Escaped Pennsylvania prisoner sparks intense manhunt, spotted 8 times.
Convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, the illegal immigrant from Brazil who escaped on Aug. 31 from Chester County Prison in Pennsylvania, is still missing but he has been potentially spotted eight times, officials said in a Sept. 7 press conference.
The latest possible sighting was Thursday, Sept. 7, near the popular horticulture tourist attraction Longwood Gardens. Law enforcement has focused its search on an area roughly 8 to 10 square miles in Chester County and has intensified searching near the latest sighting.
Mr. Cavalcante, 34, was sentenced to life in prison for the Aug. 16, 2021, stabbing murder of his former girlfriend, 33-year-old Deborah Brandão, in front of her two young children. Mr. Cavalcante is also wanted in Brazil for a 2017 homicide.
Officials say Mr. Cavalcante speaks Portuguese and some Spanish but very little English.
Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan, who prosecuted Mr. Cavalcante in the homicide case, said Ms. Brandão’s family is terrified that Mr. Cavalcante is not in custody.
“They are terrified. They haven’t left their home. They’re barricaded inside and very concerned about their safety,” Ms. Ryan said during the press conference. “We do have police detail around them 24 hours a day, but I know they’re very, very worried.” She said.
Hundreds Searching
The weather in Pennsylvania has been hotter than usual and the longer Mr. Cavalcante is the subject of a massive manhunt, the more desperate he will become, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said.
“I believe he has always been very dangerous and I’ve said that from the start,” Lt. Col. Bivens said. “He’s already murdered two people, one in Brazil and one here, and in a very brutal manner. He’s a very dangerous individual, and he remains so.”
Lt. Col. Bivens said Mr. Cavalcante has some family and associates in the area.
“It is a very intensive search involving hundreds of law enforcement officers, involving state of the art technology, but we are not sitting in a room someplace waiting for technology to solve this,” Lt. Col. Bivens said. “Our people are out there, hundreds of them last night, pushing through the woods, holding perimeters, checking on possible sightings, but it is very hot and humid weather and they’re working in that around the clock in order to keep the pressure on.”
Escape Caught on Video
Mr. Cavalcante escaped from an exterior hallway off the prison exercise yard where other inmates were playing a game of basketball. Putting his hands on one wall and his feet on the other side of the hallway wall, Mr. Cavalcante can be seen in a prison surveillance video climbing up the walls and disappearing to the roof.
It is the same way another inmate, Igor Bolte, escaped on May 19. That inmate was seen by a guard in a tower who was tasked with watching the exercise yard. Mr. Bolte was captured in five minutes, but Mr. Cavalcante was not seen escaping. He was noticed missing when inmates want back inside and were counted, Howard Holland, acting warden of the Chester County Prison, said in one of the two press conferences officials held about the matter on Sept. 7.
The former warden, Ronald M. Phillips, retired on Aug. 30, one day before Mr. Cavalcante’s escape. Prior to his retirement, Mr. Phillips had been placed on administrative leave for an unknown reason.
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