Jacob Morley: Escapee Steals Work Truck After Fence Breach

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday night. He is currently on the run after stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 pickup truck to leave the area. The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed he was serving a life sentence for murder.

Prison staff found Morley missing during a routine check around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. An emergency count and search of the facility followed immediately. Security video footage captured him cutting through the prison fence while wearing his standard issue prison clothes. He was officially declared unaccounted for after the initial sweep failed to locate him.

At approximately 1 a.m. on Monday, surveillance cameras recorded Morley taking a vehicle on the 400 block of Keystone Drive. This location is roughly two miles south of the prison. The Tennessee Bureau of Identification identified the stolen vehicle as a white Ford F-350 with Tennessee license plate 138BBQV. The truck bears the name Lindamood Planting Company on its side and contains an air compressor in the bed.

Officials describe Morley as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has labeled him as dangerous and placed him on the state most wanted list. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are working together to locate the fugitive.

Morley was convicted in 2025 of the first-degree murder of Cody Birchfield. He was also found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office found signs of a violent crime inside his home. Morley was arrested in March 2022 after a chase that crossed into North Carolina. Birchfield's body was later found under Morley's home.

During the trial, Morley's former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified that he admitted to killing Birchfield. She stated he told her, "he f, ing killed him." Anyone with information about Morley's whereabouts can contact investigators at 844-832-3463.