Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - ON THE RUN: Blonde Warden "Missing" With Killer, New Details

Episode Date: May 9, 2022

New details in the search for prison escapee Casey White and the female prison employee who helped set him free.  An attorney for the escaped convict says White is mentally ill and likely off his meds — and that’s not a good thing. Dale Bryant tells AL.com that “Casey’s an all right guy” when he’s taking his meds, but when White is off his medication, Bryant says "that’s when things become a problem.’  White, 38, slipped out of an Alabama county jail with the help of rogue jailer Vicky White, 57 — no relation — in an obviously carefully planned escape. No one even knew they were gone for six hours, and by that time they’d already abandoned their getaway car in Tennessee.  Rewards for information leading to Casey White and Vicky White have reached a total of $25,000 — $15,000 for the inmate and $10,000 for the jailer. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Austin Williams - Connie Ridgeway's son   Sheriff Rick Singleton - Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, Facebook: "Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office" James Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective, Former S.W.A.T. officer, Attorney, The Shelnutt Law Firm, P.C., www.ShelnuttLawFirm.com, Twitter: @ShelnuttLawFirm Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, www.carynstark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark" Bobby Chacon - 27 years former FBI Agent, BobbyChacon.com, Instagram/Twitter: @BobbyChaconFBI, Writer and Co-producer: Audible Original Series, "After the Fall"  Xavier Wherry - Multimedia Journalist, WAAY-TV, waaytv.com, Instagram: @XWherry, Twitter: @XavierWAAYTV  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, brand new surveillance footage has been released from a local hotel showing the warden slash lover strutting back and forth and back and forth in a hotel lobby the very same day within hours of her springing a killer. And I mean a stone cold killer. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to our friends at WAAY 31. We start with new details in the nationwide manhunt for an escaped Lauderdale County inmate and corrections supervisor who the sheriff's office says helped him. Take a look at your

screen now. This is new video from the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office. It shows former corrections supervisor Vicki White. You can see her right there moving around on the screen. She was checking out of the Quality Inn in Florence. In this video, this is the same day she disappeared with capital murder suspect Casey White. The hotel is located near where the pair got into their getaway vehicle. The car was found in Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Wow, so many questions with me and all-star panel, but the first person I want to go to is special guest Sheriff Rick Singleton, the Lauderdale County Sheriff. Sheriff, thank you for being with us. Sheriff, a couple of quick things based on what we just heard. Where the car was found in Florence? That is north of Lauderdale County? Well, Florence is actually the county seat of Lauderdale County.

The car was found in Bethesda, Tennessee, which is about a two-hour drive north of Florence. Okay. Well, you know what? I got that half right. Hold on. So that was in Bethesda and you're saying it's two hours north, correct? Yes, ma'am. Would that suggest to you, Sheriff, that they are in fact headed north? Because no way would they go two hours north and then turn back and circle back down, let's just say to get lost in Florida. They're definitely traveling north. Wouldn't you agree with that? That's the indication from where the car was found. We do not know how they left that area, you know, where the car was abandoned.

If they hitched a ride, if they stole another vehicle. To our knowledge, we haven't gotten any reports of stolen vehicles in the area. If they had a second car, you car, we're just not sure. We're sort of back square one on that. I want to talk to you about those theories, Sheriff. First, let me introduce the rest of our panel. Joining me from WAAY-TV, multimedia journalist Xavier Wherry. He's been on the case from the very beginning.

27 years with the FBI. Bobby Chacon, now producer-writer of original series After the Fall. Karen Stark, renowned New York psychologist, joining us from Manhattan at KarenStark.com. James Shelnut, 27 years, Metro major case, now lawyer at the Shallnotlawfirm.com. A very special guest joining us, Austin Williams is here today. Austin's mother, Connie, was murdered by the guy that has just been sprung by Vicki White, Casey White, no relation, admitted he murdered Austin's mom. Now, we're focusing a lot on where the car is, where they are, what are they driving, what do they look like right now, how did it happen, what went wrong? Think about this. You know where I was yesterday? I was with

my children. It was incredible. And you know who else was with us? My mother. But Austin couldn't be with his mother because his mother was murdered by this guy. Sheriff, I want to follow up. Bobby Chacon, James Shelnut, everybody, Xavier, jump in. Remember, this is no tea party at High Grove. I want to hear every bit of information I can hear.

Let's analyze what you just said, Sheriff Rick Singleton. You said they either walked away from the car, they either hitched a ride, or they had another car ready. I want to analyze, did they have another car ready? First question, Sheriff, why did they ditch the car? Did they have car trouble? Well, we're still not certain that that was the issue. The car was abandoned in a rural area on a county road where it would obviously be seen and it would be reported. So, you know, it's either one of two things. They either ditched the vehicle there to throw us off, or they had car trouble. I've not heard from the investigators if they've checked the mechanics of the car.

It appeared from one photo I've seen, and I've not personally seen the car. It is being brought back here to Florence this morning. It appeared it had a flat tire, but I'm not sure about that. But I will certainly have my investigators let me know as soon as we can get a definite determination. Okay, let's figure that out. Chacon, you're hearing what Sheriff Singleton is saying. Here's my thinking. They tried to spray paint the car green.

All right. So we know that they had a plan. They were going to paint the car green. For some reason, they gave up on that plan. If they were going to repaint the car green, why would they have had a second vehicle? That rules out thinking of a second vehicle getaway. On the other hand, they left the car, the getaway car, in a very obvious spot where it would be seen. That would suggest what to you?

That they did have a second vehicle? What's your prevailing train of thought, Bobby Chacon? Yeah, I think that I think you're right. I don't think they have a plan B. In other words, I think they had a plan. Something went awry with the plan, painting the car, whatever stopped them from completing that. And now I'd be looking at any other ways that they could have left that area because, you

know, they could have had a second car. All of this is still up in the air. But the way things look right now that they had their plan in place, they were in the process of executing their plan when something else interrupted them. In other words, if they would have completed the painting of the car and they ditched the car somewhere else after it was completely, maybe that's part of the plan. But this partial attempt at painting the car not being completed leads me to believe that that was part of the plan, paint the car and get away with the new color. And so I think they were either interrupted or somehow had to abandon that plan. Whether they had a plan B or a plan C, I don't know, but I doubt that they did.

Well, hold on just a second, Chacon. What about this? This woman, Vicki White, Karen Stark. Have you seen, remember Robert Blake? Can we just talk about him for a moment? He murdered his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley. Remember all the lists that he and his cohorts had? They had very, very intricate lists of what they were going to buy lime, buy a shovel, do this, do that.

In this case, Vicki White made elaborate plans. And Sheriff, correct me if I'm wrong, she planned down to the day of her retirement. She sold her home ahead of time. She withdrew $90,000 cash from multiple banks. She stayed in a hotel the night before. She bought the getaway car under an assumed name, I think with cash. She parked that car in a shopping center. She had it parked in a spot where it would not be observed by surveillance video. She had everything planned. She'd been talking to her co-workers about her retirement, that she was going to go to sit on a beach somewhere. Everything was carefully planned. So why wouldn't there be a plan B,

Karen Stark? Well, I'm hearing what everyone had to say, Nancy. It seems to me, I mean, this is a very shrewd woman. She could have been working on this, I suspect, for years. And so there had to be some kind of a backup plan. To me, if she painted it, they planned to paint it, they had a flat tire, something happened, I have no doubt

they found another vehicle that did something that got them to be able to travel away. Do you think they had a plan B? Just boil it down for me, okay? Because I'm just a JD. You're the shrink. Plan B or no plan B? Very simple. Yes, no. Yes, you think there was a plan B. Okay, Sheriff Singleton, you know what else I think was planned? Something that his mother said. How she's talking about how he's really not a bad guy. Okay, BS on that.

She said, Sheriff, oh, he didn't kill that woman. He just confessed to it so he could get brought back to the local jail. So I'm wondering how long this plan had been in the works. Did he, of course, he killed Austin's mother. We know that. But did he give the confession in order to get back to the local jail to hook back up with Vicki White? What do you think about that? Well, I know that that theory is out there.

I don't I know that he confessed to the homicide of Connie Ridgeway and he was facing charges for that. Some other things about how calculating Vicki White was in this plan. We also know now that prior to the escape that she was shopping for clothes, men's clothes in a local clothing store. She also shopped in an adult store. And, you know, the thing about the abandoned car, you know, the thing, the question would be if they were going to abandon it for a plan B, why would they risk driving it for two hours? I guess assuming we might get an identification on the car sooner,

it looks like they would have ditched it a little closer. But there's still a lot of questions to be answered concerning, you know, the car and where it was abandoned and how they left that area. We're looking at every possible scenario to try to determine that. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Sheriff, you said that she had been shopping for men's clothing ahead of the bust, right? Yes, ma'am. Now, I think that's where that rumor is circulating that they stopped at some adult, I guess, a sex toy shop. But that was before she sprung him, right?

Yes, ma'am. That was in the days leading up to the escape. Wow. You're doing a lot of background work. What about where she parked the getaway car, Sheriff? Was it in a spot in that shopping center where video would not catch it well it was it was a very obvious spot it was right on the side of one of the busiest streets here in florence uh the the cover there was that there are several other cars parked there that are for sale uh older cars and so it sort of blended in because it's a low profile car as far as the light bar

on it and so forth. It's a Ford Taurus, sits a little lower. And, you know, it didn't just stand out, you know, at someone. It wasn't like a big SUV or something. Well, what I'm getting at, Sheriff, is if you could see it on video, couldn't you see him? I mean, couldn't you see them getting into the car? No, ma'am. There was no video footage in the shopping area that depicted that. But there again, that's another reason I think she chose this location because we did have a witness who saw the getaway car there the night before.

I actually looked at it. He was looking at the car that was for sale there. And he looked at that specific car and went around the front and got the number to call about it. And there was no for sale sign, no phone number on it. He thought that was odd, being it was parked there among other cars for sale. And Sheriff, it didn't already have the green paint on it at that time, did it? No, ma'am. It did not have the paint on it.

Gotcha. Okay. You know, I want to, one more thing, Sheriff, before I go to Austin and Xavier Wherry. Sheriff, what about his medication? Is it medication that he has to have refilled? He is on medication, and, you know, there's no medication taken with him, to our knowledge. I don't know.

I'm not that familiar with his specific situation concerning his medical needs, but I do know that I've been told that he can get pretty violent if he's not on his meds. I'm just wondering if it's anything that he's going to have to get. Like, is he diabetic? Does he have a heart problem? Is there something he has to take they're going to have to stop and get somehow? Or did she get that pre-ordered as well?

I want to go now to Austin Williams. This is Connie Ridgeway's son. Connie was murdered 10-23-15. October 23, 2015. Austin, when you heard that this guy,

Casey White, had been sprung from jail, first of all, tell me about it. What happened? I was completely shocked. The district attorney's office was good enough to call myself and my brother before the news broke. So I was just kind of in a state of shock, not having any details. And as the details came out, to me, it was getting worse and worse.

How's your family holding up? We're holding up the best we can. It's a stressful time. We've got birthdays going on and Mother's Day weekend, and it's just kind of, on top of all that, it's really kind of a trying time. Austin, do you remember when you learned your mother had been killed? Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday. My brother had called me and said that she was found in her apartment with blood on her,

and at that point, I mean, I knew it was really bad, and they didn't tell me that she'd been murdered because I was dropping from Atlanta. So they wouldn't be in the best shape possible. But I knew something was really bad. They told you what? That she was in her apartment and had blood on her? So my brother called me and said that she was found in her apartment with blood on her. And of course, that doesn't sound right, right?

So I was really worried. You know, Austin, I still remember when I learned my fiance had been murdered. It was just like a horrible blur. But then I also remember by this time I was in New York working at Court TV, and I'd come off the air, sat down at my desk, started working, started reading email, and someone, a viewer, had sent me an email that Keith's murderer had been paroled. I had no idea. Nobody told me ahead of time. He was out. I had no idea how long he had been out. And I will still remember that coming over me. It was like a physical sensation.

I cannot even imagine how you felt when the DA's office called and God blessed them for calling and letting you know before the whole world knew about it. Xavier Waring, joining me from WAAY-TV. Xavier, thanks for being with us. Tell me the very latest. Yeah, so I mean, really, after speaking with Sheriff Singleton, we're still just trying to make sure that we, you know, push out the facts, right? And the fact is that we really don't know where they are. Again, we know that the car

was last located in Williamson County, Tennessee, a week after they actually ditched the vehicle. So I spoke with someone from the U.S. Marshal Services, and they told me that, you know, although it is a week later, they are glad that they now have a sense of direction as to where they are. But again, they could really be going anywhere at this moment in time. Hey, Sheriff Rick Singleton, joining me, the elected sheriff in Lauderdale County. Sheriff, how far is it from where their escape vehicle, the four Taurus, orange four Taurus, was abandoned to a major interstate? It was within about three miles of I-65, just south of Nashville, Franklin, Tennessee. Oh, my goodness.

Just south of Nashville? I know. Or Franklin? About. Okay. Yeah. I think I know what happened. Nancy, I hate to interrupt.

Jump in. But the interesting thing is for the last nine months, I've been driving through Bethesda for a project I was working on towards Spring Hill. So I'm very familiar with that kind of like with that route. And it's a very rural area, but it is close to the interstate and Spring Hill. So what interstate was it, Sheriff? I-65. And that's just three miles south of Nashville and Franklin? It was three miles east of I-65.

It's about 20 miles south of Nashville. Where will I-65 take you, Sheriff? If you follow it, where will it go? I-65 originates in Mobile, Alabama on the southern end and it goes into Chicago. Okay. I'm learning a lot right now. So here we go. I-65, three miles from I-65 from where they dumped that car. He says, the sheriff tells us it looks like it had a flat. They're trying to work the car over and see if there was any other problem. It was not spray painted green before it was left. They did that. So what is their thinking? Where will they go? To you, Bobby Chacon, joining me, 27 years FBI agent. If they only had three miles to walk, and this is in a rural area, they could stay under

the cover of trees. We got to get, I would get canines out there to follow their scent to see which way they were going, but obviously toward that interstate, I-65. Once they get to I-65, anybody could have picked them up. I mean, you're right there at Nashville and Franklin. People from all over the world are going to Nashville. And if they got a ride from a trucker or anybody, they could be God knows where by now, Bobby Chacon. Absolutely.

Hundreds if not thousands of miles away from that area they could be, conceivably. And my theory is they're heading north because if they can get into Canada... Because I said that at the beginning of the program and you're piggybacking on me. No, and here's why. I think that I believe that Canada will not extradite

in capital murder cases. So they will not extradite in capital murder cases. So they will not extradite if the person is facing the death penalty. And I've read reports that he is possibly facing the death penalty. So he could get refuge in Canada who will not extradite unless the U.S. promises not to prosecute on a capital offense. So I don't know if they thought it out that much. They certainly had enough time to think about that. But my theory has been all along, not Mexico. They headed to Canada because of that, because of the non-extradition and capital murder cases. And to you, James Shelnut, I mean, it just makes common sense.

I think Bobby Chacon is absolutely correct, by the way. Jackie, pull me up a U.S. map, if you don't mind. Shelnut, it makes common sense because if they were going north and they were already. How far did you say, Xavier Wary? How far north of Florence were they? Was it two hours? Yes, it is about two hours. Or was it three?

Was it two or three hours north? Sheriff. It's about two hours. The vehicle was found due east of Spring Hill, as the gentleman said, Spring Hill, Tennessee. So, yeah, it's about two hours from Florence, Alabama to that location. Yeah. Okay. I think Chacon is right, James Shelnut, because why would they go two hours north and then turn around and go back right into the territory

that's hot on their trail? No, they're going north. But think this through with me, Shelnut. If this takes them towards Chicago, what would their route be? How would they intersect with a major northern thoroughfare to get them up to Canada? Because I think that's where they're headed. Yeah, I don't doubt that at all. I mean, I think one thing is when you've got interstates, you've got truck

drivers. And so it would not be uncommon for them to make their way to a truck stop. They could have walked, they could have taken an Uber, they could have taken a Lyft to a truck stop, they could have stolen a car and driven it to a truck stop, and then caught a ride with one of these long over-the-road truckers. That would be a great way for them to get out of the area undetected in a vehicle that no one knew that they were riding in. Totally. But you know what? Sheriff Rick Singleton, there has been no reports of another stolen vehicle. None that we've been very aware of.

That you can connect back to then. So, Xavier Wherry, joining me, W-A-A-Y-T-V, are there other agencies helping Lauderdale County? Yes, again, I know that the U.S. Marshal Service is definitely helping out. And, again, after speaking with them, they just want to put as many eyes in the area as possible. And they're surveilling the area as we know it right now in the area of Tennessee. So, definitely just trying to stay

on top of it. I know our team has worked diligently and gone above and beyond to make sure that we stay on top of this story and just provide the facts as we receive them. Sheriff Singleton, hearing what Xavier Wherry just said, I'm wondering what the closest truck stop would have been, or if tracking dogs were pulled in where the car was abandoned to see which way they went you know the terrain sheriff would it have made sense for them to follow the road but staying in the woods all the way till they could get to i-65 well it's it appears they were trying to stay to the back roads uh uh know, again, unless they deliberately ditched this car. The, you know, as far as the interstate, it is close by.

I've traveled that route frequently. I have a daughter who lives just north of Nashville, and I don't recall any major truck stops along that area of 65 until you get on north of Nashville, but I could be wrong. Question to you, Sheriff. Does 65 intersect with I-65? Does that intersect with 75 at any point to go north up toward, you know, for instance, New York, try to get to that Canadian border? Well, yes, it connects with interstate that goes into Detroit up in Kentucky. I think Louisville, well, there's a, I don't recall the interstate number, but it does go over to Cincinnati and then on up to Detroit. 65 to I-69?

I-69. To I-75. To I-75. In Michigan. And that intersects in Michigan? 69 takes you to 75 up to Canada. There you go.

So I-65 to I-69 in Detroit. That's just what Singleton was just saying. And in Detroit, they could catch I-75 all the way straight up to Canada. You know, what do you think about her changing her appearance, Sheriff? And, hey, to the rest of the panel, again, jump in.

We need all the brain. We need a brain trust on this. Sheriff, what do you think about her changing her appearance? Well, I think it'd probably be obvious that she probably would, especially with all the media coverage that this case has gotten nationwide. You know, there are photographs out there everywhere. I've even seen it on billboards on the interstates. So, you know, I think obviously she would, both of them would probably try to change her appearance.

The one thing he can't change is that he's six foot nine inches tall. You know, question, Sheriff, you stated that they had been, she had been shopping for men's clothes and I guess sex toys before she sprang him. What else did she shop for? Did she shop for hair dye or anything else? Did she use her credit card? Not aware of, we do know she was at the adult book store and a local shopping center, a clothing store. She did use her credit card, her personal credit card at the motel.

So assuming that since these other visits were prior to the escape, she probably used her personal credit card. I haven't been given that information. I'm not sure. I mean, think about it. Jump in, Bobby Chacon. If she used her credit card for the hotel, did she use it for hair dye? Did she use it for anything else we could use to trace them? Yeah, I mean, look, as much as she's planning this out, I would think that she is trying to use,

or that you would think that she would try to use cash as much as possible. She sold her house recently. She sold other belongings. She kind of liquidated herself these last few weeks, I would guess. And, you know, that creates a lot of cash. And I will, you know, if it was me and I was planning this thing as meticulously as she did, I would have used a lot of cash. Guys, we were talking about the former, I call her a warden. I guess she could be called a jailer. What would be her correct term, Sheriff Singleton? She was Assistant Director of Corrections. And, you know, the issue of the cash, there again, you know, we do know she had a considerable amount of cash on her. But the thing about it,

that cash is not doing her any good in her pocket. She's going to have to spend it somewhere, which means that they're going to be out and about and hopefully somebody will spot them. You know, question to Shelalna, Chacon, Wary, anybody on the panel, you know that she got some fake IDs. You know she did. This woman is smart. She pre-planned everything.

How would she have gone about getting a fake ID and can that be traced? Okay, everybody jump in. Getting a fake ID is easy. Every 18-year-old at the beach has got one. That's not a problem at all. I mean, you know, I think it'd be very easy for her to possibly conceal her identity.

I think the sheriff hit the nail on the head. You know, the key factor and what's going to be most recognizable is him. And, you know, his height, his size, he's going to stick out like a sore thumb. Nancy? Yeah, jump in. I think you really also, you said something which I think is significant. This man is supposed to be on medication. And from what I've read, without medications, he can be violent, which we know he's violent to begin with, and sometimes do drugs.

He's known to do meth, and that would make him even be more violent, crazy, acting out. And she herself is at risk when it comes to being with him. And I don't know that she ever took that into consideration, the fact that he could turn on her very easily. Nancy, another thing too is that they could easily go to someone's home, an elderly person's home or someone's home who may not be familiar with the story because they're not in the area and that person would be in grave danger. And that's what scares me is not just the victims in the past, but the possible future victims who may unwittingly help them and become murder victims themselves. Well, speaking of, I want you to take a listen to Our Cut 33, our friends at WHNT19.

At the time of the death of 31-year-old Christy Lynn Shelton in 2008, police say that Casey White was there at the home in Lexington. But after an investigation, he was ruled out as a suspect. But her family said they never believed that story, asking questions about exactly what Casey was doing at the time that Casey, that Shelton was shot. Casey and Shelton were dating at the time. Her family has taken to social media to push for a reinvestigation into this case. In a video sent to News 19,

the daughter of Christie Shelton says that when Casey White escaped with the assistance of prison guard Vicki white it opened up a range Of uncontrollable emotions for her family who was seeking justice for their mother so Casey watt was with my mom the night that she committed suicide Nothing was really ever investigated. I don't even know if they should

come in for questioning. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Maybe this video will fall in the right hands of someone that can actually make a difference or look into it more, maybe investigate. I'm not really sure. You're hearing the voice of Summer Mitchell. Her mom died of suicide while in the home with this guy, this six foot nine killer, Casey White. Now, is it correct, Xavier Wherry joining us to AAY-TV, that the victim in that case, Christy Lynn Shelton, reportedly committed suicide with a sawed off shotgun? From the reports that I have read, yes, that is correct. I mean, isn't that kind of hard to do, Sheriff Sing, that is correct. I mean, isn't that kind of

hard to do, Sheriff Singleton? Shoot yourself. I mean, I've had plenty of cases with shot off shotguns, but they're still a shotgun. And even when you saw them off, they're, uh, the ones I have were at least 14, maybe 14, 15 inches long at best, because you've got the whole stock. You've got all that that's still part of the gun to make it work. I mean, have you ever seen a sawed off less than, say, 14 inches, Sheriff? Well, no. I mean, you know, a sawed off shotgun is, you know, you commonly come across those with criminals. The thing that struck me strange about that particular case is that, you know, most women don't use a gun of any kind to commit suicide.

So, you know, it's just sort of a strange case. It's a very strange case. It stinks. All right. Chacon, do you agree? I mean, think about suicide. Just generally speaking, statistically, a female of her age and where she is socioeconomically everything taken into account she would never have shot herself as a mode of suicide in the rare

occasion that does happen women don't usually do that they jump out a window they may take an overdose they may turn on a gas oven or turn on carbon monoxide in their car. But they don't shoot themselves, much less in the chest or the face. But think about this, Jacone, as the sheriff just said. Who do you know, a civilian, that has a sawed-off shotgun? Now that he said that, he's right. Every case I ever had with a sawed-off, a criminal had it. She was no criminal.

And think of it logistically, turning a shotgun toward you and shooting yourself. My point is, he killed her. Yeah, it's very unlikely that she killed herself. As the sheriff said, and you said that it's very rare rare that women use a gun to commit suicide. And you're right, 14 inches, I believe, is the shortest you can saw off a shotgun before getting into the mechanisms of the weapon. Even at 14 inches, you don't saw off a shotgun barrel other than to just conceal it when you're committing a crime because it's very dangerous. When you shorten the barrel that much, it's even more dangerous than it is with the barrel intact.

So really, there's no reason to saw off a shotgun unless you want to conceal it to commit a crime. And it's a very, very difficult weapon to kill yourself with. Even when people kill themselves with guns, it's usually a handgun. Long barrel weapons, even if they're sawed off like that,

it makes it even more unusual. And anything that happens around this guy, given his history and his lifestyle, comes into question. If he's in the house and someone ends up dead, I'm going to look right at him. You know, to Sheriff Rick Singleton joining me, the elected sheriff there in Lauderdale County, again, especially to you and Austin, I'm so grateful for you guys being with us. You know, I'm trying to figure out, Sheriff Singleton, what else I can learn from that car that was abandoned. Obviously, they tried to spray paint it green. That tells me they wanted to stay in that car. That tells me they did not have a plan for a second vehicle.

Tell me about you said in your press release, in your conference, that they left it in a very obvious spot. Do you believe that was by plan? I don't, I don't, what's your thinking, Sheriff? I don't perfectly think it was planned. The reason it attracted attention so soon, this car was reported, spotted at 1.50 p.m. on Friday, April 29th, the same morning that they escaped. They left the Florence area at approximately 10 o'clock. So that's three hours and 50

minutes. It's a two-hour drive. Obviously they have somewhere along the route they stopped and took the time to try to paint the car. I don't really think it was because it was parked right in an intersection and what attracted the attention so soon was a homeowner right up the road was out walking and saw the vehicle and she was concerned the school bus would not be able to make the turn because it was abandoned at an intersection and so she immediately called this was just shortly before school was to let out so she immediately called the Sheriff's Office they sent a dispatch to deputy they had the car towed and it was towed at 2 37

so you know I don't really think that was in their plan personally. Again, I can't prove that. I wish I could. I wish we had more facts where we knew exactly why they abandoned the car. But my gut's telling me that it threw them a curve, that they got caught without transportation and took some kind of desperate means to find transportation from there. Now, you're telling me they abandoned the car how many hours after they left the shopping center? The patrol car was spotted on video at 9.49 a.m. at an intersection just two blocks from where the car was abandoned and where they switched vehicles. So, you know, by the time they got it parked, got into the other vehicle, they were leaving the forest area at approximately 10 o'clock that morning. The car was found at 150, which was three hours and 50 minutes.

Wow. That was not their plan. I agree with you. Guys, if you have information or think you have information, 800-336-0102. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.