Manhunt intensifies for escaped murderer who may have left area where truck was abandoned

Jacob Morley, a convicted killer on the loose since Sunday, has no known ties to the small Illinois town where the truck he is accused of stealing was found, the police chief said Wednesday.

“What we’ve seen leads us to believe he’s not still there. But that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped looking,” Marion Police Chief David Fitts said.

Morley, 28, convicted of killing a co-worker in 2022, was serving a life sentence when he escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday, officials said.

Morley had stolen a work truck, and early Tuesday that truck was found behind a business in Marion, a town of about 16,000 about 100 miles north of Tiptonville, Marion and Tennessee authorities said.

No other stolen vehicles were reported in Marion, and there was no evidence around the truck found, Fitts said.

There have also been no confirmed sightings, he said.

“There’s really nowhere to go here where he wouldn’t be recognized. His face is all over the news,” Fitts said.

Morley has no known ties to Marion or southern Illinois, he said.

“I don’t know why he would come here other than I-57 is a major highway and it goes through the middle of our city,” Fitts said. “And I don’t know, maybe he ran out of gas and just managed to get by. I don’t know.”

Morley was convicted of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary after a trial in February 2025. He also pleaded guilty to theft of property.

He was accused of shooting Cody Birchfield in the back of the head in 2022, according to court documents. Birchfield’s body was found in a large metal box under Morley’s residence, documents state.

Birchfield’s sister, Carrie Norman, said Wednesday that “it looks like a horror movie.”

The family, she said, “has to relive this experience, again. Again, because we don’t know where he is, but we know what he is capable of.”

Also Wednesday, the reward for information leading to Morley’s arrest was increased from $2,500 to $15,000, a combined sum from the Tennessee governor’s office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service, the office said.

Fitts said he wished Morley had been arrested, but he urged people not to take matters into their own hands.

“It’s really frustrating that we can’t find him. Someone will find him eventually, I have no doubt. I wish it was us so we could catch him now,” Fitts said. “But, and I just want to let our people know that, again, don’t approach him. Call 911. We’ll take care of it.”

Around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, prison staff members confirmed Morley was missing and conducted an emergency head count and search of the facility, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said.

Security video shows Morley “walked through the perimeter fence and left the facility in his TDOC uniform,” the department said.

The department did not release further details on how the escape occurred, which it said remains under investigation Wednesday.