FIRST ON FOX: The convicted murderer who escaped from a Tennessee prison had at least a five-hour head start before local police were notified he was missing, the local police chief told Fox News Digital.Jacob Allen Morley broke out of the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, Sunday, although authorities have not disclosed the exact time of his escape.Staff at the prison noticed Morley was unaccounted for at around 11:30 p.m., and a review of surveillance footage subsequently revealed him crossing through the prison's perimeter fence.According to Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch audio, Morley was last seen at the prison around 4 p.m.
on Sunday.Surveillance footage recorded Morley taking a pickup truck from the 400 block of Keystone Drive, a location roughly 2 miles south of the prison, at around 1 a.m.Monday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
The truck was found abandoned by law enforcement officials early Tuesday morning in Marion, Illinois, but Morley wasn't located.TENNESSEE INMATE CONVICTED OF MURDER ESCAPES FROM PRISON, STEALS PICKUP TRUCK, MANHUNT UNDERWAY: OFFICIALSSurveillance footage shows convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley inside Northwest Correctional Complex before his escape Sunday.Authorities said Morley was captured on security video breaching a prison fence.
(Tennessee Department of Correction)In a statement to Fox News Digital, Tiptonville Police Department Chief Joe England said his department wasn't notified about a potentially missing inmate until 4:40 a.m.on Monday, over 5 hours after prison staff first realized Morley was unaccounted for.Officers responded to the prison and worked with staff to assess the situation.
At 5:14 a.m., England said, officers at the scene alerted the rest of the department that the inmate's escape had been confirmed.At 6:20 a.m., prison officials formally notified Lake County Central Dispatch, which handles 911 calls and coordinates law enforcement services, that an inmate escape...