Danelo Cavalcante update: Latest updates as manhunt widens for Chester County escaped prisoner

A manhunt continues for a dangerous inmate who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison last week as authorities focus on a heavily wooded area in Pocopsen Township after four confirmed sightings.

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, has been on the run in Chester County since Thursday after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the fatal stabbing of his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend.

District Attorney Deb Ryan announced at a press briefing on Monday that the Pennsylvania State Police will be taking over the investigation and manhunt.

“The goal right now is to find and capture this dangerous fugitive,” Ms Ryan said, adding that she understands the community’s concerns. “We are doing everything in our power to get this guy.”

Authorities broadcast a surrender message from the killer’s mother into the wooded area where he was believed to be holed up on Monday night.

Robert Clark, supervisory deputy US Marshal for the Easter District of Pennsylvania, said at a press conference on Monday afternoon: “As desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender, and his family cares about him.

“Perhaps this is what puts him over the edge where we can get a peaceful surrender.”

While Mr Clark did not confirm the exact wording of his mother’s message – speaking in Portuguese – to Cavalcante but he said that the killer’s mother was urging him to turn himself into authorities.

“She’s just encouraging that his family loves him, and that she wants him to surrender. And that’s what our hope is as well,” he said.

Pennsylvania police have shuttered local schools “out of abundance of caution” as the search for escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante enters its sixth day.

In a memo sent to parents, the Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester County said that schools across the district would be closed on Tuesday as the “search situation” to find the convicted killer has now changed.

Danelo Cavalcante was sentenced to life behind bars for the April 2021 murder of Deborah Brandao.

He broke free from jail days later, sparking an ongoing manhunt.

The Independent’s Faiza Saqib reports:

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, has been spotted five times since he escaped Thursday from the Chester State Prison.

The most recent siting came Monday night at Longwood Gardens, where surveillance video captured him walking through the area with a duffel bag, backpack and hooded sweatshirt.

That sighting led officials to move the search area farther south after they determined that Cavalcante had likely slipped through the original perimeter, but they said his movements show he’s feeling the pressure of the massive search and that his options are dwindling.

The expanded search spurred two nearby school districts to cancel classes Tuesday as a precaution, and authorities urged residents to keep their homes and vehicles locked.

They also asked them to check the homes of vacationing neighbours and look out for missing cars, bicycles or any other mode of transportation Cavalcante could use to aid his flight.

A homicide suspect was on the run for over a week after fleeing the Warren County jail on July 6 by climbing on exercise equipment, going through a window and scaling down a rope fashioned from jail bedding.

He was caught looking dirty, wet and “worn out” from living in the wilderness to evade arrest, authorities said.

On May 7, two inmates escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center by cutting a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard, and were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing. Both we captured the next week.

Ryan Drummond claimed in an interview with ABC that he had a close encounter with Cavalcante inside his home in Pocopson Township.

“My wife said, ‘Hey, I think there may be somebody downstairs.’ I decided to do light switches on and off again five or six times,” Mr Drummond recounted. “And then he switched the lights from downstairs three or four times, which was the moment of like, ‘Oh my God, this guy is downstairs.’”

Mr Drummond said that he checked his children were safe and eventually saw Cavalcante leave. In a separate interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr Drummond said that Cavalcante had stolen apples, peaches, and snap peas from his kitchen.

“The last few days have been surreal. It’s tough,” Mr Drummond told the Inquirer. “We’re all jumpy, and I could see this has taken a psychological toll on my kids. If they’re in the room by themselves, they’re calling for us.”

“You’re dealing with someone who is desperate and doesn’t want to be caught,” George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police, said during a news conference Tuesday. “If he can find some shelter, if he can find some food, he’s going to take advantage of whatever he finds.”

Authorities haven’t disclosed how Cavalcante managed to escape, saying it is under investigation. He 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.

“He’s a bad guy. He needs to be in custody and we are determined to capture him,” Bivens said.