Life-sentence inmate escapes Tennessee prison in stolen truck

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, by crossing a prison fence. He was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of a co-worker whose body was found in a box.

Authorities noticed Morley was missing during a count at the prison, about 145 kilometers north of Memphis. Security footage showed him leaving in his prison uniform, though officials did not explain how he crossed the fence.

“We need new leadership.”

Morley stole a white 2008 Ford F-350 from a nearby farm around 1 a.m. on Monday. He abandoned the truck Tuesday behind a strip mall in Marion, Illinois, about 193 kilometers north of the prison.

Marion Police Chief David Fitts said Wednesday that police had received no credible tips that Morley remained in the area or reports of other missing vehicles since Tuesday.

The escape adds to problems in Tennessee's prison system, coming weeks after the failed execution of Christa Pike. Correction Commissioner Frank Strada resigned after less than three years on the job.

State Senator Tom Hatcher, a Republican from Blount County, said the state needs new leadership and cited understaffing as a major problem. Prison officials reported 470 open jobs within a 6,000-person workforce and warned that a 2022 sentencing law is increasing prison populations and could cause overcrowding.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Correction offered a reward of up to $2,500 for Morley's capture. Officers searched buildings and structures near the isolated prison.