
WHERE WERE THEY LAST SEEN?
Detectives are piecing together evidence from the days before the pair vanished.
New surveillance footage released by the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department shows that Vicky White stayed at a hotel in Lauderdale County the night before the pair fled the jail.
In the days leading up to their disappearance, she had also purchased an orange 2007 Ford Edge. That car was parked in a mall parking lot near the hotel.
Authorities say she drove her work vehicle to the Lauderdale County Jail the morning she freed Casey and then switched vehicles after she picked him up.
The United States Marshals Service released a flyer on May 3 with information about the vehicle and the two fugitives.
Singleton told local news agencies it was a mistake by a law enforcement agency to release the flyer which was not ready for the public. He added the early release has hindered their investigation.
According to reports, the Ford was then reported abandoned on the same day the pair went missing, only two hours from the jail they escaped from in Williamson County, Tennessee. It was confirmed to be linked to the case days later.
Reports show they had attempted to spray paint the car at some point.
There have been reports Vicky was spotted inside a department store buying men’s clothing. Workers inside told NewsNation’s Brian Entin they could not comment.
Others report seeing Vicky at an adult store before she took off. A woman working inside told Entin that her lawyer advised her not to talk about whether or not Vicky was a customer.
WHAT IS THEIR RELATIONSHIP?
The pair are not related despite having the same last name.
However, investigators confirmed to NewsNation that the pair do share a “special relationship.”
According to the Alabama sheriff, Vicky White was in phone contact with Casey White in prison many months before their escape.
Singleton previously said that she had visited him while he was serving time at another prison, but corrected his statement saying, that was incorrect and that they were “in contact via phone.”
Authorities believe Casey White and Vicky White had an ongoing relationship for two years.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Dog the Bounty Hunter believes it’s just a matter of time before they’re caught. However, former colleagues do not feel as strongly.
“Honestly, I don’t think she will be found. She is calculated enough that she has thought this entire thing through. She definitely outsmarted the sheriff. She outsmarted the administrator of the jail,” Tyson Johnson, a former employee at the jail, said.
The U.S. Marshals Service recently released rendered photos, showing Casey White’s tattoos and also what Vicky might look like with brown hair and no bangs. They are also offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to their capture.
Investigators say Casey White and Vicky White are believed to be armed and dangerous, carrying a shotgun and an AR-15-style rifle.
Anyone who sees the pair is urged not to approach or follow them, but instead call 911 immediately.