Law enforcement across northwest Tennessee is hunting for a convicted killer who got out of a state prison by slipping through its perimeter fence. Jacob Allen Morley, 28, is serving a life sentence for murdering a co-worker in 2022.

Staff at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville noticed Morley was missing around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. When investigators went back through security camera footage, they saw him breach the fence while still dressed in his prison uniform. Corrections officials have not explained how he got through.

Roughly 90 minutes after he was reported missing, surveillance video captured a man in a beanie walking around a white 2008 Ford F-350 flatbed and climbing into the driver's seat. The windshield wipers switch on and the truck drives away. The pickup has Tennessee plates and a Lindamood Planting Company logo on its door.

Reward offered

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added Morley to its most wanted list. A reward of up to $2,500 is available for information that leads to his capture. Investigators are asking people who live near where the truck was taken to check doorbell cameras, home security systems and trail cameras for any sign of Morley or the stolen pickup.

Morley is 5-foot-11 and weighs about 240 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. Anyone who spots him should call 911 right away or the bureau's tip line at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Officers have searched buildings and other structures around the prison. The facility sits in a remote farming area about 90 miles north of Memphis, near a bend in the Mississippi River close to the Missouri state line. Tiptonville is home to about 3,500 people.

The crime that put him away

Morley was convicted in February 2025 of first-degree murder in the death of co-worker Cody Birchfield, 34. Court records say Birchfield was shot in the back of the head. His body was later found inside a large metal box under Morley's home in Carter County in East Tennessee after he had been missing for weeks.

When deputies showed up at his house in 2022, Morley fled and led police on a chase that ended in North Carolina. Along with murder, jurors convicted him of aggravated burglary for stealing the victim's tools as well as abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, vandalism and evading arrest. At trial he claimed self-defense and said he struggled with mental illness including bipolar disorder.

A troubled prison

The Northwest Correctional Complex can hold 1,776 men. It has faced years of violence between inmates and attacks involving staff. In July a grand jury returned dozens of indictments tied to five inmate killings and other assaults. A 2023 state audit found the prison had a 61% vacancy rate for correctional officers.