"On November 3, 2026, at approximately 9:30 a.m., the Patrol’s Missouri Information Analysis Center and Troop A Communications received information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that Morley may be traveling westbound on Interstate 70 near Independence," the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement. "The suspect vehicle was located using FLOCK cameras, and officers began to deploy to the area. With additional use of FLOCK cameras, the suspect vehicle was located by undercover officers traveling south on Missouri 291 in Liberty."
Police from several different local and federal agencies, including the Kansas City Police Department, Independence Police Department, Career Criminal Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Marshals Service, assisted in the effort to surround and capture him, MSHP said.
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. Sunday.
Morley was arrested in 2022 in connection with the murder of a man named Cody Birchfield. Police had initially arrested Morley near the border with North Carolina and later found Birchfield's body under Morley's home. In 2025, he was convicted at the end of a trial that included his ex-girlfriend testifying that, "he f---ing killed him."
Tennessee authorities later publicly thanked the public and the Missouri Highway Patrol for their help recapturing the killer, who was previously convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, tampering with evidence, evading arrest and vandalism.
This is a breaking news story.
Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.