Perpetual Convict Jacob Morley Vanishes After Stealing Truck From Tennessee Farm

Jacob Morley, a 28-year-old inmate serving life without parole for murder, escaped a Tennessee prison and drove a stolen truck across state lines. The vehicle was found abandoned in Illinois on Tuesday morning. Morley remains missing as of Wednesday.

Morley was last seen at the Northwest Correctional Complex near Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday night. He crossed a perimeter fence while wearing his prison uniform. By 1:00 a.m. on Monday, surveillance footage showed him unlocking a truck parked on a farm one mile from the facility. The vehicle had no key or lock to prevent it from being driven. Fifteen minutes later, cameras at a fire station in Hornbeak, 11 miles east, captured the truck passing by.

The search expanded to Marion, Illinois, approximately 120 miles north of the prison. Police Chief David Fitts stated that the truck was parked orderly behind a shopping center around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Officers received a report about the vehicle seven hours later. Fitts noted that no other suspicious activity or stolen vehicles were reported in the area. "He has disappeared," Fitts said. "We have not received reports of stolen vehicles or any other suspicious activity around here."

Morley was convicted in 2022 for the first-degree murder of his coworker, Cody Birchfield, in Carter County. Birchfield’s body was found in a box under Morley’s home after weeks of disappearance. Morley also pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and escape from custody. When police arrived at his home during the initial investigation, he fled in a vehicle that led to a chase ending in North Carolina.

The escape occurs amid ongoing instability in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Commissioner Frank Strada resigned in September following the botched execution of Christa Pike on September 30. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital due to potential issues with intravenous placement. A grand jury also issued charges in July related to the killing of five inmates at the Northwest Correctional Complex. State officials reported 470 vacant positions in a staff of 6,000 during a Senate subcommittee hearing last month. A 2022 law requiring inmates to serve a higher percentage of their sentences is expected to increase prison populations.

Authorities are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Morley’s capture. He is described as white, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. The search continues across the flat agricultural land near the Mississippi River bend where the prison is located.