An abandoned truck may provide clues about the next move of a convicted killer who escaped from a Tennessee prison and prompted a multi-state manhunt, according to a former FBI special agent who spoke with News Media.
Jacob Allen Morley escaped Sunday from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Authorities have not released the exact time of the breakout, but prison staff realized he was missing at about 11:30 p.m. A review of security footage later showed Morley crossing the facility’s perimeter fence.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said surveillance video showed Morley taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive at about 1 a.m. Monday. The location is approximately 2 miles south of the prison. Officers found the truck abandoned early Tuesday in Marion, Illinois, but Morley was not there.
Several law enforcement agencies have joined the search. An Illinois State Police spokeswoman told News Media that the agency had “offered its assistance to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.” The TBI also confirmed that the U.S. Marshals Service is helping locate Morley.
Surveillance footage shows convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley inside Northwest Correctional Complex before his escape Sunday. Authorities said Morley was captured on security video breaching a prison fence. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
Retired FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam told News Media that the abandoned truck could indicate what Morley plans to do next.
“But when he got the truck, now they found that 2½ hours north. He is probably gonna lay low, or he’s gonna try to get another vehicle,” Gilliam said.
The truck was a work vehicle that would have stood out, Gilliam said, making it easier for authorities to identify. “That vehicle in particular that he took is a work truck [that] just absolutely screamed work truck,” he added.
Surveillance footage shows Jacob Allen Morley, 28, inside the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, before he allegedly escaped Sunday. Morley was serving a life sentence for murder, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
If Morley steals another vehicle that is less distinctive, Gilliam said, the possible search area could grow substantially.
“If he’s in a vehicle that’s nondescript and nobody reports it missing, he could go a very long ways without being caught,” Gilliam said. “He could be halfway across the country.”
Gilliam said Morley’s access to money could restrict his ability to travel far, unless he obtains additional resources by committing another crime.
Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield when he escaped from a Tennessee prison Sunday, according to correction officials. (Tennessee Department of Correction)
Authorities have not indicated that Morley is receiving outside assistance. Without such help, Gilliam said, his movements may suggest that he is focused primarily on creating as much distance as possible from the prison.
“I think the fact that this guy went north reduces his chance of familiar resources. So, family resources are all east. He went north,” Gilliam said. “If I had to just look at the totality of what I know right now at this point, I would think that the guy is probably more just trying to put distance between him and the prison.”
Jacob Allen Morley’s stolen truck was found in Illinois after he escaped from prison in Tennessee. (Fox News)
Morley is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warned that he should be “considered dangerous” and said he has been added to the state’s most wanted list.
Along with his first-degree murder conviction, Morley was found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.
Officials said federal and state law enforcement agencies are involved in the ongoing search.
The stolen Ford F-350 authorities say escaped Tennessee inmate Jacob Morley drove after fleeing prison was found abandoned in Marion, Ill. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)
Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield.
Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. According to WJHL, 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 went to the North Carolina state line. After the arrest, Birchfield’s body was found underneath Morley’s home.
Morley’s former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified at Morley’s trial and claimed that the defendant said at one point that “he f—ing killed him.”
People with information about Morley’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact 844-832-3463.
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