Jacob Morley, serving life for killing a co-worker, was recaptured Tuesday following a nine-day manhunt across three states.

November 4, 2026; KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An escaped Tennessee inmate serving a life sentence for murder was taken into custody Tuesday near Kansas City, Missouri, after the truck he was driving got stuck in mud, authorities said.

Jacob Allen Morley, 28, was apprehended around midday on Nov. 3 without incident, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Spokesperson Sgt. Justin Ewing said Morley was “compliant” when troopers reached him.

How he was found

The Highway Patrol learned Tuesday morning that Morley might be heading west on Interstate 70 in the Kansas City area. Troopers tracked the vehicle with roadside license plate readers, and a Kansas City police helicopter followed it into Carroll County, where it left the road and became stuck.

Ewing described the vehicle as a metal flatbed work truck with a white cab. Authorities have not said how Morley obtained it or where he was headed.

The escape

Morley escaped from the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, about 90 miles north of Memphis, on the night of Oct. 25. He slipped through a fence wearing his prison clothes. A white Ford F-350 that authorities say he stole was later found abandoned in Marion, Illinois, and officials say he took a second vehicle in southern Illinois before the final leg west.

The conviction

Morley was serving a life sentence for killing a co-worker in 2022.

A prison under scrutiny

The escape adds to pressure on Tennessee’s prison system. In July, a Lake County grand jury returned 50 indictments in 19 cases tied to violence at the Northwest Correctional Complex, including five inmate killings in 2025 and 2026.

In September, the state’s attempt to execute Christa Pike failed, leaving her hospitalized. Days later, Gov. Bill Lee announced that Correction Commissioner Frank Strada, who was appointed in January 2023, would step down.

Source: NovemberReporting from the Associated Press, WBBJ and the Missouri State Highway Patrol contributed to this story.