Sheriff gives update on escapees; warns of false information

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. – The Madison County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate and follow up on leads regarding the recent jail escape. On Tuesday, September 16, Sheriff Julian Wiser said the escapees are still on the run and agencies continue to investigate the circumstances regarding their escape and are working to locate them. Law enforcement has confirmed a sighting of one of the escapees on Sunday night.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said, “Investigators, deputies, and members of partnering agencies continue to tirelessly investigate all leads in this case, including, but not limited to, searching multiple addresses and interviewing known associates and family members. Additional resources have, and will continue to be, utilized to further our efforts to ensuring that these escapees are apprehended.”

Wiser said the escapees split up after their escape. “It is believed that escapee Dillon Decker, who has ties to Middle Tennessee, may have fled to that area in the stolen utility truck,” according to the release.

According to the sheriff, “based off the security footage at the jail, Campbell and Forbes ran north of the jail and Decker ran southeast over across Highland and to the area of the Civic Center and Chester type area.”

He urges everyone to be vigilant and cautious while the escapees are still on the run. “The majority of their arrests are drug offenses, theft, and those type things. There’s not a lot of violent crime, but they are escapees so everybody needs to be vigilant,” said Wiser. He also reminds everyone to lock their vehicles and do not keep firearms in the vehicles.

Wiser clarified that some information circulating on social media was misinformation.

“A local media outlet previously reported on social media that the stolen vehicle was recovered in the area of Hollywood Drive. This is misinformation. The vehicle has not been recovered by law enforcement, and Decker has not been taken into custody. There have been multiple misinformation social media posts by this media outlet, which only creates confusion and frustration within the community and personnel tasked with investigating this incident,” according to the press release.

Sheriff Wiser said the previous post by the media outlet was false information as well. “In their previous post to that, where they released this information calling it ‘breaking news’, when the post that they put out did not even have the individuals’ correct names or identifiers in there. So that’s an issue.” The sheriff said misinformation circulated on social media makes their job harder and takes time away from the investigation.  “To me, it’s just unacceptable and that’s where I am on that,” said Wiser.

According to the release,” Cameron Campbell and Brandon Forbes both have ties to the Jackson-Madison County area. Investigators have confirmed that Brandon Forbes was at a local residence in Jackson on Sunday, September 14, 2025. Due to the ongoing investigation and surveillance efforts, additional details are limited at this time. 

At this stage, investigators believe Campbell and Forbes may be receiving assistance from others in the area.

Madison County Sheriff, Julian Wiser, immediately opened an active internal investigation in reference to the jail escape that occurred on Sunday, September 14, 2025. This investigation is being conducted with investigators with the Criminal Investigations Division. After a thorough investigation has been completed, let there be no mistake, appropriate measures will be taken to address any negligent actions by corrections personnel. At the conclusions of this internal investigation, a complete account of all actions taken will be made available.”

According to Wiser, investigators are reviewing all camera footage of the jail and time stamps of when doors were opened during the time of the escape to determine how the three men were able to escape.

“There’s an ongoing administrative investigation. There’s a lot of video footage to review. Anytime that a door is open in the jail from central control, that’s time stamped so we’re getting all that information and finding out who was on each post. When we conclude that and if there was negligence on the part of one of our employees, the necessary action will be taken,” said Wiser. “If somebody was negligent, we’ll deal with that.”

The sheriff said the jail is implementing additional security measures to prevent escapes like this in the future.

“We are adding some additional security measures which will be happening this week. We’re adding some alarm notifications that we don’t currently have,” said the sheriff. “Outside the rec yard, we’re adding additional security fencing. We’ve already done that on the annex part so any door that leads out of the jail has additional security and we were in the process of doing that for the whole facility. I anticipate that will be completed by next week.”

The sheriff said when their investigation is completed then they will update the community and the media regarding how the escape happened and what measures were put in place to correct it.

He also warns anyone that may be providing help to the escapees of consequences they face if they knowingly harbor or provide assistance.

“It’s a serious crime to harbor a fugitive and when they are captured, we will be investigating that also if they had assistance,” said Wiser.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help at this time to apprehend the escapees. Sheriff Wiser asks that if the public has any information regarding these escapees, do not approach them and call law enforcement or 911. There is a reward of $2,500 for each escapee for any information leading to their capture.

If you have any information regarding this incident, please immediately contact the Madison County Sheriff’s Office at 731-423-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 731-424-8477.

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