More than 50 years after Ted Bundy’s killing spree, investigators are still finding answers. DNA evidence has now linked Bundy to the 1974 murders of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith and 17-year-old Laura Ann Aime in Utah. Investigators are also revisiting the disappearance of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, whose body has never been found. Three teenage girls. More than five decades. And investigators still aren’t finished. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

This is Cody Wayne Birchfield. He was murdered by Jacob Allen Morley, the convicted killer who escaped a Tennessee prison Sunday night and is now the subject of a multistate manhunt. Cody and Morley were friends and coworkers. Cody had even helped train Morley at the company where they worked. In February 2022, Cody disappeared. Investigators found evidence of a violent crime inside his home. When deputies attempted to stop Morley, he fled, leading them on a pursuit that ended in North Carolina. Investigators eventually discovered Cody’s body concealed inside a metal box beneath Morley’s home. He had been shot in the back of the head. During Morley’s February 2025 murder trial, his former girlfriend testified that he admitted killing Cody. Forensic evidence was also presented, including evidence linking shell casings to a gun recovered from Morley’s home. The jury convicted Morley of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison. And now he’s escaped. Cody’s sister, Carrie Norman, says her family wasn’t even notified by law enforcement that his convicted killer was on the run. She learned about it from her best friend. 😤 Think about that. Your brother is murdered, his killer is convicted and sentenced to life, and then you find out he’s escaped prison through a friend. 🤯 Carrie is frightened that Morley could kill again. And considering what happened to her brother, I don’t blame her. Cody’s family already endured the unimaginable. They should not have to spend another day wondering where the man who murdered him is hiding. I hope he’s caught before another family has to learn his name for the worst possible reason.