A man convicted of killing his coworker in 2022 remains at large days after he escaped a Tennessee prison, sparking an ongoing manhunt, according to authorities.
Jacob Allen Morley escaped the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, where he had been serving a life sentence, on Sunday, October 25, Us previously reported.
Following his escape, Morley stole a truck, which was discovered abandoned in Marion, Illinois, the morning of Tuesday, October 27, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The white 2008 Ford F-350 was found around 100 to 120 miles north of the prison.
Surveillance footage released by the agency showed Morley stealing the vehicle from Lake County, Tennessee, a day earlier around 1 a.m. on Monday, October 26. The truck belonged to Lindamood Planting Company, a farming business based in Tiptonville.
A reward for information leading to his arrest has increased to $15,000, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in an update shared to Facebook on Wednesday, October 28.
“Stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Morley is considered dangerous,” the agency warned.
On Sunday, Morley slipped past a fence at the Tennessee prison complex and escaped the facility in his prison uniform, per The Associated Press. Officials discovered he was missing around 11:30 that night.
Morley had been previously sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the death of Cody Birchfield, according to authorities.
“He’s a very dangerous man,” Birchfield’s sister, Carrie Norman, said in an interview with NBC News. “And if he gets ahold of any kind of weapon, he will kill somebody.”
Norman reported her brother as missing in February 2022, after hadn’t heard from him and couldn’t reach him at his trailer in Elizabethton, Tennessee, or his workplace, the outlet reported.
Birchfield, who was 34, worked with Morley at a wood packaging company, Oliver Wood Working, per NBC News.
Birchfield’s body was ultimately found in a metal box buried below Morley’s home in March 2022, per court filings provided to NBC News. Morley allegedly fatally shot Birchfield in the head.
Morley was apprehended in connection with Birchfield’s death in Avery County, North Carolina, on March 2, 2022, a few weeks after Birchfield was last seen alive on February 18, 2022, when Morley had driven Birchfield home from work, per WBBJ-TV.
Following his arrest, Morley admitted to visiting Birchfield’s home to “rob him,” before the killing allegedly ensued, according to investigator Jenna Markland with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department, the TV station reported.
In 2025, Morley was found guilty of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary in relation to Birchfield’s death, per NBC News.
“If he will kill somebody the way he killed Cody, he’s a monster,” Birchfield’s childhood best friend, Daniel Russell, told WMC-TV. “He will do it again when the first opportunity comes.”
Russell said Birchfield was a devoted father to his young son.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation encourages anyone with information on Morley to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
