Manhunt Begins After Convicted Murderer Escapes From Tennessee Prison

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A manhunt was underway on Monday for an inmate who had escaped from a correctional facility in Tennessee, where he was serving a life sentence for murder, officials said.

The man, Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was discovered to be missing around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tenn., about 125 miles north of Memphis, the Tennessee Department of Correction said in a statement Monday morning.

Staff members immediately searched the prison, the statement said. A review of the security cameras showed Mr. Morley had breached the complex’s perimeter fence and fled in his prison uniform, officials said.

The department said it was working with local, state and federal law enforcement officials to find Mr. Morley. Buildings and structures near the prison have been searched and cleared, officials said. The Tennessee Highway Patrol deployed aerial support and state troopers to assist with the search, the department said.

Mr. Morley was convicted of first-degree murder in 2025 in the death of Cody Birchfield, who had been reported missing in February 2022, according to the TV news station WJHL in Johnson City, Tenn.

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