A close friend of a Tennessee murder victim says she fears the convicted killer could endanger others after escaping prison and setting off a multistate manhunt.
Jacob Allen Morley escaped Sunday from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Authorities have not disclosed the precise time he fled.
Correctional officers realized Morley was missing at about 11:30 p.m. A review of surveillance footage later showed him breaking through the facility’s perimeter fence.
At approximately 1 a.m. Monday, cameras recorded Morley allegedly taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, about two miles south of the prison, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
The stolen vehicle is a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee license plate 138BBQV. “Lindamood Planting Company” is written on the truck’s side.
Morley was sentenced to life in prison after his 2025 conviction for the murder of Cody Birchfield, who was killed three years earlier.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that the truck had been found abandoned in Marion, Illinois. Morley’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Diana Reid, a childhood friend of Birchfield, told Fox News Digital she is worried Morley could harm additional people while he remains at large.
“He’s already been convicted of taking an innocent life. I believe he’s extremely dangerous, and I’m genuinely concerned that someone else could end up hurt if he’s not caught soon,” Reid said.
“I’m genuinely scared knowing that someone convicted of such a violent crime is out there, and no one knows where he’s going. It’s frightening to think about what he might do next.”
“He’s got absolutely nothing to lose at this point, and someone could become a victim simply so he can keep moving toward wherever he’s headed,” she said.
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Reid described Birchfield as “such a kind soul” who “had the biggest heart.”
“He was more than just a murder victim; he was someone who was deeply loved. He had an entire life ahead of him, and that was completely taken away when he was murdered,” Reid said.
As the search for Morley widened beyond Tennessee, the Missouri State Highway Patrol urged residents to stay vigilant and review their home surveillance footage for possible sightings of the escaped inmate.
Morley is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has warned that he should be considered dangerous and placed him on the state’s most wanted list.
Along with first-degree murder, Morley was convicted of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.
Officials said federal and state agencies are assisting in the effort to locate him.
Birchfield vanished in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office later found evidence suggesting that a “violent crime” had taken place inside his home, according to WJHL.
Morley was arrested March 2, 2022, following a police pursuit that ended near the North Carolina state line. After his arrest, Birchfield’s body was discovered beneath Morley’s home.
Landree Sheperd, Morley’s former girlfriend, testified during his trial that he once told her, “he f—ing killed him.”
Anyone with information about Morley’s whereabouts is asked to call 844-832-3463.
