Tennessee inmate escaped prison 5 hours before local police were notified Convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, and stole a pickup truck before being found in Illinois. The Tiptonville police chief says his department was notified over five hours after prison staff realized Morley was missing. Convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley escaped from a Tennessee prison and had at least a five-hour head start before local police were notified he was missing, the local police chief told Fox News Digital. Morley, 28, broke out of the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Sunday, according to correctional officials. He was serving a life sentence for the 2022 murder of Cody Birchfield. Staff at the prison noticed Morley was unaccounted for at around 11:30 p.m. 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.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 was not located.Police Notified Hours After EscapeIn a statement to Fox News Digital, Tiptonville Police Department Chief Joe England said his department was not notified about a potentially missing inmate until 4:40 a.m. Monday, over five 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 had been confirmed. England said the Tiptonville Police Department immediately coordinated with the Tennessee Department of Correction and the Lake County Sheriff's Office to conduct a search of the surrounding area. The Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and numerous other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies also participated in the search efforts.While Morley stole the pickup truck at around 1 a.m. Monday, England said his department was not made aware of a potentially missing truck until 2:15 p.m. Monday, which was confirmed missing at 2:30 p.m. He noted that the pickup truck was not stolen within city limits. A timeline of events shows Morley's last known location was the prison at 4 p.m. Sunday, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatch audio obtained by Fox News Digital.Timeline Shows Critical Communication DelaysThe truck was stolen on Keystone Drive in unincorporated Lake County at 1 a.m. Monday. Lake County Central Dispatch received the first report of a possibly missing inmate and notified officers at 4:40 a.m., which was Tiptonville PD's first notice. At 5:14 a.m., Tiptonville officers at the prison told the rest of the department an escape had been confirmed. At 6:20 a.m., prison officials formally notified Lake County Central Dispatch that an inmate escape had been confirmed.At 10 a.m., Marion, Illinois, police were notified the truck was found abandoned. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson said their agency was notified of the prison escape on Monday morning, but did not elaborate on an exact time. The Lake County Sheriff's Office did not respond to Fox News Digital when asked when their agency was first alerted of the prison escape.The Tennessee Department of Correction did not respond to multiple requests for comment to Fox News Digital. Former federal prison warden Cameron Lindsay told Fox News Digital the delay in notifying local police of an inmate escaping prison is 100% unacceptable. He called Morley's escape a quintessential failure and said it raises serious questions about staff failures after video showed the convicted murderer moving through the facility seemingly unimpeded.Former Warden Condemns Escape FailureLindsay said part of any correctional facility's basic tenets of operations should include emergency plans, and one of those plans that you have for an emergency is an escape.