Tennessee fugitive Jacob Allen Morley arrested in Missouri after week on the run

Jacob Allen Morley, a 28-year-old convicted murderer, was taken into custody by Missouri State Highway Patrol officers Tuesday in the Kansas City area. The arrest ended a multi-state search that intensified when investigators tracked a second stolen vehicle to rural Illinois.

Morley was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of his coworker, Cody Birchfield, in Carter County, Tennessee. He escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County on Oct. 25. According to an investigation timeline, an inmate falsely reported Morley present during a 9:30 p.m. headcount. An officer noticed his absence at 10:00 p.m. Investigators later found that Morley had cut through perimeter fences after hiding among pallets and a trash cart behind the prison’s main kitchen.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on Oct. 26, Morley stole a 2008 Ford F-350 utility truck from the Lake County facility. Surveillance footage showed him abandoning that first truck in Marion, Illinois, around 4:40 a.m. He evaded heavy law enforcement searches in the area for more than a week. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added him to its Most Wanted list and offered a reward of up to $17,500 for his arrest.

The manhunt broke open early Tuesday morning. At approximately 7:34 a.m., Williamson County deputies in Illinois responded to a report of a stolen white 2005 Ford pickup truck. The vehicle had been used as a farm vehicle. Investigators determined Morley was responsible for the theft and established that he had left southern Illinois in the truck heading west.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the Illinois State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Missouri authorities. Officials relayed Morley’s route and vehicle description to state troopers, who intercepted him as he traveled through the Kansas City area. He was captured without further incident.

Friends and family of Birchfield issued public warnings after the escape, describing Morley as a dangerous killer who would not hesitate to strike again. Authorities also investigated whether Morley was linked to an armed bank robbery in Dane County, Wisconsin, during his time on the run. Extradition details and formal charges regarding the escape and vehicle thefts have not yet been announced.