Jacob Morley Escapes Tennessee Prison, Flees in Stolen Truck

A man serving a life sentence for first-degree murder got through the perimeter fence at a West Tennessee prison Sunday night, and about 90 minutes later a white flatbed work truck vanished from a road two miles away. Neither the man nor the truck has been found.

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was confirmed missing from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville at approximately 11:30 p.m. on October 25, 2026, the Tennessee Department of Correction said. Staff ran an emergency count and searched the facility. Then they went to the video.

"Further review of security cameras confirmed Morley breached the perimeter fence and exited the facility in his TDOC uniform," the agency said in a statement Monday.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation put Morley on the state's Most Wanted list and offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest. He should be considered dangerous, the bureau said.

The truck everyone is looking for

Investigators released a photo Monday of the vehicle they believe Morley is driving. The TBI said newly obtained footage "shows Morley stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350, Tennessee tag 138BBQV" at around 1 a.m. Monday from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, roughly two miles south of the prison.

It is not a truck that blends in. The F-350 is a flatbed with an air compressor sitting in the bed, and the name Lindamood Planting Company is painted on the side, according to officials.

Security video of the theft shows a man in a beanie walking around the back of the vehicle to the driver's side door. The windshield wipers start moving. Then the truck pulls away.

Caught on camera again at 1:18 a.m. in Hornbeak

A Hornbeak Fire Department camera recorded the stolen truck passing the station at approximately 1:18 a.m. Monday, and the same truck was later spotted in Troy, according to reporting from West Tennessee.

Those sightings, shortly after the theft on Keystone Drive, are the last publicly reported trace of him.

This is not easy country to search or to hide in. Tiptonville is a city of about 3,500 people sitting near the Mississippi River and the Missouri state line, in a flat, rural, isolated stretch about 90 miles north of Memphis. There is a lot of open ground and not many places to pull a marked flatbed off the road unseen.

What Morley was convicted of

Morley was serving a life sentence out of Carter County, Tennessee, for first-degree murder. He was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism, the Department of Correction said.

The man he killed was Cody Birchfield, 34, a co-worker. Birchfield was shot in the back of the head in 2022, and his body was found in a large metal box underneath Morley's residence, according to court documents shared by the Carter County Clerk's Office. The aggravated burglary conviction came from stealing tools belonging to the victim.

A jury convicted Morley in February 2025, and he was sentenced to life in June 2025. He was also convicted of abuse of a corpse.

A missing man, a chase to North Carolina

Birchfield disappeared in February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office saw indications that a "violent crime" had occurred inside his house.

On March 2, 2022, Morley was arrested after a police chase that ran all the way to the North Carolina state line. He had seen deputies at his home and ran. Birchfield's body was found under that same home after the arrest.

At trial, the clerk's office said, Morley was described as a "loner." He claimed self-defense and said he had mental health issues, including bipolar disorder. His former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified and said he told her at one point that he had killed him, using an expletive.

The prison he walked out of

Northwest Correctional Complex has the operating capacity to hold 1,776 male inmates, with custody levels ranging from minimum to close, according to the Department of Correction. It can also house minors who have been convicted as adults.

Officials have not said how Morley actually got through the fence. They confirmed the camera footage shows him doing it in his prison uniform and released no further details about the breach itself.

The facility has had serious problems. Several violent attacks between inmates and by employees have been reported there in recent years. A grand jury in July 2026 returned dozens of indictments covering five inmate murders, assaults against staff and inmates, and other violence.

Staffing has been thin, too. A state audit released in December 2023 found the department was struggling to fill open positions at Northwest Correctional Complex and had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers there in fiscal year 2023.

Who is out looking for him

The Department of Correction said it is working with local, state and federal law enforcement to bring Morley back into custody. In a statement, the agency said it continues to work in close coordination with those agencies to apprehend Morley.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol joined the effort with aviation assets and state troopers. Crews have cleared buildings and structures in the area around the prison, the department said.

"TDOC is committed to protecting the safety of the public and is asking the community to immediately contact law enforcement with any sightings or information," the agency said in a statement Monday.

Check your doorbell camera

Investigators are leaning hard on private video. The TBI asked residents to check home security systems, including doorbell cameras and trail cameras, for any sightings of Morley or the stolen truck. The Department of Correction asked people to review "home security and doorbell cameras, trail and hunting cameras, and other surveillance systems" for possible sightings.

What he looks like, and what not to do

A wanted poster from the Department of Correction describes Morley as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds, with green eyes and brown hair.

Sheriff Bryan Avery of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the county where the prison sits, asked the public to remain "vigilant and exercise caution."

"Anyone who encounters or believes they have spotted Morley should not approach, confront, or attempt to apprehend him," Avery said in a statement Monday. "Instead, immediately dial 911 and provide any relevant information to law enforcement."

The original wanted poster listed the Department of Correction tip line at 1-844-832-3463, or 911. An updated poster lists 1 (800) TBI-FIND.

The reward and the odds

The $2,500 reward applies to information leading to Morley's arrest, and it is available to anyone, not just people in Lake County. Tips go to 911 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.

What the public has to work with is unusually specific for a manhunt. There is a name, a face from surveillance stills taken inside the prison, a height and weight, a license plate, a model year, and a company name painted on the door of the truck. Most fugitive alerts do not come with a plate number and a logo.

What is missing is direction. Tiptonville sits close enough to the Mississippi River and the Missouri line that a driver with an hour of darkness and an empty two-lane road has real options. The search remains active, and troopers are covering ground from the air as well as the road.

As of Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, Morley had not been found. He is on the state's Most Wanted list, authorities say he should be considered dangerous, and the instruction from every agency involved is the same: do not approach him, call 911.