Alabama corrections official Vicky White faces two new charges in connection with inmate Casey White's escape
CBSN
Former Alabama corrections official Vicky White is facing two new charges in connection with her alleged role in the escape of capital murder suspect Casey Cole White, officials said Monday. The pair, who are not related, have been missing for more than a week, despite a massive manhunt to locate them.
Vicky White, who had already been charged with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree, is now also charged with forgery in the second degree and identity theft, according to a warrant shared with CBS News by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told CBS News that the charges are related to her alleged use of an alias to buy a 2007 Ford Edge used in the pair's escape.
The new charges come more than a week after the pair were first reported missing on April 29. Vicky White told her colleagues that morning that she was taking Casey White to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. But her patrol vehicle was found in a parking lot hours later — and by 3:30 p.m., officials realized that both she and Casey White were missing.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.