28-Year-Old Inmate Steals Ford F-350 With Air Compressor After Tennessee Escape

Jacob Allen Morley is currently on Tennessee’s most wanted list after escaping the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on Sunday night. The 28-year-old inmate, who is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, was last seen stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 pickup truck at approximately 1 a.m. on Monday.

Prison staff noticed Morley was missing during a routine check around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. They immediately initiated an emergency count and searched the facility. Security footage reviewed by the Tennessee Department of Correction showed Morley cutting through a fence while still wearing his prison uniform.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation records indicate Morley traveled to the 400 block of Keystone Drive, located roughly two miles south of the prison. At that location, he took a heavy-duty work truck. The vehicle is a white Ford F-350 bearing Tennessee license plate 138BBQV. Officials noted the truck has an air compressor in the bed and is marked with the name Lindamood Planting Company.

Morley is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The TBI advised the public to consider him dangerous. In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Morley was previously convicted of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest.

Morley was sentenced in 2025 for the murder of Cody Birchfield. Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office found signs of a violent crime inside the victim's home. On March 2, 2022, police arrested Morley following a chase that ended at the North Carolina state line. Birchfield's body was later found underneath Morley's residence.

During the trial, Morley's former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified that Morley admitted to killing the victim. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are currently assisting in the search. The public is asked to call 844-832-3463 with any information regarding Morley's whereabouts.