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A manhunt is underway for a Tennessee inmate serving a life sentence for murder after he escaped from prison.
The Tennessee Department of Correction said that Jacob Allen Morley, 28, escaped the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday. He was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 2025 of murdering Cody Birchfield three years earlier.
Prison staff discovered Morley was unaccounted for around 11:30 p.m. Sunday and immediately conducted an emergency count and search of the facility, according to a Tennessee Department of Correction statement given to Fox News Digital.
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Security video showed Morley breaching a fence while still wearing prison clothing.
Morley is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said he should be “considered dangerous,” adding Morley is now on the state’s most wanted list.
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In addition to the first-degree murder conviction, he was also found guilty of burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence and evading arrest.
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Federal and state law enforcement is assisting to help find Morley, according to officials.
Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after he was last seen in Elizabethton, Tennessee. According to WJHL, investigators from the Carter County Sheriff’s Office saw indications that a “violent crime” had occurred inside his house.
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On March 2, 2022, Morley was arrested after a police chase that went to the North Carolina state line. After the arrest, Birchfield’s body was found underneath Morley’s home.
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Morley’s former girlfriend, Landree Sheperd, testified at Morley’s trial and claimed that the defendant said at one point that “he f—ing killed him.”
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People with information about Morley’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact 844-832-3463.
