Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante captured after 2 weeks on the run in Pennsylvania
The manhunt in rural southeastern Pennsylvania was entering its 14th day. Cavalcante had been sentenced to life for fatally stabbing an ex-girlfriend.
POTTSTOWN, Pa. — A murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured Wednesday, bringing an end to an intense search that terrified residents as the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance and stole a van and rifle during almost two weeks on the run.
Law enforcement’s big break came overnight as a plane fitted with a thermal imaging camera picked up Danelo Souza Cavalcante’s heat signal, allowing tactical teams on the ground to secure the wooded area, surround him and move in with search dogs.
“They were able to move in very quietly. They had the element of surprise,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference.
Still armed with the rifle, the fugitive tried to escape by crawling through thick underbrush, but a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer released a search dog that subdued him, said Bivens, adding that Cavalcante continued to resist as he was taken into custody after 8 a.m.
Cavalcante, 34, was bitten on the scalp by a police dog and suffered a minor wound, Bivens said. A dog also latched onto his thigh, Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark told the Associated Press, “at which time, Cavalcante submitted.”
No shots were fired. About two dozen officers in tactical gear posed for a group photo with Cavalcante, drawing criticism from policing reform advocates and some members of the public who called it inappropriate.
“Our nightmare is finally over, and the good guys won,” said Chester County Dist. Atty. Deb Ryan.
Cavalcante was arraigned at the Pennsylvania State Police barracks at Avondale on an escape charge, according to the office of Judge Matthew Seavey. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 27. He was led out with his hands and bare feet shackled, wearing what appeared to be a hospital gown. Cavalcante was driven to a state prison outside Philadelphia to continue serving the life sentence he received last month for killing his ex-girlfriend.
Police say an escaped murderer on the run for a week and a half in southeastern Pennsylvania has apparently slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance and stole a van
The endgame for Cavalcante unfolded just beyond Philadelphia’s heavily populated suburbs in an area of woods, rolling farmland and a county park. Police brought in hundreds of heavily armed law enforcement personnel with dogs, armored carriers, horses, and helicopters.
The search forced schools to close right at the start of the academic year, led to warnings for homeowners to lock their doors, and blocked roads over the busy Labor Day weekend. Overnight into Wednesday, heavily armed law enforcement officers searched for the fugitive through a night of downpours and thunder.
A Drug Enforcement Administration plane picked up Cavalcante’s heat signature around 1 a.m. and began tracking his movements, but the storm forced the aircraft to leave the area for a time, delaying his capture by several hours, Bivens said.
Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County jail in southeastern Pennsylvania on Aug. 31 by crab-walking up between two walls that were topped with razor wire, then jumping from the roof.
Authorities said over the weekend that Cavalcante had slipped out of the initial search area, shaved and changed his clothing, stolen a vehicle to travel to the northern part of the county to seek aid from former co-workers, and then abandoned the vehicle, which was low on fuel.
Authorities have declined to say how they think Cavalcante slipped out of the first search area, and officials have defended themselves amid questions about whether they blew a chance to catch him.
Late Monday, a motorist alerted police to a man matching Cavalcante’s description crouching in the darkness along a line of trees near a road in northern Chester County. Police found footprints and tracked them to prison shoes identical to those Cavalcante had been wearing. A pair of work boots were reported stolen from a porch nearby.
Escaped murderer Danelo Souza Cavalcante stole a rifle, fled a homeowner’s gunfire and is on the run in Philadelphia suburbs, authorities in Pennsylvania say.
State police said they believe he was looking for a place to hide when he saw an open garage. There, he stole a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition, and fled when the homeowner, who was in the garage, drew a pistol and shot at him several times, state police said.
That led hundreds of law enforcement personnel to search an area of about 8 to 10 square miles near South Coventry Township, roughly 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
People tried to help Cavalcante during his time on the run, Bivens said Wednesday, but authorities thwarted those attempts. He did not elaborate or say anyone had been charged criminally.
Clark, the deputy U.S. marshal, said Cavalcante’s sister was evasive and gave police conflicting information during his time on the loose, leading authorities to detain her and take steps to start her deportation.
“We believe that she was trying to mislead law enforcement. And she quite possibly had the resources to aid her brother should he be able to get in contact,” Clark told AP. “We thought she needed to be taken out of the equation.”
Cavalcante’s escape and capture were big news in Brazil, where prosecutors in Tocantins state say he is accused of “double qualified homicide” in a 2017 slaying. Authorities say it was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with repair of a vehicle.
Pennsylvania authorities broadcast a recording of Cavalcante’s mother speaking in Portuguese imploring him to surrender peacefully.
Cavalcante was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children in 2021. Prosecutors say he murdered her to stop her from telling police he was wanted in the Brazil killing. He had been arrested in Virginia after Brandao’s killing, and authorities say they believe he was trying to return to Brazil.
The prison tower guard on duty when Cavalcante escaped was fired. The escape went undetected for more than an hour until guards took a head count.
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