Tennessee fugitive caught in Missouri after $17,500 reward

Jacob Allen Morley, a 28-year-old convicted murderer from Tennessee, was captured Tuesday near Kansas City, Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol took him into custody without incident as he drove through the area. His arrest ended a multi-state manhunt that began last month when he fled a correctional facility in Tennessee.

The breakthrough in the case came early Tuesday morning in rural Williamson County, Illinois. At approximately 7:34 a.m., deputies responded to a report of a stolen white 2005 Ford pickup truck. Investigators identified the vehicle as a farm truck and confirmed Morley was responsible for the theft. Evidence showed he used the truck to leave southern Illinois and head west.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office coordinated the search with the Illinois State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Missouri authorities. These agencies shared Morley’s route and vehicle description, leading directly to his arrest by state troopers in Missouri.

Morley originally escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tennessee, on Oct. 25. During a headcount at 9:30 p.m., another inmate falsely accounted for Morley. An officer noticed he was missing at 10:00 p.m. Investigators found that Morley had hidden behind the prison’s main kitchen among pallets and a trash cart before cutting through perimeter fences.

Around 1:00 a.m. on Oct. 26, Morley stole a 2008 Ford F-350 utility truck from Lake County and drove to Illinois. Surveillance footage showed he abandoned 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 before stealing the farm truck on Tuesday.

Morley was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of coworker Cody Birchfield in Carter County, Tennessee. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation placed him on its Most Wanted list with a reward of up to $17,500 for his arrest. Friends and family of Birchfield issued public warnings describing Morley as a dangerous killer who would not hesitate to strike again.

Authorities had 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 his escape and vehicle thefts have not yet been announced.