Authorities said an escaped Tennessee inmate convicted of murder stole a truck from a nearby farm and apparently drove it to southern Illinois, where he abandoned the vehicle.
MEMPHIS, Tenn — A truck allegedly stolen by escaped murderer Jacob Allen Morley was found in Illinois, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday.
The white landscaping truck Morley reportedly used after escaping was discovered abandoned in Marion, Illinois, about two hours north of the Northwest Correctional Complex, where he fled late Sunday night, the bureau said.
Investigators found no sign of Morley, whose whereabouts remained unknown.
Marion Police Chief David Fitts said surveillance video showed the truck being parked neatly behind a shopping center at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Someone alerted police roughly seven hours later, at around 11 a.m. Morley had not been located.
“He has vanished,” Fitts said. “We haven’t had any reports of stolen vehicles or anything else suspicious around here.”
The Tennessee Department of Correction said Monday morning that 28-year-old Morley escaped from the prison in Tiptonville, Tenn. Staff at the Northwest Correctional Complex confirmed at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday that Morley was missing. They immediately carried out an emergency inmate count and searched the facility, TDOC said. Security footage showed Morley climbing through the perimeter fence and leaving while wearing his TDOC uniform.
Video from early Monday showed him taking a white 2008 Ford F-350 from a nearby farm, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of a coworker. Cody Birchfield’s body was discovered inside a box beneath Morley’s home after Birchfield had been reported missing for several weeks. The two men lived in Carter County, in eastern Tennessee.
Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. Authorities said he fled when deputies arrived at his home, leading officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina.
Prison officials are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Morley’s arrest. Law enforcement agencies have searched buildings and other structures near the prison, which sits about 90 miles north of Memphis in flat farmland near a bend in the Mississippi River.
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Anyone who sees Morley should call 911 immediately.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
