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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that Jacob Allen Morley was taken into custody without incident after his vehicle became stuck in mud near Norborne, Missouri. Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers confronted the 28-year-old around 11:34 a.m. local time on November 3 following surveillance from a police helicopter and automated license plate readers that tracked his movements through the area. Three firearms that had been reported stolen were recovered from the vehicle, according to the TBI.
Morley was serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of his co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022, when the victim’s body was found in a box under Morley’s house weeks after he had been reported missing. He was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism in connection with the case that occurred in Carter County in eastern Tennessee. Court records reviewed by multiple outlets detailed how Morley led officers on a chase that ended in North Carolina after deputies arrived at his home.
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville around 11:30 p.m. on October 25 by breaching a perimeter fence while still dressed in his prison uniform. Security video showed him stealing a white 2008 Ford F-350 truck from a nearby farm about two miles away, which was later recovered abandoned in Marion, Illinois. The escape prompted his addition to the Tennessee Most Wanted list with a reward of up to $2,500 offered for information leading to his arrest.
A tip received early on November 3 directed investigators to a shed at a hunting camp near Marion, Illinois, where Morley had been hiding and where a second truck was stolen, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported. The license plate of that newly taken vehicle was then monitored across state lines through automatic plate-reader systems into Missouri. Coordination among law enforcement from Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri intensified as the trail led toward Kansas City.
The U.S. Marshals Service said it joined the search at the request of the Tennessee Department of Correction immediately after the October 25 escape, with personnel from its offices in Eastern Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Southern Illinois and several other districts assisting the effort. Federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations contributed alongside state and local partners such as the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and multiple county sheriff’s offices. U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller said in a statement, “Over the past nine days, the U.S. Marshals Service, alongside our partners, was engaged in a relentless pursuit of prison escapee, Jacob Morley, which ended today with his capture in Missouri.”
Missouri State Highway Patrol officials confirmed that Morley was compliant during the arrest and was returned to Tennessee custody following processing. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office released an image of the apprehension, showing the end of a search that had stretched across three states and involved extensive community tips. Authorities had cautioned throughout the manhunt that Morley should be considered dangerous.
