Tennessee Manhunt Targets Fugitive Driving Stolen F-350 with Air Compressor

A 240-pound fugitive is driving a white 2008 Ford F-350 equipped with an air compressor after escaping a Tennessee prison on Sunday. The vehicle, marked with the name Lindamood Planting Company, bears Tennessee license plate 138BBQV. Authorities launched a search for Jacob Allen Morley, 28, after discovering he was unaccounted for at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville at 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Tennessee Department of Correction conducted an emergency count and search of the facility immediately after the discrepancy was found. Security video showed Morley breaching a fence while still wearing prison clothing. By 1:00 a.m. Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed footage of Morley stealing the truck on the 400 block of Keystone Drive. This location is approximately two miles south of the prison complex.

Morley is serving a life sentence following his 2025 conviction for the murder of Cody Birchfield. The 28-year-old man also received guilty verdicts for burglary, vandalism, tampering with evidence, and evading arrest. Birchfield disappeared in early February 2022 after being last seen in Elizabethton. Investigators from the Carter County Sheriff's Office later determined that a violent crime had occurred inside the victim's residence.

Police arrested Morley on March 2, 2022, following a chase that ended at the North Carolina state line. Authorities recovered Birchfield's body underneath Morley's home. During the trial, Morley's former girlfriend Landree Sheperd testified that the defendant admitted to the killing by stating, "he f, ing killed him." The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation now lists Morley on the state's most wanted list and advises the public to consider him dangerous.

Law enforcement agencies at the federal and state levels are assisting in the search. The department released Morley's physical description as 5 feet 11 inches tall with brown hair and green eyes. Officials provided the number 844-832-3463 for anyone with information regarding his whereabouts.