Manhunt in Tennessee after Jacob Morley escapes through prison fence

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, got through the perimeter fence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday night and was still at large on Monday as state and federal officers searched for him.

Further review of security cameras confirmed Morley breached the perimeter fence and exited the facility in his TDOC uniform

Staff at the complex confirmed Morley was unaccounted for at approximately 11:30 p.m. on October 25 and immediately conducted an emergency count and a search of the facility, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement Monday. Investigators then reviewed security footage. Officials did not release other details, including how Morley got through the fence, the Associated Press reported.

What the cameras recorded

Video obtained by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Morley stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 at about 1 a.m. Monday from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, the bureau said. The truck carries Tennessee tag 138BBQV, has an air compressor in the bed and is marked with the name Lindamood Planting Company on the side. Fox News Digital reported that the street is roughly two miles south of the prison.

The security video shows a man in a beanie walk around the rear of the vehicle to the driver's side door of the flatbed truck, NBC News reported. The truck's windshield wipers move. Then it is driven away.

A security camera at the Hornbeak Fire Department recorded the stolen truck passing at approximately 1:18 a.m. Monday, and the same truck was later spotted in Troy, WBBJ reported.

Law enforcement throughout the area has searched and cleared buildings and other structures near the prison, the Correction Department said. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has deployed aviation assets and state troopers to assist with the search.

The prison stands about 90 miles north of Memphis in an isolated, rural area of flat land tucked near a bend in the Mississippi River close to the Missouri line, the Associated Press reported. Tiptonville is a city of about 3,500 that sits near the Mississippi River and the state line with Missouri, according to NBC News.

A most wanted listing

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added Morley to the state's Most Wanted list on Monday and said he should be considered dangerous. A reward of up to $2,500 is available for information leading to his arrest.

Morley is a 28-year-old white man, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing approximately 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes, WBBJ reported from the department's description. He left the facility in the uniform issued to him there, the department said.

A wanted poster from the Correction Department asks anyone with information about Morley's whereabouts to contact the department at 1-844-832-3463 or to call 911. An updated poster lists 1-800-TBI-FIND, ABC News reported.

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

The Correction Department said it is working with local, state and federal law enforcement to apprehend Morley. The bureau said it was continuing its own efforts to locate him with local, state and federal partners.

Morley is serving a life sentence for convictions in Carter County that include first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism, the department said.

The Carter County case

Morley fatally shot his co-worker Cody Birchfield, 34, in the back of the head in 2022, according to court documents shared by the Carter County Clerk's Office and reported by NBC News. Birchfield's body was found in a large metal box under Morley's residence.

Birchfield disappeared in February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee, Fox News Digital reported. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office saw indications that a violent crime had occurred inside his house, according to WJHL, which reported that the body was found buried beneath Morley's home in March 2022.

Morley was arrested on March 2, 2022, after a police chase that ran to the North Carolina state line, Fox News Digital reported. He led officers on that chase after seeing deputies at his home, according to the Associated Press. Birchfield's body was found under the house after the arrest.

A former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified at the trial that Morley said at one point that he had killed him, Fox News Digital reported. A jury found Morley guilty of first-degree murder on Feb. 7, 2025, and he was sentenced to life in June 2025.

The sheriff's warning

Sheriff Bryan Avery of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, where the prison is located, asked the public in a statement Monday to remain vigilant and exercise caution.

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

The Correction Department said it is committed to protecting public safety and is asking the community to contact law enforcement immediately with any sightings or information. The bureau has told anyone who spots Morley or the stolen truck not to approach and to call 911.

Several violent attacks between inmates and by employees have been reported in recent years at Northwest Correctional Complex, the Associated Press reported. A grand jury in July 2026 returned dozens of indictments for five inmate murders, assaults against staff and inmates and other violence.

A state audit released in December 2023 found that the department was struggling to fill open positions at the complex and recorded a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers in fiscal year 2023.

The time of the escape itself has not been given. NBC News reported that Morley got out sometime before he was reported missing at 11:30 p.m., and the department's account of the night sets out the emergency count and the camera review rather than how the fence was breached.

What the agencies are asking

The Correction Department asked neighbors in the area of the complex to check home security and doorbell cameras, along with trail and hunting cameras and other surveillance systems, for possible sightings or activity. The bureau made the same appeal and extended it to the stolen truck.

Residents are urged to check home security systems, including doorbell cameras and trail cameras, for any sightings of Morley or the stolen truck

Morley remained at large as of Tuesday morning, Oct. 27. The bureau was still seeking public sightings of the white F-350 marked with the Lindamood Planting Company name on its side.