Tennessee fugitive: Jacob Morley caught in Missouri after nine-day manhunt
The convicted murderer was arrested by state troopers after stealing a second vehicle in Illinois.
By Ethan Cook ·
A nine-day multi-state search for an escaped Tennessee inmate ended Tuesday morning in the Kansas City, Missouri, area. Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was taken into custody by the Missouri State Highway Patrol as he drove through the region.
Morley, who is serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of his coworker Cody Birchfield in Carter County, Tennessee, fled the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County on October 25. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation listed him as a most wanted suspect with a reward of up to $17,500. He was captured without further incident.
The manhunt gained new momentum early Tuesday when Williamson County deputies in Illinois responded to a report of a stolen white 2005 Ford pickup. The vehicle, a farm truck, was reported missing around 7:34 a.m. Investigators confirmed Morley had stolen it and was traveling west from southern Illinois.
Before this second theft, Morley had been hiding for more than a week. He initially escaped by cutting through perimeter fences after hiding behind pallets and a trash cart near the prison kitchen. An inmate falsely covered for him during a 9:30 p.m. headcount on October 25 before an officer noticed his absence at 10:00 p.m.
Surveillance footage showed Morley abandoning a stolen 2008 Ford F-350 utility truck in Marion, Illinois, around 4:40 a.m. on October 26. He evaded searches in that area until he took the farm truck on Tuesday. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the Illinois State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the TBI, and Missouri authorities to track his route.
Friends and family of Birchfield issued public warnings after the escape, describing Morley as a dangerous killer. Authorities also investigated a possible link between Morley and an armed bank robbery in Dane County, Wisconsin, during his time on the run. Extradition details and formal charges for the escape and vehicle thefts have not yet been announced.
The arrest brings a temporary close to the investigation, though legal proceedings are pending. Morley remains in custody while officials determine the next steps in his extradition back to Tennessee.
