Tennessee manhunt intensifies after murder convict steals work truck

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, is on the Tennessee most wanted list after escaping the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville. He stole a white work truck on Monday morning and is currently being pursued by state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Prison staff noticed Morley was missing during a routine check at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. An emergency count of the facility followed immediately. Security footage from the prison showed the inmate cutting through the fence while still wearing his prison uniform.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released video showing Morley taking a vehicle around 1 a.m. on Monday. He was located on the 400 block of Keystone Drive, about two miles south of the prison. The stolen vehicle is a 2008 white Ford F-350 with Tennessee plate 138BBQV. The truck belongs to Lindamood Planting Company and has an air compressor in the bed.

Morley is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. Investigators have labeled him dangerous. He is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield. In 2025, a jury also convicted him of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest.

Birchfield was last seen in Elizabethton in early February 2022. The Carter County Sheriff's Office found signs of a violent crime inside his home. Morley was arrested on March 2, 2022, after a police chase that crossed into North Carolina. Birchfield's body was discovered under Morley's home. During the trial, Morley's ex-girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified that he told her he killed Birchfield.

Authorities are asking the public to call 844-832-3463 with information about Morley's location.