EAST NANTMEAL TWP., Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante is now in police custody following an extensive 14-day search throughout Chester County, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Cavalcante was captured just before 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Police said he was captured in an area north Prizer Road and west of Route 100.
According to Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, a series of events that ultimately led to the escaped inmates’ capture began shortly after midnight Wednesday.
A security alarm went off at a home within the search area. Nothing was found there, but it brought additional crews to the area.
Then, an aircraft using thermal technology picked up a heat signal west of Rt. 100 and north of Prizer Road at about 1 a.m., Bivens said.
A passing thunder and lightning storm brought the aircraft down, but a tactical team secured the area on the ground until the storm passed.
Bivens said crews moved in quietly early Wednesday morning and Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until it was too late.
That did not stop him from trying to escape. He began to crawl through thick underbrush taking his rifle with him as he went.
One of the Customs and Border Control Teams released a K-9 that was able to subdue him. Bivens said Cavalcante sustained a “minor bite wound” from the K-9.
“He continued to resist but was forcibly taken into custody,” Bivens said.
Cavalcante was wearing a gray Eagles sweatshirt when he was captured by The Border Patrol Tactical Unit. It is not yet known where he obtained the clothing.
He was transferred to Pennsylvania State Police Avondale Barracks where he arrived at 9:47 a.m. He will then be sent to a state correctional facility.
“The capture of Cavalcante ends the nightmare of the past two weeks, and we thank every single law enforcement official at the regional, state and federal level that was out in all weather conditions, all day and night – as well as everyone in the incident command center, our County Department of Emergency Services and County Sheriff’s Office – for their immense efforts,” Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline said in a statement.
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 and dashing away. He had been awaiting transfer to state prison after being sentenced days earlier for fatally stabbing his girlfriend, and is wanted in connection with another killing in Brazil.
Authorities said over the weekend that Cavalcante had slipped out of the initial search area, shaved and changed his clothing, stole a vehicle to travel miles to seek aid from former co-workers in the northern part of the county, and then abandoned the vehicle, at least in part because it was low on fuel.
Authorities have declined to say how they think Cavalcante slipped out of the first search area, and officials have pushed back against questions about whether they blew a chance to catch him.
Then, 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 the prison shoes identical to those Cavalcante had been wearing. A pair of work boots was reported stolen from a porch nearby.
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.
Timeline and Interactive Map: The search for escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante
“He didn’t, I believe, recognize that the owner was in there. And I think he was probably looking for a place to hide, ran for that garage, saw the firearm, grabbed that, encountered the homeowner and fled with the firearm,” Lt. Col. George Bivens said Tuesday.
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 (50 kilometers) of Philadelphia.
Cavalcante’s escape was big news in Brazil, where prosecutors in Tocantins state say he is accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 slaying of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in the municipality of Figueiropolis, which authorities say was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with repair of a vehicle.
Pennsylvania authorities even broadcast a recording of Cavalcante’s mother speaking in Portuguese imploring him to surrender peacefully.
Cavalcante received a life sentence in Pennsylvania in August for 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 headcount.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
