Jacob Allen Morley, the convicted murderer who escaped from a West Tennessee prison more than a week ago, is back in custody. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Morley was captured near Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, WBBJ reported. He was taken into custody without any further reported incident.
Morley, 28, broke out of the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, in Lake County. The Tennessee Department of Correction said staff found him missing at about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. A review of security video showed he went through the perimeter fence still wearing his prison uniform.
He is serving a life sentence for a Carter County conviction for first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism. Newsweek reported the murder conviction was for the 2022 killing of a coworker.
After the escape, investigators said Morley stole a white Ford F-350 pickup near Tiptonville. The truck was later found abandoned behind a shopping center in Marion, Illinois. The TBI said his last confirmed sighting was at a Pilot Travel Center in Marion. For more than a week after that, the agency said it had no new information on where he was.
The case drew questions about how long it took to raise the alarm. Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman told FOX13 that Morley was last seen in the prison yard around 6 p.m. on Oct. 25, and that about 12 hours passed before every outside agency was notified. By the time local law enforcement was told, Goodman said, Morley had already reached Illinois.
Morley was added to the Tennessee Most Wanted list on Oct. 26. The combined reward for information leading to his capture had grown to $17,500, and the U.S. Marshals Service listed him as armed and dangerous.
WBBJ called the capture a developing story, and the TBI has not yet released full details of the arrest. Raw 100.5 will update this story as officials share more.
Sources: WBBJ, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Department of Correction, FOX13, Newsweek, WPSD Local 6, U.S. Marshals Service