James White's driver's license
Real Name: John James White
Aliases: James, Jimmy
Wanted For: Vehicular Manslaughter
Missing Since: March 6, 1991
Virginia and John Constable
Case[]
Details: Seventy-one-year-old John Constable and his seventy-year-old wife, Virginia, were a retired couple that had been married for forty-five years. On Sunday, March 3, 1991, they left their home in Davenport, Florida, to drive to their daughter Linda's home in Jacksonville, three hours away.
At 12:30 pm, John and Virginia were still just a few miles from home, heading north on County Road 545 in Kissimmee. Just ahead, heading southbound was a pickup truck driven by a thirty-three-year-old drunk house painter named James White. No one knows exactly when he started drinking that day. After nearly colliding with another vehicle, he drove straight into John and Virginia's car. By 12:43 pm, the highway patrol and rescue teams arrived at the scene. Tragically, John was pronounced dead there. Virginia suffered from massive internal injuries; she died an hour later at an Orlando trauma center.
White survived the accident; as he was being loaded into an ambulance, a Florida highway patrolman arrived. He immediately noticed the smell of alcohol on him. Blood tests later revealed that he had a BAC of .22, more than twice Florida's legal limit of .10. He was taken to Kissimmee Memorial Hospital, twelve miles away. Later that day, Linda began to worry when John and Virginia didn't arrive. She called the Florida Highway Patrol to try and learn of their whereabouts. Shortly afterward. a patrolman arrived; she received the tragic news that they had been killed.
White suffered a broken jaw, broken ankle, and three broken ribs. His jaw was wired shut and he was admitted to the intensive care unit. His family, who lived in the area, constantly visited him at the hospital. On March 6, three days after the accident, his condition improved considerably. That evening, some of his relatives took him out for a walk. It is believed they left through an unguarded rear door. They never returned and he has not been seen since.
Investigators have since discovered that White had a long history of drunk driving arrests. They had only one clue to his possible whereabouts: a driver's license issued in North Carolina. However, when investigators went to the address listed on it, he was not there. He is now wanted for charges of vehicular manslaughter in John and Virginia's deaths.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the February 12, 1992 episode.
White after his arrest
Results: Captured. Two days after the broadcast, viewers contacted the police, claiming that they had seen White at a bar in Burlington, Vermont. He was arrested there soon after. Two weeks later, he was returned to Florida to face the charges. He pleaded no contest to two counts of DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to eleven years in prison and fifteen years of probation. His driver's license was permanently revoked and he was also ordered to pay $12,000 to cover John and Virginia's burial expenses.
White was released in 1996. In November 2010, he was found in violation of his probation and was returned to prison. He was released again in February 2013.
Links:
- Pair Killed in Car Crash Near Disney - March 4, 1991
- Search For Suspect Goes Prime Time - January 7, 1992
- Tears Roll With the Camera As Crew Re-enacts Accident - January 8, 1992
- Tip Leads to Arrest in Fatal Truck Crash - February 16, 1992
- Fugitive Returns to Osceola to Face Charges - February 27, 1992
- Motorist is returned to Osceola to face charges - February 27, 1992
- Plea Entered in DUI-manslaughter Case - September 2, 1992
- Driver pleads no contest in Osceola traffic deaths - September 2, 1991
- Confronting Cost of Lives Lost - November 7, 1992
- James White on Florida Inmate Search
- John and Virginia Constable on Find a Grave