A convicted murderer who broke out of a Tennessee prison more than a week ago was captured near Kansas City, Missouri, according to The Daily Beast.
Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was taken into custody around 11:30 in the morning near Norborne in Carroll County, about an hour east of Kansas City, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Morley was serving a life sentence for killing a co-worker in 2022.
Tennessee authorities alerted Missouri troopers Tuesday morning that Morley might be traveling through the state, based on information from Flock license-plate cameras. Undercover officers spotted his vehicle in Liberty, and a Kansas City police helicopter followed it east into Carroll County, KMBC reported.
The vehicle got stuck when Morley tried to drive off County Road 515, and a trooper arrested him without incident. Officers had believed he was armed with multiple weapons, and the patrol said no agency was ever in an active pursuit.
Prison staff discovered Morley was missing from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville at about 11:30 at night on Oct. 25. Security cameras showed him slipping through the perimeter fence in his prison uniform.
Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman told FOX13 Memphis that Morley was last seen in the prison yard around 6 that evening, hours before staff noticed he was gone. Goodman said his understanding was that Morley's cellmate told guards at an earlier head count that two people were in the cell, and they took his word rather than verifying.
Investigators said he stole a farm pickup truck in Lake County, which was later found abandoned at a truck stop in Marion, Illinois. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added him to its Most Wanted list, and agencies offered combined rewards of up to $17,500.
"Thank you to the public for your assistance, vigilance, and the tips provided during this investigation," the TBI said. A federal Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force led by the Marshals Service was among the agencies involved in the capture.
Along with first-degree murder, Morley was convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism. Investigators have not said exactly how he got through the fence.
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