Tennessee fugitive steals marked truck

Residents near the 400 block of Keystone Drive in Tiptonville should watch for a white 2008 Ford F-350 pickup truck. The vehicle carries the name Lindamood Planting Company on its side and holds an air compressor in the bed. It bears Tennessee license plate 138BBQV. Officials say the driver is a fugitive serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, escaped the Northwest Correctional Complex on Sunday night. Prison staff discovered he was missing around 11:30 p.m. Sunday and immediately searched the facility. Security video showed Morley cutting through a fence while still wearing his prison clothing. At approximately 1:00 a.m. Monday, cameras captured him stealing the truck about two miles south of the prison.

Morley was sentenced to life in prison in 2025. A jury found him guilty of murdering Cody Birchfield, who disappeared in early February 2022. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office found signs of a violent crime inside Birchfield's house in Elizabethton. Morley was arrested on March 2, 2022, after a police chase crossed into North Carolina. Birchfield's body was later found beneath Morley's home. The defendant also received guilty verdicts for burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation describes Morley as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. The agency has added him to the state's most wanted list and advises that he be considered dangerous. Federal and state law enforcement agencies are assisting in the search. Landree Sheperd, Morley's former girlfriend, testified during the trial that he admitted to killing Birchfield. People with information can call 844-832-3463.