A convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Tennessee remains on the loose after he broke out of a prison late Sunday about 90 miles north of Memphis.
The state’s Department of Correction said inmate Jacob Allen Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville by breaching a perimeter fence around 11:30 p.m. while in his jailhouse uniform.
Investigators said security footage captured him stealing a work truck from a nearby farm shortly after he got off the prison grounds.
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Hours after his escape, surveillance video observed Morley driving the stolen truck past Hornbeak, then Troy in the northwestern part of the state.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said the stolen vehicle was found abandoned in Marion, Illinois, 120 miles north of the prison complex.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said it has deployed state troopers and “aviation assets” to help with the search.
Marley, 28, is said to stand 5 feet 11 inches and weigh 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes.
The killer was convicted of murdering his coworker, Cody Birchfield, in 2022.
Carter County court records said Morley shot Birchfield in the back of the head. The victim’s body was found stuffed inside a metal box under Morley’s home.
When police arrived at Morley’s home to talk to him about Birchfield’s death, the killer fled and took police on a chase that went into North Carolina.
A judge sentenced Morley to life in prison in June 2025 for the slaying. He was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest in the case.
Morley is not eligible for release until December 2083.
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