Danelo Cavalcante search: Chester County prison escape manhunt continues

Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, at around 8.50am on Thursday (31 August).

These are some of the confirmed sightings:

• He was captured on camera at Longwood Gardens in East Marlborough Township, Chester County, on Monday (4 September.) He travelled north at around 8.21pm and was then spotted coming past the camera again at 9.33pm local time.
• Cavalcante has been seen at the intersection of Routes 926 and 52, north on Route 52 to Parkersville Road, southeast to Route 926 and west to the intersection of Routes 926 and 52 in Pocopson Township, police said.
• Cavalcante was last spotted near Chandler Road in Pennsbury Township on Tuesday evening. Local and federal law enforcement agencies searched the area for hours but were not able to locate Cavalcante.

Cavalcante began his escape at around 8.50am on 31 August, police said, while other inmates in the exercise yard played basketball.

He stretched his body to fit the length of a hallway and climbed onto the roof of the prison. He then made his way out of the prison on foot.

It was only nearly an hour later that correction officers realised an inmate was missing during a head count.

The prison was locked at 9.50am and the 911 centre was notified of the escape 10 minutes later.

The Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers have offered $10,000 for information that leads to Cavalcante’s capture, bringing the reward total to $20,000.

Law enforcement teams, including the US Marshals, SWAT, local, state, and other federal agencies, have joined the search to find Cthe fugitive.

Cavalcante was sentenced to life without parole for stabbing his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandão to death. He attacked Brandão in Schuylkill Township, back in August 2021, in front of her two children, who were just seven and three years old.

He is also wanted for a 2017 murder in Brazil.

Cavalcante was last spotted near Chandler Road in Pennsbury Township on Tuesday evening. Local and federal law enforcement agencies searched the area for hours but were not able to locate Cavalcante.

Mr Bivens said that search units were experiencing challenges while canvassing the vast wooded area where Cavalcante is believed to be hiding. A K-9 unit had to be hospitalised on Tuesday, Mr Bivens said, after suffering a heat-related medical incident.

“I don’t think he has more ability than we initially gave him credit for, I think it’s a very challenging area,” Mr Bivens said. “We have had some searches like this in the past … some take hours, some take days, some take months.”

At a press conference on Wednesday, state police said that Cavalcante managed to escape from Chester County Prison by jumping onto the facility’s roof from an exercise yard. Surveillance video shows Cavalcante crawling up a wall before he disappears from the frame.

Police said that he later managed to jump down to an area of the prison that had less surveillance. A tower officer who was tasked to observe the area failed to report the incident, and Cavalcante’s escape was only noticed later during a head count.

Authorities said on Tuesday that the woods in the search perimeter are so vast that investigators can only walk a few feet without losing sight of each other.

“Obviously, I wish we would have been able to capture him without him getting through that perimeter, but it’s also not shocking,” Lt Col George Bivens said during a press conference. “It’s dark, it’s a large area. Not to make excuses – it’s difficult terrain.”

The ongoing manhunt forced officials in two school districts within the large search area to cancel classes for a second straight day, citing “an overabundance of caution.”

Longwood Gardens, which is closed on Tuesdays, cited the same reason in announcing it would not open on Wednesday.

Authorities have urged residents to keep their homes and vehicles locked, to check the properties of vacationing neighbors and to look out for missing cars, bicycles or any other mode of transportation Cavalcante might use.

Cavalcante was sentenced to life in prison last month for killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her children, and escaped while awaiting transfer to state prison.

Police sources who spoke to The Philadelphia Inquirer under the condition of anonymity have now shed light on the circumstances surrounding the 34-year-old’s escape.

According to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the escape, Cavalcante climbed onto the prison’s roof from one of the exercise yards.