Jacob Morley Fled Tiptonville in Stolen F-350 After Fence Breach

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, breached a prison fence in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday night, leaving staff to discover his absence at 11:30 p.m. The manhunt for the life-sentence inmate intensified when surveillance footage showed him stealing a vehicle just two miles from the facility around 1 a.m. on Monday.

The Tennessee Department of Correction confirmed Morley was wearing prison clothing as he scaled the barrier at the Northwest Correctional Complex. An emergency count and search of the facility followed immediately after his missing status was identified.

The Bureau of Investigation identified the getaway vehicle as a white 2008 Ford F-350 with the Tennessee plate 138BBQV. The truck, marked with the name Lindamood Planting Company, was taken from the 400 block of Keystone Drive. An air compressor sat in the bed of the heavy-duty pickup during the escape.

Morley stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Bureau of Investigation designated him dangerous and added his name to the state’s most wanted list. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are currently assisting in the search.

Morley received his life sentence in 2025 for the murder of Cody Birchfield, who disappeared in early February 2022. Birchfield was last seen in Elizabethton. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office noted signs of a violent crime inside the victim's home. Morley was arrested in March 2022 after a police chase extended to the North Carolina state line, leading to the discovery of Birchfield's body under Morley's home. The defendant was also convicted of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest.

Landree Sheperd, Morley’s former girlfriend, testified at trial that he told her, "he f, ing killed him." People with information about Morley's whereabouts can contact 844-832-3463.