A manhunt was underway on Monday for an inmate who had escaped from a correctional facility in Tennessee, where he was serving a life sentence for murder, officials said.
The man, Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was discovered to be missing around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tenn., about 125 miles north of Memphis, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement Monday morning.
Staff members immediately searched the prison, the statement said. A review of the security cameras showed Mr. Morley had breached the complex’s perimeter fence and fled in his prison uniform, officials said.
The department said it was working with local, state and federal law enforcement officials to find Mr. Morley. Buildings and structures near the prison have been searched and cleared, officials said. The Tennessee Highway Patrol deployed aerial support and state troopers to assist with the search, the department said.
Mr. Morley was convicted of first-degree murder in 2025 in the death of Cody Birchfield, who had been reported missing in February 2022, according to the TV news station WJHL in Johnson City, Tenn.
Mr. Morley was arrested in North Carolina in March 2022. WJHL reported that after he was taken into custody, deputies searched Mr. Morley’s home and found Mr. Birchfield’s body there.
Prison records show Mr. Morley had also been convicted of aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence. Records also show that Mr. Morley was convicted of evading arrest in 2022 and of vandalism in 2024.
He was added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list after his escape, the corrections department said. Officials are offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Mr. Morley’s arrest.
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