The convicted killer who escaped a Pennsylvania prison more than a week ago slipped out of a police perimeter, stole a van and changed his appearance this weekend, authorities said.
Danelo Cavalcante, 34, was spotted Saturday night on a doorbell camera at the home of a former co-worker, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said during a Sunday news conference. The once-bearded fugitive was clean-shaven and dressed in a dark-billed baseball cap and green hooded sweatshirt in photos released by authorities.
Cavalcante went to the home of another former colleague about 10 p.m. Saturday, Bivens said. The former co-workers were not home when Cavalcante visited.
He was reported to be driving a van that he was able to steal from a dairy farm because the keys had been left inside. By mid-Sunday morning, the vehicle had been abandoned in a field in West Nantmeal Township, a rural area in northern Chester County.
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Authorities have searched for Cavalcante since, without luck.
“This most recent incident is a reminder that he will take advantage of any opportunity to obtain items he needs,” Bivens said. “It is also imperative that anyone with information about Cavalcante contact us immediately so we can act on it in a timely manner.”
Cavalcante escaped Aug. 31, about a week after he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, 33. Prosecutors said he stabbed her dozens of times in front of her two young children in August 2021. She had found out Cavalcante had a warrant for a 2017 murder in Brazil, where he was born. He killed her after she threatened to expose him to police, detectives said.
The escapee has eluded hundreds of law enforcement officers since breaking out of Chester County Prison. Authorities said last week that he got out by scrambling up the prison yard walls, diving through barbed wire and bolting across the roof of the facility.
Share this articleShareA corrections officer who was stationed in a guard tower was fired Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In the days that Cavalcante has been on the run, authorities have used drones, helicopters and dogs to try to track him down — an effort that has involved multiple agencies and about 400 law enforcement officers. There have been at least eight sightings of him, Bivens said.
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The search perimeter has fluctuated, including after he was believed to have been seen last week on a trail camera at Longwood Gardens, a well-known botanical garden outside the zone officials had been focused on.
Two districts with schools in the area, Kennett Consolidated School District and Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, canceled classes Tuesday and Wednesday.
Investigators then concentrated on Longwood Gardens. The Saturday night sighting was the first indication that Cavalcante had been able to leave that area, Bivens said.
Asked how Cavalcante had again managed to get past law enforcement undetected, Bivens responded that “no perimeter is 100 percent secure, ever,” and that the area featured challenges including underground tunnels and drainage areas.
“It’s not for a lack of trying that this occurred,” he said.
Bivens said he believed Cavalcante was looking for assistance while on the move Saturday. He stressed that people should secure their homes and outbuildings “to make this as difficult as possible for him.”
He described Cavalcante having endured hardship in his past and being “willing to endure some hardship now” to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.
“He is very determined,” Bivens said. “We are even more determined. He will be held to justice, and we’re going to bring him back into custody.”
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