Tennessee authorities were still searching on Tuesday for a convicted murderer who, according to investigators, escaped from a state prison by slipping through a fence and driving away in a stolen truck.
The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) said in a statement that officials realized Jacob Morley, 28, was unaccounted for at about 11.30pm on Sunday at the Northwest correctional complex in Tiptonville. Investigators reviewed security camera footage and saw Morley get through a fence while wearing his prison uniform. Officials did not say how he managed to get through it, and released no further details.
Surveillance video also reportedly showed Morley stealing a truck at about 1am on Monday. The same truck was later recorded passing in front of the Hornbeak fire department at about 1.18am, according to the department. Hornbeak is roughly 15 miles from the correctional complex.
Prison officials are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Morley's arrest. They said law enforcement officers across the area have searched buildings and other structures near the prison. The facility sits about 90 miles (145km) north of Memphis, in an isolated, rural stretch of flat land near a bend in the Mississippi River close to Missouri.
Morley is 5ft 11in (1.8 meters) tall and weighs 240lb (109kg). He has brown hair and green eyes.
He was sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 killing of his co-worker Cody Birchfield. Birchfield's body was found in a box under Morley's home in Carter county, Tennessee, after he had been missing for a few weeks. In addition to first-degree murder, Morley was convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. Authorities said he led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina after he saw officers at his home in 2022 in connection with the Birchfield case.
The Northwest correctional complex has been the site of several reported violent attacks, both between inmates and by employees. In July, a grand jury handed up dozens of indictments covering five inmate murders, assaults on staff and inmates, and other violence at the complex.
According to TDOC, the prison can house 1,776 men and minors who have been convicted as adults. A 2023 audit of Tennessee prisons found that the department was struggling to fill open positions at the complex, with a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers in that fiscal year.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
