NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle reports on the 12th day in the ongoing manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante that has now spread throughout Chester County after the convicted killer escaped not only prison but a containment zone.
What to Know
- Authorities are searching for an escaped murderer who broke out of a suburban Philadelphia prison a week and a half ago after saying over the weekend that he slipped out of the search area and changed his appearance.
- The search for Danelo Cavalcante was ongoing Monday.
- Lt. Col. George Bivens said Sunday that Cavalcante stole a dairy delivery van, then sought help from people he knew more than 20 miles to the northeast. He later abandoned the van.
Editor's Note (Sept. 11, 2023, 12:53 p.m.): For Monday updates on the search for Danelo Cavalcante and to hear from police about the manhunt, click on this link.
Danelo Cavalcante, the convicted murderer who escaped from Chester County Prison more than 11 days ago, has slipped away once again after he escaped a police perimeter near Longwood Gardens, changed his appearance, and was spotted overnight near Phoenixville, police said.
In a late Sunday morning update, officials said they believe Cavalcante has now fled the Phoenixville area too.
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Yet, at a Sunday afternoon news conference, officials did not share where the convicted killer may now be headed.
By 2 p.m. Sunday, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said officials had recovered a van that Cavalcante stole from a local farm.
Bivens vowed to “aggressively continue” the search with the aid of federal, state, county and local resources and expressed confidence that the fugitive would eventually be recaptured.
“This is a minor setback,” he said. “We’ll get him, it’s a matter of time."
Baily’s Dairy said on its Facebook page that the delivery van was stolen between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday “while we were still here working.”
The theft wasn't noticed for hours, and in the meantime Cavalcante, 34, traveled more than 20 miles northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville. Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday he went to an East Pikeland Township home of a person he had worked with several years ago and asked to meet with him, police said.
The homeowner, who was at dinner with his family and didn't respond, called police after returning home and reviewing his doorbell video. Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, police said, Cavalcante went to the Phoenixville area home of another former work associate, who wasn't home, police said.
Doorbell video images showed Cavalcante to be now clean-shaven and wearing a yellow or green hooded sweatshirt, black baseball cap, green prison pants and white shoes, police said. The stolen van was found at 10:40 a.m. Sunday in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township, about 15 miles west of Phoenixville.
Bivens said he believed Cavalcante abandoned the vehicle at least in part because it was low on fuel. While law enforcement was searching the immediate area for any signs of him authorities were concerned that he would attempt to obtain another vehicle or had already done so.
“I do not have a report of a stolen vehicle; I anticipate that we will,” he said.
Also, during the afternoon news conference, Bivens said Cavalcante's sister -- who he didn't name, but noted that she lives in the area -- has been arrested and is facing deportation.
When asked how Cavalcante may have escaped as officers searched an area around Longwood Gardens, Bivens said that there are underground tunnels in that area that "cannot be secured."
"I wish that he had not been able to slip through there, but that does happen sometimes," he said. "It was not for a lack of trying that this occurred."
Where he might be headed next? Bivens refused to speculate. Though he said that he believes Cavalcante remains in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"Do I know a specific spot where he is right now? No," said Bivens. "Do I think generally I have an idea of where he is? Probably. But, not specific enough to say 'let's put a hard parameter up right now'."
Monday marks day 12 in the search for the convicted murderer. State police Monday asked residents throughout Chester County to remain vigilant and lock homes and cars.
On the run through Phoenixville
Just before 8 a.m., officials confirmed that "Cavalcante is operating a 2020 White Ford Transit van bearing Pennsylvania registration ZST8818."
The van has a refrigeration unit on the top and, officials said.
The movement on Sunday morning is significant in the ongoing search for Cavalcante, who has been spotted multiple times since his escape, all within a few miles of the prison on the other side of the county.
The Phoenixville sighting is roughly 25 miles away from the original search zone.
Upper Providence Township Police and the United States Marshals Service posted the following surveillance photos from a home security camera taken early Sunday.
Cavalcante can now be seen without a beard and in different clothing, although still wearing what appear to be prison-issued green pants.
Cavalcante escaped while awaiting transfer to a state prison on Aug. 31 after being sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend in 2021. Prosecutors say he wanted to stop her from telling police that he’s wanted over a killing in his home country of Brazil.
That murder took place in the Phoenixville area.
Authorities have described Cavalcante as extremely dangerous. With the search in its second week, nervous residents remain alert for any sign of him.
Cavalcante has eluded hundreds of law enforcement personnel, including tracking dogs, tactical teams in full combat gear and police on horseback and in helicopters southwest of Philadelphia.
On Friday, the ranks of searchers swelled to its largest number yet at around 400 personnel, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens told reporters at a command post.
Meanwhile, the ongoing search for Cavalcante didn't stop Kennett Square from throwing its popular annual Mushroom Festival on Saturday.
Longwood Gardens was closed indefinitely after reports that Cavalcante may have once again been spotted on the property. People who remained there overnight Thursday were told to shelter in place as officers searched part of the garden.
The botanical garden, sprawling across nearly 200 acres, is normally open to the public with paths winding through gardens, an outdoor theater, ponds, fountains and meadows, with structures including indoor gardens, treehouses and a restaurant.
Longwood Gardens is set to reopen Wednesday, the gardens said on social media.
There was a possible sighting of Cavalcante on Thursday night that was being investigated, state police said, but further details were not disclosed. It came hours after another person reported seeing Cavalcante in another area of the vast botanical garden.
Last Monday night, a surveillance camera on a trail had captured him walking through its grounds.
There’s a $20,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
The escape and search have attracted international attention and became big news in Brazil. The main newspaper in Rio de Janeiro ran a lengthy story Wednesday with the headline “Dangerous hide-and-seek.”
In Brazil, prosecutors in Tocantins state say he’s accused of “double qualified homicide” in the 2017 slaying of Válter Júnior Moreira dos Reis in Figueirópolis, which they allege was over a debt the victim owed him in connection with repair of a vehicle.
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