By Elisha Fieldstat and Antonio Planas -
NBC News
A copper-colored car similar to the one belonging to the Alabama corrections officer who went missing with an inmate was found Thursday in Tennessee, authorities said Friday.
The U.S. Marshals Service on Thursday released images of the 2007 Ford Edge it said officer Vicky White purchased
before allegedly helping murder suspect Casey White escape
from a Lauderdale County detention center last month.
A spokesman for the Williamson County, Tennessee, sheriff's office said a car matching that description was found abandoned there Thursday after the office received a tip.
Williamson County is located just south of Nashville.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said during a news conference Friday afternoon that the vehicle was abandoned on the side of the road in Williamson County on April 29, the day the two went missing.
“That's about a two-hour drive from here.
So approximately three hours and fifty minutes after they left Lawrence, Alabama, they abandoned that vehicle,” Singleton said.
Casey Cole White, left, and Vicky White. US Marshals Service, Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office via AP
"We're guessing they probably had mechanical issues with it, because it was dumped pretty much in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the county road, where it would obviously draw attention and be found," he added.
Singleton also said investigators are canvassing the area where the car was found, looking for witnesses and also looking into whether any vehicles were stolen in the area.
The vehicle was spray painted but the work they did "went wrong," Singleton said.
And he added that the Ford Edge was towed away before investigators realized the officer and inmate had disappeared together.
Singleton said Friday that authorities are almost back to square one again.
He pointed out that the disappeared had an advantage over the authorities.
Reports indicate Vicky White withdrew $90,000 from various banks before she disappeared
, and investigators suspect she and the inmate may have been carrying firearms she owned, Singleton said.
Vicky White has used other names in the past, Singleton said.
She added that investigators are concerned for her safety because Casey White "might lose her temper and decide she's a liability to him."
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When asked what his message was to her, Singleton said: “You know we will find you.
Hopefully, we'll find you safe.
If you're still safe, get out while you can and turn yourself in."
The car found was locked and authorities are seeking a warrant to search it, the Williamson County spokesman said.
The US Marshals Service, which is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to the capture of Casey White, said Thursday that the inmate had promised in the past to kill his ex-girlfriend and her sister if he ever got out of jail.
The threat was made before he received a 75-year sentence for a 2015 crime spree that involved breaking and entering a home, a carjacking and a police chase, according to the agency.
"Local law enforcement authorities have been in contact with these individuals to inform them of the threats and escape and have taken appropriate protective measures," the Marshals Service said in a news release.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has issued two reward notices of $5,000 each for information leading to the apprehension and arrest of Casey White and Vicky White.
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Officials in Limestone County, Alabama, are also now re-examining an investigation into the death of a woman Casey White dated, according to WAFF, an NBC affiliate news network in Huntsville.
Michelle Williamson of the Limestone County Sheriff's Office told NBC News that she is reviewing Christy Shelton's 2008 death at the request of her family.
Casey White was with Shelton when she was shot in the chest with a shotgun, WAFF reported.
Her death was declared a suicide.
Casey White, charged with capital murder in 2020 for stabbing 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway, has been on the run since escaping from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on April 29 with the help of Vicky White, a former deputy director of corrections, they said. The authorities.
Casey White, 38, had confessed to the 2020 murder and was awaiting trial when she disappeared with Vicky White.
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The US Marshals Service is offering up to $5,000 for the capture of former officer Vicky White, 56, who is
wanted for allowing or facilitating the escape of an inmate.
She and Casey White are not related.
They are believed to have been in some sort of relationship for at least two years.
The couple should be considered dangerous and could possibly be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun, according to authorities.
Vicky White was due to retire the day the couple disappeared, authorities said.
She had recently sold her house.
Singleton confirmed that Vicky White is no longer a worker at the sheriff's office.
He did not say if she had been fired.
