Missing Alabama inmate, corrections officer in custody in Indiana after chase

(CNN) — Alabama fugitive Casey White and corrections officer Vicky White are in custody after a chase in Indiana, and she is hospitalized after shooting herself, authorities said late Monday afternoon.

The pair were taken into custody after their vehicle crashed in Evansville, ending a week and a half on the run, officials said.

US Marshals told CNN that Vicky White’s injury was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her wounds are “very serious,” said Sheriff Dave Wedding of Vanderburgh County, home to Evansville.

She is in “pretty serious shape,” he told reporters.

No law enforcement officers fired any shots, according to Sheriff Rick Singleton of Lauderdale County, Alabama, where the pair fled on April 29.

A tip from the public led to the capture and arrest, he said. The tip came Sunday night, Singleton said.

The pair was located at a hotel and then a vehicle chase followed, he said.

Wedding said the duo were believed to have been in Evansville since May 3. “It’s hard to believe they’ve been here that many days, but we’re lucky that we stumbled upon them today,” he said.

Singleton said the Whites, who are not related but believed to be in a romantic relationship, will be brought back to Alabama. Casey White faces murder charges.

“He will be in a cell by himself,” Singleton said. “He will stay in handcuffs and shackles while he’s in that cell and if he wants to sue me for violating his civil rights, so be it. He’s not getting out of this jail again. I’ll assure you that.”

Singleton said, “I’ve always expected this outcome. I knew we would catch them. It was just a matter of time.”

Most escapes from a county jail are spontaneous, he said. “This escape was obviously well planned and calculated,” Singleton said. “A lot of preparation went into this. They had plenty of resources, had cash, had vehicles, had everything they needed to pull this off, and that’s what made this last week and a half so challenging. We were starting from ground zero, and not only that, we started — they got a six-hour head start on us.”

Photos from Indiana car wash released

Earlier Monday, US Marshals released photos of who they believe was Casey White caught on a surveillance camera at an Evansville car wash.

It was the first time since he escaped a Lauderdale County detention center with Vicky White that he was reported seen.

Vicky White was not seen in the photos.

Investigators were notified Sunday night that a 2006 Ford F-150 had been discovered at a car wash in Evansville, about 175 miles north of Williamson County, Tennessee, where the 2007 Ford Edge the pair had been traveling in was found abandoned.

The owner provided the images from a security camera, US Marshals said in a release.

Marshals went to Indiana following up on the tip, the agency said.

Casey White is facing previous murder charges. A reward of up to $15,000 was offered for information leading to his capture, and $10,000 for information leading to Vicky White’s capture.

New charges against Vicky White

In Alabama, new charges were filed against Vicky White in relation to Casey White’s escape, the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department said.

The allegations stem from her using an alias to purchase the vehicle used in the escape, a 2007 Ford Edge, officials said. The warrant shows Vicky White was wanted on charges of forgery and identity theft.

Vicky White, who was an assistant director of corrections for Lauderdale County, took Casey White from the county jail on April 29, saying she was taking him for a mental health evaluation, which authorities learned later had never been scheduled. She then said she was going to get medical care after dropping the inmate off because she wasn’t feeling well.

Vicky White’s use of aliases may have complicated the search, Singleton said Monday.

“If she was using her own identity, that would make it fairly easy for us to maybe find her,” Singleton told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga. “We do know she used a false identification to purchase a car here locally.”.

After the capture, Singleton said he hopes Vicky White survives.

“We don’t wish any ill will on Vicky, but she has some answers to give us,” he said. “I have every bit of trust in (her). She had been an exemplary employee. I don’t know if we’ll ever know” what happened to change that.

Video footage shows the escape was well-prepared, sheriff says

Surveillance video footage of Vicky White taken before the getaway showed the level of preparation that went into the escape, Singleton said.

Investigators found footage of White shopping for men’s clothes at a department store and at an “adult store,” Singleton said, adding she “obviously had a change of clothes” for the inmate.

“It just tells us that it was very well planned and calculated,” Singleton said. “Obviously she well-planned this escape down to a T.”

Investigators earlier released video footage showing Vicky White at a Quality Inn in Florence, where she stayed the night before the escape more than a week ago.

The patrol car the officer and inmate took from the jail was found abandoned in a shopping center parking lot. Vicky White’s jail keys, radio and handcuffs were found inside. Authorities believe the pair left the lot in a different vehicle: Vicky White’s 2007 Ford SUV she parked in the lot the night before.

The vehicle was spotted on May 6 at a Tennessee tow lot. The car had been abandoned in the woods without any identifying information on the same day the duo escaped, indicating they drove about two hours north from the jail in Florence to Williamson County, Tennessee.

Authorities believe the vehicle may have had mechanical problems that prompted the abrupt stop in the area.

Vicky White, 56, and Casey White, 38, are not related. They have known each other since at least 2020 and had developed a romantic relationship, the sheriff told CNN earlier this week.

Prior to their disappearance, Vicky White had announced plans to retire and sold her home for a price well below market value.

She is no longer employed by the sheriff’s office, the office said, adding while April 29 was her last day of work, her retirement papers were never finalized.

Officials share photos and up rewards

The pair might have been armed with weapons including an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun while missing, the US Marshals Service said.

The agency said Casey White threatened his ex-girlfriend and her sister in 2015 if he ever got out, “he would kill them and he wanted police to kill him.” Authorities have warned the inmate’s “potential targets” and taken measures to protect them, the Marshals Service said.

“He has some issues that he’s on medication for, and when he’s off his meds, I’m told he can be extremely violent,” Singleton said.

The service also released several photos of Casey White and his tattoos as well as photo renderings of what Vicky White, who was blonde when she vanished, would look like with darker and shorter hair.