Convicted killer Jacob Morley still at large as manhunt crosses into Illinois
Escaped Tennessee murderer Jacob Morley, 28, may have left Marion, Illinois, after a stolen truck was found there. A reward of $15,000 has been issued.
Manhunt for escaped Tennessee murderer expands after stolen truck found in Illinois
Jacob Morley, 28, a convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison on Sunday night, has no known connection to the Illinois town where the truck he allegedly stole was found abandoned, Marion Police Chief David Fitts said Wednesday.
"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 said.
According to NBC News, Morley escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, sometime before 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Prison staff confirmed he was unaccounted for, conducted an emergency count and searched the facility. Security footage showed Morley breaching the perimeter fence and leaving the grounds still wearing his Tennessee Department of Correction uniform.
Early Tuesday, the truck Morley is accused of stealing was found behind a business in Marion — a town of roughly 16,000 residents located approximately 100 miles north of Tiptonville. Fitts said there have been no reports of additional stolen vehicles in Marion, no physical evidence recovered near the truck, and no confirmed sightings of the fugitive.
"There's really nowhere for him to go here where he wouldn't be recognised. His face is all over the news," Fitts said. He added that Marion sits along Interstate 57, a major highway running through the centre of town, which may explain why Morley passed through. "Maybe he was low on gas and just pulled off. I don't know," Fitts said.
Morley was convicted in February 2025 of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary, and pleaded guilty separately to theft of property. He was serving a life sentence at the time of his escape. Court documents state he shot co-worker Cody Birchfield in the back of the head in 2022; Birchfield's body was later found inside a large metal box beneath Morley's residence.
Birchfield's sister, Carrie Norman, said Wednesday the situation "feels like a scary movie." Her family, she said, "have to go back through the experience — once again. Once again, because you don't know where he's at, but you know what he's capable of."
The reward for information leading to Morley's arrest was raised Wednesday from $2,500 to $15,000, a combined sum offered by the Tennessee governor's office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Fitts urged the public not to approach Morley. "This is really frustrating that we can't find him. Somebody will eventually, I have no doubt in my mind. I wish it was us so we could catch him now," he said. "Don't approach him. Call 911. We'll handle it."
The Tennessee Department of Correction said Wednesday that the circumstances of the escape remain under investigation and declined to provide further details on how Morley breached the facility.
Source: Google News MT