Yahoo Lifestyle The True Story Behind Netflix's 'Jailbreak: Love on the Run'
On April 29, 2022, a convicted felon named Casey Cole White walked out of Lauderdale County Jail in Florence, Ala., alongside a corrections officer named Vicky White. At the time, Vicky White told supervisors that she was taking Casey White (no relation) for an inmate "mental health evaluation.” But no such appointment existed.
When Casey and Vicky failed to return to the jail, local, state, and federal investigators began what would evolve into an 11-day manhunt for the pair. Initially, law enforcement thought Vicky—a well-liked and highly respected assistant director of corrections —might have been taken hostage by Casey. Soon, however, surfaced surveillance footage and recorded phone conversations revealed that Vicky and Casey, who was nearly 20 years the officer’s junior, had been engaged in a secret romantic relationship. Vicky had willingly helped Casey escape. About two weeks later, Casey was captured and Vicky died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after running their truck into a ditch.
A new Netflix documentary, Jailbreak: Love On The Run, out Sept. 25, looks at Casey and Vicky’s unlikely love story, escape from jail, and the subsequent manhunt and media frenzy. Produced by Aaron Ginsburg, William Green, and Alec MacRae, Jailbreak features in-depth interviews with case investigators, Vicky’s co-workers, and Casey’s fellow inmates.
Here’s everything you need to know about Casey and Vicky White, and the new revelations in Jailbreak: Love On the Run.
Read more: 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
Who is Casey Cole White?
Prior to his escape, Casey White, now 41, had been serving a 75-year prison sentence for a 2015 home invasion, two car jackings, and multiple shootings. In 2019, he was convicted of multiple charges for those crimes, including attempted murder and first-degree robbery.
In 2020, while serving time at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, Casey sent a letter to the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office confessing to an additional crime, the 2015 killing of Connie Ridgeway, a 59-year-old resident of Rogersville, Ala. He was then charged with two counts of capital murder and transferred to Lauderdale County Detention Center to face trial. (Following his transfer, White recanted his confession and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.)
Corrections employees and fellow inmates recall the six-foot-nine inmate as being friendly, talkative, and “charming,” particularly when he wanted something. They concede, however, that Casey could turn “very scary” if he’d` been doing drugs.
Who was Vicky White?
Meanwhile, Vicky, who was 56 at the time of her death, had been working as an assistant director of corrections at Lauderdale County Detention Center for 17 years. She was reportedly an exemplary member of the team, being named "Employee of the year" four times over that period. She was due to retire on April 29, 2022—the same day she broke Casey out of jail.
Vicky had been married once, to a man named Tommy White, but they divorced in 2006 with Vicky citing his drug addiction. They remained close friends, however. (Tommy White died in January 2022, following a battle with Parkinson's disease; the couple had no children.) Vicky was later engaged to Lauderdale resident Bryan Keith Garner, but he died in a car accident in 2009. Co-workers interviewed for the documentary describe Vicky as lonely and prone to drinking every day to cope.
When she described her eventual retirement, Vicky told co-workers, “When I go, I’m going out with a bang.”
In 2021, Vicky shared with her co-workers that she was dating two men, one of whom was younger, though she declined to elaborate. Meanwhile, former inmate Tyler Purser told filmmakers that he and other inmates were aware of Vicky and Casey’s romantic relationship; there were even a couple of times Vicky would send everyone except for Casey out for “yard time” so that they could be intimate.
Residents at the detention center also suspected that something was going on between Casey and Vicky when they noticed Casey handing Vicky outgoing mail without any addresses written on the envelope.
When Vicky and Casey were found in Evansville, Ind—about 175 miles north of Florence, Ala.—Vicky shot herself after the two ran their car into a ditch as they tried to escape law enforcement. Vicky died in an Indiana hospital shortly thereafter.
What does Jailbreak reveal about Vicky White and Casey White?
As a narrative device, Jailbreak weaves in numerous recorded conversations between Vicky and Casey, which range from the mundane to full-on phone sex. With Vicky using a burner phone, they spoke about everything from what they were watching on TV to how they’d spent their days and fantasized about what a life of freedom would look like with one another.
The documentary likewise illustrates just how well-liked Vicky was by her colleagues and inmates. “She treated everybody like they were somebody,” Tyler Purser told filmmakers. “She was like [the] mother … that everybody in there never had growing up.”
Jailbreak also outlines how Vicky prepared for the day she took Casey out of jail, purchasing firearms and one piece of camping gear at a time during grocery trips to Walmart. Three days prior to their escape, Vicky did a “dry run” by taking Casey out for nearly 10 minutes before bringing him back. As Vicky laid the groundwork for departure, she put in her retirement notice and sold her house in what appeared to be a rush.
In their interviews, Vicky’s former co-workers appear largely distraught over what happened to their colleague, with some placing full blame on Casey for allegedly taking advantage of a lonely, older woman.
However, former inmates at the jail theorize that Casey really did love Vicky and that they escaped together in order to live normally as a couple for however long they could evade law enforcement. "Don't paint it out like he's a monster. Don't paint it out like she was a fool,” Tyler Purser says. “They were just two people [from] different walks of life that fell in love."
How were Casey and Vicky ultimately caught?
Prior to their escape, Vicky had purchased an orange Ford as a getaway car, which law enforcement discovered seven days later in a tow yard. As the investigation went on, officials realized that the couple had purchased a truck, which they tracked to Evansville. Surveillance footage shows Casey getting into another car—a Cadillac—and driving away.
After tracking Casey and Vicky to a nearby motel, law enforcement began staking out the location and preparing to apprehend them. Casey and Vicky began to realize they were being followed and left the motel, but law enforcement chased after them and the chase ultimately sent their Cadillac into a ditch.
The car’s airbags went off, and Vicky shot herself. Casey surrendered to police, begging them to “please check on my wife.” (The two were not legally married.)
What happened after Casey was caught?
Casey was later charged with escape in the first degree and felony murder in connection with Vicky’s death. He pleaded not guilty to both charges, but later pleaded guilty to the escape charge in exchange for dropping the murder charge.
He is currently serving a life sentence in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until 2081, when he will be 98 years old.
In 2023, the production team reached out to Casey at Donaldson Prison. When asked, "What did you think would happen after your escape?" Casey replied: "We thought we'd never get caught. We thought we had enough cash money. Went up to everything up there just to find us a place up there... and just get a little rinky-dink trailer up there.... for 250, 300 dollars a month, and pay them up for a year right there, then pay the electric bill for a year and just stayed and hunkered down up there."
Casey also shed some light around why he referred to Vicky as his wife, even though they were not legally married: "I called her my wife right there 'cause we was married in my laws. We weren't married in the faith laws. We were married together right there."
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