Escaped Tennessee Killer’s Abandoned Truck May Reveal Next Moves, Retired FBI Agent Says

The abandoned pickup truck used by a convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison may provide investigators with insight into where he goes next, according to a former FBI special agent who spoke with News Outlet.

Jacob Allen Morley fled the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday. Authorities have not said exactly when he escaped, but prison employees discovered he was missing at about 11:30 p.m. A review of security footage later showed Morley getting through the facility’s perimeter fence.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said surveillance video showed Morley taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, about 2 miles south of the prison, at approximately 1 a.m. Monday. Officers located the truck early Tuesday in Marion, Illinois, but Morley was not inside.

The search has expanded across state lines with help from several law enforcement agencies. An Illinois State Police spokeswoman told News Outlet that the agency had “offered its assistance to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.” The TBI also confirmed that the U.S. Marshals Service is participating in the hunt.

Jonathan Gilliam, a retired FBI special agent, said the discovery of the stolen truck could help point to Morley’s next step.

“But when he got the truck, now they found that 2½ hours north. He is probably gonna lay low, or he’s gonna try to get another vehicle,” Gilliam told News Outlet.

Gilliam described the pickup as an unmistakable work vehicle that “would have been easy to identify,” making it a risky choice for someone trying to remain hidden.

If Morley has since taken another vehicle—particularly one that is less distinctive—the area investigators must search could grow substantially, Gilliam said.

“If he’s in a vehicle that’s nondescript and nobody reports it missing, he could go a very long ways without being caught,” Gilliam said. “He could be halfway across the country.”

Gilliam added that Morley’s apparent lack of money may restrict his ability to travel far, unless he commits another crime to obtain cash or other resources.

With no indication that anyone is helping him, Gilliam said Morley’s actions may reflect a straightforward attempt to create as much distance as possible from the prison.

“I think the fact that this guy went north reduces his chance of familiar resources. So, family resources are all east. He went north,” Gilliam said. “If I had to just look at the totality of what I know right now at this point, I would think that the guy is probably more just trying to put distance between him and the prison.”

Morley is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation warned that he should be “considered dangerous” and said he has been added to the state’s most wanted list.

His convictions include first-degree murder, burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.

Officials said federal and state law enforcement agencies are continuing to assist with the search.

Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield.

Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. According to WJHL, investigators from the Carter County Sheriff’s Office saw indications that a “violent crime” had occurred inside his house.

On March 2, 2022, Morley was arrested after a police chase that went to the North Carolina state line. After the arrest, Birchfield’s body was found underneath Morley’s home.

Morley’s former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified at Morley’s trial and claimed that the defendant said at one point that “he f—ing killed him.”

People with information about Morley’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact 844-832-3463.