Vicky White, an Alabama correctional officer who helped an inmate escape custody, died after a police chase that ended hundreds of miles away in Indiana. Authorities suspect she committed suicide during Monday's police chase and later succombed to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On Monday, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said that White, 56, had been discovered by a U.S. Marshals task force in Evansville, Indiana together with escaped convict Casey White, 38 . After a tip led authorities to the two at a motel, a vehicle chase began that ended when a police vehicle struck the Cadillac with Casey White in the driver seat.

Inside, Vicky White was found with a gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to a hospital to be treated for her injuries, but she was pronounced dead late on Monday. An investigation into her death is ongoing.

Authorities say Casey White referred to her as his “wife” and said that she shot herself in the head, insisting that he was not responsible for the gunshot. The two were not married but are believed to have started a romantic relationship in prison.

The saga began April 29 when she removed Casey White from his cell and said she would be transporting him to court for a mental health evaluation. The two never appeared, but her patrol car was discovered abandoned at a nearby shopping center. After realizing she had helped the inmate escape, a nationwide manhunt was launched for their capture.

For 11 days the trail remained cold, but a tip was submitted to the U.S. Marshals on May 8. On that day, investigators learned 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 using was found abandoned.

It is not known exactly why Vicky White, a veteran corrections officer who had recently submitted her paperwork for retirement, aided Casey White in his escape. Tragically, many of those questions will remain unanswered.

According to Sheriff Singleton, the two were said to have a "special relationship" that may have began two years earlier in 2020 when Casey was first arraigned on capital murder charges in Lauderdale County, Alabama. He based this claim on information received inside and outside the detention center where she worked.

With Vicky White dead, Casey White will be transported back to Alabama, where Singleton promised he’d be unlikely to repeat his escape attempt.

“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.”

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