Search for Alabama corrections official Vicky White and escaped inmate Casey Cole White

Former Lauderdale County corrections officer Vicky White died Monday night as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials say.

Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear said in an email to The Associated Press that an autopsy was completed on White. The manner of death has been ruled a suicide.

Had she and escaped capital murder suspect Casey White not crashed in a brief chase, he planned to “engage in a shootout” with law enforcement “at the stake of both of them losing their lives,” Vanderburgh County, Ind. Sheriff Dave Wedding said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Wedding said the two arrived in Indiana six days prior to being apprehended and paid to stay 14 days at an Evansville motel.

Wedding said investigators do not believe the two had relatives or other contacts in the city of 120,000.

“They thought they’d driven long enough. They wanted to stop for a while, get their bearings straight and then figure out the next place to travel,” the sheriff said.

The two were spotted at a car wash in a F-150. At some point, they purchased the Cadillac they were in at the time of the chase.

After the crash, authorities found $29,000 in cash, four handguns and an AR-15 rifle. They also found extra magazines for each weapon, and a duty belt (equipped with handcuffs, a TASER, and handcuffs), and camping/ survival gear.

“During the interview with investigators, Casey White indicated that he envisioned a “suicide by cop” style shootout with police; however, that plan was foiled when the law enforcement vehicle made contact with the Cadillac,” a sheriff’s office statement read.

Here is full coverage of the search for Vicky White and Casey White

Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force met with the Indiana sheriff’s office on Monday, Wedding said.

Wedding said Tuesday on NBC News’ TODAY that the Monday afternoon chase that led to the capture of escaped inmate Casey White was “very short” and began after an officer spotted a vehicle matching one linked to the pair.

“They were in a grassy area, so three of our task force members actually rammed the vehicle and pushed it into a ditch, so it ended up on its side,” Wedding said.

“As they approached the vehicle, it was obvious that the female driver was unconscious and still had a weapon in her hand. And they removed the murderer from the vehicle simultaneously,” Wedding added.

Casey White was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail at 1:42 a.m., according to the jail log.

Casey White / Vanderburgh County Jail

Northern District of Alabama U.S. Marshal Marty Keely, in an interview with CNN Monday night, said that after the crash “we got Casey White out (and he) immediately announced that his wife had shot herself in the head and that he didn’t do it.”

Keely said the pair was not married.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said officials expect Casey White to waive extradition and possibly return to Alabama as early as today.

For security purposes, when Casey White leaves the Indiana jail, “It won’t be a public spectacle… it won’t be a public display,” Wedding said.

Wedding said Casey White has waived extradition will not be charged in Indiana in order to speed up his return to Alabama.

Vicky White’s autopsy is planned for today, Wedding said.

Regardless of what time Casey White returns, Singleton said he will be immediately arraigned and returned to Donaldson Correctional Facility in west Jefferson County.

The inmate appeared by video Tuesday in an Indiana courtroom, where he waived extradition, and authorities said he will be sent back to Alabama.

An attorney representing White in the murder case, Jamy Poss, declined to comment.

Vicky White, assistant director of corrections at the Lauderdale County jail, had put in for retirement ahead of the escape, and the day of the breakout, April 29, was her last day of work.

A woman who worked with her for 16 years could barely speak through tears Tuesday.

“I know she did wrong and made a terrible mistake, but she’s still your friend,” longtime jail employee Sherry Sylvester said.

She said that White often tried to help prisoners, particularly ones without family. But Sylvester said she never saw White do anything that crossed the line: “She did everything by the book.”

Connie Moore, Casey White’s mother, said she last spoke with him by phone the day before the escape. She said her son may not have known what was about to happen.

“Everything was just as normal as it could be. I doubt he even knew he was leaving when she came in there to get him,” Moore said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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