Escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante captured after manhunt stretching nearly 2 weeks
Escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante has been captured Wednesday morning after a manhunt that stretched nearly two weeks.
The capture, initially confirmed to the Daily Local News by a source, has since been confirmed by Pennsylvania State Police.
Cavalcante, 34, was captured at 8:15 a.m. within the search perimeter in South Coventry Township, northern Chester County, near French Creek Elementary School. That’s the area where police have been searching since Monday evening.
Television video and photos from the scene showed he was wearing a grey Eagles sweatshirt.
Captured: Danelo Cavalcante caught , wearing @Eagles shirt. Poses for photo with captors.
Via @FOX29philly with great commentary by @AlexHolleyFOX29 @MikeFOX29 Tune in now for the latest.
Whew, so glad he was caught as my sister lives in that area, and I was very nervous pic.twitter.com/FyVntT5PSc— PhillyChitChat (@HughE_Dillon) September 13, 2023
He is being taken to the state police barracks at Avondale. There was no word on his condition, though he was apparently bitten by a search dog, according to television reports.
State police have scheduled a news conference for 9 a.m.
A press conference announcing details of THE CAPTURE of Danelo Cavalcante is scheduled for 9:30am at the Po-Mar-Lin Fire company, 36 Firehouse Drive, Kennett Square, PA.
— PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) September 13, 2023
The capture followed a night of heavy rain and thunderstorms over the search area.
Authorities had been scouring the South Coventry area since Monday night, when Cavalcante allegedly stole a .22 caliber rifle and ammunition from a homeowner’s garage. The homeowner fired several shots at Cavalcante, police said, but they had no reason to believe he had been hit.
Police recovered articles of clothing that belonged to Cavalcante and reported that he had stolen a pair of work boots from the porch of a nearby residence, discarding his prison-issued sneakers.
Those developments prompted Owen J. Roberts School District to close all its schools and offices. Pottstown School District also is kept students indoors, and the local magisterial district court, located near the house where the rifle was stolen, announced that it would be closed because of the police activity.
State police Lt. Col George Bivens, who has been leading the manhunt, said that he believed that Cavalcante was familiar with the area, and another law enforcement official said he is thought to have worked there in the past.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Who is Danelo Cavalcante? What we know about the escaped murderer who is now captured
The manhunt
Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 when he “crab walking” up a wall and over razor wire in the prison yard.
He had been on the run ever since, prompting a massive search effort consisting of upwards of 450 law enforcement officers.
The manhunt initially focused on the area around Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township. Several sightings of Cavalcante were reported in the area, including at Longwood Gardens.
Then on Saturday night, the search abruptly shifted to northern Chester County after Cavalcante stole a van and traveled out of the search area. Police said he tried to contact two people, then abandoned the vehicle in East Nantmeal Township.
“No perimeter is 100% secure ever,” Bivens said during a press conference Sunday afternoon. “I wish it (the breakout) had not happened. It’s not for a lack of trying that this occurred.”
The problem with the perimeter Saturday was that bad weather prevented help from the air, and there are tunnels and other things that could not be secured, Bivens said.
Cavalcante stole a vehicle from Baily’s Dairy less than a mile from Longwood Gardens. The keys were left in the vehicle. Bivens said he believes Cavalcante dumped the vehicle because its fuel was low.
Cavalcante, who lived in Montgomery County before his arrest on murder charges, was convicted of first-degree murder in August for the April 2021 stabbing death of his former girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, outside her home in Schuylkill Township.
Brandao had learned that he was wanted on a murder warrant in his native Brazil, and threatened to expose him to police if he did not stop stalking her. She had twice before reported that he had been violent with her, but he was never arrested in those case.
According to reports, prosecutors in Tocantins state in Brazil have confirmed that a criminal case attributes “the crime of double qualified homicide to the defendant Danilo Souza Cavalcante.” Authorities allege that Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis was killed in 2017 in Figueirópolis over a debt the victim owed Cavalcante in connection with repair of a vehicle. Cavalcante went into hiding after the murder, made his way to Puerto Rico, and entered the United State illegally in 2018.
He had been sentenced to life in prison without parole following his conviction, and was awaiting transfer to the state prison system when he escaped on Aug. 31.
Danelo Cavalcante timeline: From murder to manhunt [Photos, Video]