Casey White (L) and corrections officer Vicki White
(Picture: AP)US police are hunting an “extremely dangerous” prisoner who is facing murder charges and a missing guard who they now believe helped him escape.
Handcuffed inmate Casey White, 38, and corrections officer Vicki White, 56, were last seen on Friday leaving the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office in Florence, Alabama.
Police said the pair are not related despite having the same surname.
Ms White told co-workers she was taking the inmate to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation but there was not one scheduled.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said the corrections officer had sold her house about a month ago and “talked about going to the beach”.
Friday was her last day before retirement.
“We know she participated, whether she did that willingly or if she was coerced, threatened somehow to participate, not really sure. We know for sure she did participate,” Singleton said.
“Casey White, as you’ve heard me say over and over and over is an extremely dangerous person and we need to get him located and get him off the street.”
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Monday they had issued an arrest warrant for Ms White on charges of permitting or allowing an escape.
Casey White was serving time for a string of crimes including robbery and burglary.
He had confessed to the 2015 stabbing death of a 58-year-old woman in prison and was awaiting trial at the Lauderdale County Jail before he vanished without a trace, authorities said.
It is believed Casey White plotted an earlier escape from jail.
He could face the death penalty if convicted of the murder charge.
The US Marshals Service is offering up to $10,000 (£7,983) for information.
Singleton said Vicky White had been an exemplary employee and jail employees are “just devastated.”
The sheriff said: “This is not the Vicky White we know, by any stretch of the imagination.”
Ms White’s mum Pat Davis said she was in shock and scared for her daughter.
“As a mother, I didn’t know how to act because I thought at first it was a mistake. And then when I found out for sure it was, it was just disbelief,” she told WAAY.
The mum said “we just want her back” and found it difficult to believe her daughter would help an inmate escape.
“She’s never done anything, I bet she’s never even had a speeding ticket,” she added.
At a press conference on Monday, US Marshal Marty Keely said: “We consider both of them dangerous and, in all probability, both individuals are armed.”
Casey White is 6 feet, 9 inches (2.06 meters) tall and weighs about 260 pounds (118 kilograms).
The sheriff said they had no leads at this point on where the two are located.
