A manhunt is intensifying for Jacob Morley, a convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison on Sunday. Authorities believe Morley may have left the area where a stolen work truck was discovered in Marion, Illinois, approximately 100 miles north of Tiptonville, where he was incarcerated.
Police Chief David Fitts of Marion stated on Wednesday that there are no known ties between Morley and the town, which raises concerns about his potential whereabouts. “What we have seen kind of leads us in the direction that he’s not still here. But that doesn’t mean that we’ve stopped looking,” Fitts emphasized.
Morley, 28, was serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of a former co-worker, Cody Birchfield, in 2022. He escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex and was last seen in his prison uniform before breaching the facility’s perimeter. Security footage captured him driving away in the stolen truck, which was later located behind a business in Marion.
Despite the truck being found, there have been no confirmed sightings of Morley, and the police chief expressed uncertainty about why he would venture to Marion. “There’s really nowhere for him to go here where he wouldn’t be recognized. His face is all over the news,” Fitts noted.
The urgency of the situation has prompted an increase in the reward for information leading to Morley’s capture, rising from $2,500 to $15,000. The police chief cautioned residents against approaching Morley, urging them to notify authorities if they spot him.
Morley was convicted in February 2025, following a trial that revealed gruesome details surrounding his crime, including the concealment of Birchfield’s body under his residence. The victim’s family is grappling with the resurfacing of their trauma as the manhunt continues, with Birchfield’s sister describing the situation as feeling like “a scary movie.”
As the investigation into the escape unfolds, the Tennessee Department of Correction has stated that they are looking into the circumstances surrounding Morley’s flight from custody.
