Fugitive steals marked truck after escape

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, is on the run after escaping a Tennessee prison and stealing a marked work truck. The manhunt began Sunday night when staff at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville discovered the inmate was missing during a routine check.

Prison officials confirmed Morley was unaccounted for around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. They immediately conducted an emergency count and searched the facility. Security video later showed Morley cutting through a fence while still wearing his prison uniform.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported that Morley stole a white 2008 Ford F-350 around 1 a.m. Monday. The pickup is located on the 400 block of Keystone Drive, approximately two miles south of the prison. The vehicle bears the name Lindamood Planting Company on the side and carries an air compressor in its bed. Its Tennessee license plate is 138BBQV.

Morley is serving a life sentence after his 2025 conviction for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield. He was also found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation listed him on the state's most wanted list and advised the public to consider him dangerous.

Morley stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are assisting in the search for him.

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 on March 2, 2022, following a police chase that reached the North Carolina border. Birchfield's body was later found underneath Morley's home.

Landree Sheperd, Morley's former girlfriend, testified at trial that Morley once admitted to killing Birchfield. People with information about his whereabouts are asked to call 844-832-3463.