Alabama authorities say a corrections officer is missing after she and an inmate charged with capital murder never made it to court

• Officials in Alabama are searching for a missing corrections official who was transporting an inmate.
• Vicki White broke protocol by transporting a capital murder inmate by herself.

An Alabama corrections official transporting an inmate to the courthouse is missing after never reaching the destination, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office said.

In a Facebook post on Friday, the sheriff's office said Assistant Director of Corrections Vicki White was transporting an inmate for a mental health evaluation at around 9:30 a.m. but the two never made it to the courthouse. The inmate, Casey White, who is not related to Vicki, was being held on capital murder charges.

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told reporters the courthouse was contacted after the inmate did not return to custody and they were unable to reach the corrections officers. They were also informed there wasn't a scheduled mental health evaluation, WAFF reported.

CBS News reported that someone found the officer's patrol car in the parking lot of a shopping center around 11:00 a.m. on Friday, but the sheriff's office said it did not realize the two were missing until 3:30 p.m..

Singleton said there was "a strict violation of policy" when White transported the inmate alone. He said an inmate charged with a severe crime is required to be transported by two deputies, CBS News reported.

He added that it was likely that other deputies did not want to challenge the director's policy breach, since the 25-year department veteran was in charge of courthouse transportation.

"Knowing the inmate, I think she's in danger whatever the circumstances … He was in jail for capital murder and he had nothing to lose," Singleton said, according to CNN.

Singleton said the department is considering all possibilities about what might have happened, but advised anyone who see the two to call 911 and not approach them. He said since the officer had a gun, they're assuming the inmate is armed.

"Whether she assisted him or not, we don't know, and we won't address that until we have absolute proof that that's what happened," Singleton said, according to CNN. "We are assuming at this point that she was taken against her will unless we can absolutely prove otherwise."

Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said the FBI has also joined the investigation to find the corrections officer, WVLT reported.