Yesterday, authorities announced that Alabama corrections officer Vicky White had died of injuries after going on the run with inmate and murder suspect Casey White (no relation).
The duo became the subject of a frantic manhunt after they vanished from a Lauderdale County jail on April 29.
Authorities' search came to a tragic end when the fugitive's Cadillac was stopped and officer White reportedly shot herself while being arrested. She later died of her injuries in hospital.
It is believed that the two were involved in a romantic relationship. When he was removed from their car, Casey White asked officers to help "his wife", CNN reports, though it is not known whether they were married.
For those close to the 57-year-old corrections officer, her decision to go on the run with a violent criminal was a shocking and unexpected revelation.
Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly told CNN that until the incident she had a spotless record, adding: "I would have trusted Vicky with my life. I really mean it. If we needed something from the jail, she was our go-to person. Solid employee. That's why it's so shocking."
Meanwhile, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton described her as "an exemplary employee" with an "unblemished record" who had the total trust and respect of her colleagues.
Before her death, he had hoped to bring both officer White and Casey White back to Alabama for an arraignment, telling CNN: "She has some answers to give us. What in the world provoked her, prompted her to pull a stunt like this, I don't know. I don't know if we'll ever know."
"Obviously there was a side to Vicky White that we weren't aware of," he added.
In hindsight, White left clues that she was planning some kind of sudden move in the leadup to her disappearance. She submitted her retirement paper and sold her home for well below market value, per officials.
However, this has not softened the toll her sudden defection has taken on her colleagues at the Lauderdale County Detention Center.
Singleton announced that counselors would be made available for staff affected by White's disappearance and death, saying: "It's a small agency, like family. Some of these younger deputies she was like a mother figure to them and I know they're going to take it hard."
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