New details show hours passed before outside law enforcement was told that convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley had escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tennessee, according to WBBJ.
The delay
District Attorney General Danny Goodman Jr. said Morley was already in Marion, Illinois, before prison officials called anyone outside the Tennessee Department of Correction. An internal investigator was alerted around 2 a.m., but the TBI, Tennessee Highway Patrol and the DA's office were not notified until 5:30 a.m., and the Lake County Sheriff's Department not until 6:15 a.m.
Timeline from sources
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 9:30 p.m.: during a routine count, a cell door window was covered; an inmate falsely said two people were inside. Morley was not there.
- 10:00 p.m.: a second officer found him missing.
- 11:47 p.m.: an emergency count confirmed it.
- Monday, around 1 a.m.: Morley reportedly stole a utility truck and headed for Illinois.
- 3:30 to 4 a.m.: staff found breached perimeter fences. He had hidden behind the main kitchen.
- The truck was later found abandoned in Marion, Illinois.
Morley was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield in Carter County. Authorities are checking a possible link to a Tuesday armed bank robbery in Dane County, Wisconsin; the TBI says no connection has been established.
Tips
The TBI asks anyone near the Pilot Travel Center on Vernell Road in Marion between 5 and 7 a.m. Oct. 26, especially with dash camera footage, to call 1-800-TBI-FIND or 911. Morley is on the TBI Most Wanted list and considered dangerous. Up to $17,500 is offered for information leading to his capture.
Sources: WBBJ