May 6 (UPI) -- An abandoned SUV found in Tennessee has been linked to the corrections officer and inmate who escaped from an Alabama prison last month, authorities said Friday.
The 2007 orange Ford Edge used by Vicky White, the former assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County Jail in Alabama, and inmate Casey White was found abandoned on April 29, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in Tennessee said in a statement.
"Alabama officials did not release a bulletin about the vehicle until May 3 .... four days later," the sheriff's office said.
"In fact, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office had the abandoned vehicle towed even before Alabama authorities knew that Casey White and Vicky White were missing."
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The sheriff's office said that the car had been sitting in a towing company impound lot when the company realized that the car may be the one law enforcement had been seeking.
The U.S. Marshall's Service then searched the around Smithson and Banner-Adams roads in the community of Bethesda, about 32 miles south of Nashville, but "nothing was found," the sheriff's office said.
"There is NO sign the two are still in our area," the sheriff's office said.
Casey White's escape is believed to have been "orchestrated" and Vicky White played a role, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said on Monday. The two are not related despite sharing a last name.
The U.S. Marshals Service said Wednesday that the federal agency is offering up to $10,000 for information leading to the capture Casey White and up to $5,000 for Vicky White.
"The subjects should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun," the U.S. Marshall's Service said.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Vicky White, 56, charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree. Casey White was in jail on capital murder charges "brutal stabbing" of 58-year-old Connie Ridgeway at the time of his escape.
