Escaped Tennessee Killer Caught in Missouri After Second Truck Theft

Jacob Allen Morley was taken into custody by Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers on Tuesday near Kansas City. The arrest ended a multi-state search for the 28-year-old convicted murderer who slipped away from a Tennessee prison on October 25.

The manhunt shifted directions early Tuesday morning in rural Williamson County, Illinois. At 7:34 a.m., deputies responded to a report of a stolen white 2005 Ford pickup used as a farm vehicle. Investigators confirmed Morley was behind the theft. Evidence showed he had driven the truck west out of southern Illinois.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office shared the vehicle description and route with the Illinois State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Missouri authorities. This coordination allowed state troopers to intercept Morley as he traveled through the Kansas City area. He was caught without further incident.

Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tennessee, on the evening of October 25. A prison headcount at 9:30 p.m. initially missed him because another inmate falsely reported his presence. An officer noticed the gap at 10:00 p.m. Investigators determined Morley had hidden behind the main kitchen among pallets and a trash cart. He then cut through the perimeter fences.

Surveillance footage captured Morley stealing a 2008 Ford F-350 utility truck around 1:00 a.m. on October 26. He drove the vehicle to Marion, Illinois, where he abandoned it near 4:40 a.m. He evaded law enforcement searches in that area for more than a week. The theft of the second truck on Tuesday provided the final piece of evidence needed to locate him.

Morley is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of his coworker, Cody Birchfield, in Carter County, Tennessee. Friends and family of Birchfield issued public warnings after the escape, describing Morley as a dangerous killer. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had placed a reward of up to $17,500 on his head.

Authorities were also investigating a potential link between Morley and an armed bank robbery in Dane County, Wisconsin, while he was on the run. No formal charges for the escape or vehicle thefts have been announced yet. Extradition details remain pending.