LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. —

A search is underway in north Alabama after a man charged with capital murder and a deputy transporting him to court went missing Friday morning.

Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office employee Vicki White, who is the assistant director of corrections, and inmate Casey Cole White have not been seen since 9:30 a.m. Friday when they left for an alleged court appearance. The sheriff's office said the deputy and suspect are not related.

The marked vehicle that the two left the detention center in was located in the parking lot of a shopping center in Florence around 11 a.m. Friday. Their direction of travel is unknown.

Investigators are looking for any video footage that may give more information on the situation.

In a news conference Friday evening, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said Officer White, who is an employee of 25 years, told the booking officer at the detention center that she was escorting inmate White to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation. After dropping the inmate off with other deputies, Officer White said she was going to seek medical attention for herself because she wasn't feeling well.

Around 3:30 p.m., the booking officer attempted to contact Officer White with no luck and her phone was going straight to voicemail. They also discovered inmate White never returned to the jail. Officials said they began investigating "aggressively."

Officials said the officer and the inmate never showed up to the courthouse and it has since been determined that the inmate did not have any evaluations scheduled. Local urgent care offices also have no record of Officer White visiting on Friday.

The sheriff added that it is a "strict violation of policy" for inmates with those types of charges to be escorted anywhere by one deputy, but they believe Officer White wasn't questioned because she is the head of operations and coordinates all transports.

"Knowing the inmate, I think [Officer White] is in danger whatever the circumstances," Singleton said. "He was in jail for capital murder. He has nothing to lose."

According to court documents, Casey White's capital murder charge stems from the "brutal death" of Connie Ridgeway at her Rogersville home in 2015. The capital murder charge also includes first-degree burglary.

If anyone sees the suspect or deputy, do not approach them and contact 911 immediately.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY, Ind. —

Casey White waived his extradition at a hearing Tuesday, paving the way for his return to Lauderdale County, Alabama, one day after being captured in Indiana.

White, who escaped from jail with the help of ex-deputy Vicky White, was taken into custody following a short police chase on Monday. Officials say Casey White surrendered and Vicky White may have ended her own life during the pursuit.

The arrests ended a nationwide manhunt that began April 29.

White appeared at the extradition hearing via video wearing a bright yellow prison shirt and pants, ankles and hands shackled before him. The judge told him he could waive extradition, telling him it "simply means you want to go back to Lauderdale County and get this resolved." The judge said if he didn't waive extradition, an extradition hearing would be held in 30 days, and authorities from Alabama would come to confirm his identity. The judge said the process would take up to six months.

"I'm waiving my rights," White told the judge. "I'm going back to Alabama."

Police chase

Authorities are releasing new details of the final moments of Monday's police chase.

As Casey White tried to drive away from pursuing officers in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, his passenger — the former corrections officer Vicky White — indicated during a call with police dispatchers she had a gun, a sheriff said Tuesday.

By the time the chase ended in a wreck and officers approached the car, Vicky White "was unconscious with a gunshot wound to her head, and (Casey White) gave up without incident," Dave Wedding, sheriff of Indiana's Vanderburgh County, told CNN on Tuesday.

Authorities preliminarily "believe that she may have taken her own life, but we will wait until the coroner's office examines the body to make a confirmation," Wedding said.

How it started

The manhunt began April 29 after Vicky White, the assistant director of corrections for the jail in Lauderdale County, told co-workers she was taking Casey White, who was awaiting trial in a capital murder case, from the jail for a mental health evaluation. There was no such appointment.

Casey White was serving a 75-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other charges at the time of his escape. He was awaiting trial in the stabbing of a 58-year-old woman during a burglary in 2015. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Federal and local law enforcement officials also learned Casey White threatened to kill his former girlfriend and his sister in 2015 and said "that he wanted police to kill him," the Marshals Service said.

Video below: Surveillance footage shows missing Alabama deputy, capital murder suspect leave jail

A warrant was issued on May 2 for Vicky Sue White charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree.

Vicky White’s family members and co-workers said they were stunned. Singleton said it appeared the plan had been in the works for some time. Jail inmates said the two had a special relationship and she gave Casey White better treatment than other inmates.

In the past several months, she bought a rifle and a shotgun and also was known to have a handgun, Keely said. She also sold her house — for about half of market value — and bought a 2007 orange Ford Edge that she stashed at a shopping center without license plates.

"This escape was obviously well-planned and calculated. A lot of preparation went into this. They had plenty of resources, had cash, had vehicles," Singleton said.

On what Vicky White said would be her last day at work, video showed the pair went from the jail to the shopping center, where they picked up the Ford and left, Singleton said. Their flight was not discovered for much of the day.

CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.