U.S. marshals and sheriff’s deputies led an 11-day manhunt for an Alabama murder suspect and jailer who were heavily armed and preparing for a shootout when they were captured.
U.S. Marshal Marty Keely provided the most detailed and comprehensive accounting to date of the U.S. Marshals Service investigation and nationwide manhunt in an interview with The Associated Press.
The manhunt led authorities across three states as they searched for the duo. Eventually, police located Casey White and Vicky White in Indiana. Vicky White fatally shot herself after a police pursuit.
The first lead in the investigation was when a jail worker reported that Vicky White called them and asked them to pick her up at a sporting goods store in Florence, Alabama.
She said she was locked out of her car and needed a ride to work.
It was later discovered that was the shopping center where the Ford Edge had been parked before the corrections officer and inmate escaped.
Investigators also found that Vicky White sold her house for only $95,000, as well as her car, weeks before the escape.
She also bought an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun to go along with her service weapon and .45-caliber pistol.
The man who sold the two the Ford F-150 spoke with investigators.
He said he sold them the truck the same day of the escape. The then-fugitives did not care that the truck didn’t have license plates and bought the truck with cash.
The F-150 was later found at a carwash in Indiana but it couldn’t be towed because it wasn’t reported stolen.
Investigators believe the two paid a man experiencing homelessness so that they could use his identification to rent a hotel room. They paid cash for a 14-day stay.
During that time, investigators say they acquired a Cadillac sedan, which was seen on surveillance video from the car wash.
That’s when officers started doing rounds around Evansville, Indiana, in search of the Cadillac.
They eventually found it at a motel and placed it under surveillance.
That helped investigators find Vicky White, wearing a wig, with Casey White.
They got into the car but soon saw U.S. marshals following them.
That’s when a chase ensued and officers rammed the fugitives’ vehicle.
The car flipped over, and Vicky White shot herself in the head, investigators told the AP.
Casey White reportedly told officers, “Please help my wife, she just shot herself in the head.”
Officers still don’t know why he referred to Vicky White as his wife.
She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
One of the most stunning details that was revealed during the investigation was Vicky and White had actually done a dry run for the escape before.
Two law enforcement officials told the AP the corrections officer had taken Casey White out of the jail for about 40 minutes.
Casey White has been returned to Alabama and is expected to face new charges in addition to the murder charge he was already facing, and the 75-year prison sentence he was already serving for attempted murder and other charges.
