Jacob Morley Escapes Northwest Correctional Complex in Tennessee, Reward Offered

Jacob Morley, 28, escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, and prison officials have offered a reward of up to $2,500 for his arrest. The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), the state agency that runs the prison system, says the escape happened on October 25, 2026.

According to The Guardian, Morley was found unaccounted for at about 11:30pm that Sunday. Security camera footage showed him getting through a fence while still wearing his prison uniform.

Surveillance video then showed him stealing a truck at about 1am on Monday, October 26. Video recorded him in the stolen vehicle passing the Hornbeak Fire Department at about 1:18am the same morning. The fire department is about 15 miles from the prison. The truck is a white 2008 Ford F-350 with Tennessee license plate 138BBQV, according to CNN.

Morley is 5ft 11in tall and weighs 240lb, with brown hair and green eyes. He was sentenced to life in prison for killing his co-worker, Cody Birchfield, in 2022. Birchfield's body was later found in a box under Morley's home in Carter County, Tennessee, after he had been missing for a few weeks. Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest.

In 2022, Morley led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina. He had seen officers at his home in connection with Birchfield before the pursuit began.

The Northwest Correctional Complex can house 1,776 men and minors convicted as adults, according to TDOC. A 2023 audit found the department had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers at the complex that fiscal year, meaning that share of officer posts was unfilled.

In July, a grand jury, a panel of citizens that decides whether there is enough evidence for formal criminal charges, handed up dozens of indictments. They covered five inmate murders and a series of assaults against staff and inmates at the same complex.