Following a fresh sighting that was taken on a trail camera at a well-known botanic garden, the hunt for convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante, who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison, was ramped up on Tuesday, the sixth day of the search.
Schools in two surrounding districts were closed. Authorities warned locals to be cautious and to keep their houses and vehicles locked, and police broadcast the convict’s mother’s request for help in coming forward.
A vast dragnet initially targeted a 2-mile radius, mostly in and around Pocopson Township, a residential area close to the Chester County Prison. Officials extended the boundary on Tuesday to include a region to the south of the little town since it seemed Cavalcante had traveled further.
On Thursday, Cavalcante, 34, broke free from Chester County Prison, which is roughly 25 miles from Philadelphia and where he was awaiting transfer to a state jail. He managed to flee a week after Cavalcante was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao in front of her kids. He is also wanted in relation to a homicide that occurred in his native Brazil in 2017.
According to Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, Longwood Gardens security informed detectives that Cavalcante was seen on a private camera on Monday traveling north around 8:21 p.m. and again south through the same area at 9:33 p.m. The 200 acres of gardens, meadows, and meandering trails that make up the gardens are usually crowded with visitors, but they have been blocked as authorities look for the escaped prisoner, according to WFMZ.
The images demonstrate how Cavalcante acquired a duffel bag, a backpack, “clothing, and other items,” according to Bivens.
Both the Kennett Consolidated School District and the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District in Chester County called off classes on Tuesday because of the increased perimeter.
It’s working, according to Bivens, the pressure we’ve been applying to him. We crushed him so tight over a few days that he was unable to breathe freely, but he was still able to find a way out.
It’s not shocking, but I do wish we could have caught him without him breaching that perimeter, he continued. It’s a huge space and it’s dark. It’s just a challenging terrain, not to make excuses.
Suspected sightings of the cavalcante
Since Cavalcante escaped the jail, there have been five reliable sightings of him reported by witnesses, including one where a state trooper briefly pursued him but was unable to apprehend the fugitive.
Ryan Drummond, a local of Pocopson Township, told WPVI that he thinks Cavalcante broke into his house late on Friday night and grabbed food. Drummond told the source that after hearing a disturbance downstairs, he got up and, from the landing of his upper apartment, saw a man who matched Cavalcante’s description leave the building.
Drummond told WPVI that by the time the cops came, the suspect had disappeared through the dense undergrowth.
He claimed that peaches, apples, and green snap peas were missing. He might have used one of our many miniature steak knives, which we have.
The Chester County District Attorney’s Office reported that Cavalcante was captured carrying a backpack just after midnight on Saturday on a residential security video about a mile and a half from the prison.
Mother of Cavalcante assists authorities
Authorities have played a recording they got from Cavalcante’s mother, pleading for her son “to surrender peacefully,” over the speakers in cars and aircraft, according to Bivens.
Bivens asked locals to be aware of Cavalcade’s presence, secure their doors, keep an eye on their home security systems, and check on their neighbors.
You’re dealing with a person who is in a terrible situation and doesn’t want to be discovered, Bivens added. He will benefit from anything he discovers if he can locate some food and shelter.
If you have any information that helps Cavalcante be captured, you might receive a reward of up to $10,000.
There is still no information on how Cavalcante broke out of Chester County Prison. The Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County District Attorney’s Office have teamed up to conduct an investigation into the case.
We miss the norm
In recent days, law enforcement has been consistently present in Eileen Blass’ neighborhood, a former USA TODAY photographer who lives approximately two miles from the prison.
She has observed security checkpoints, police helicopters, and drones flying overhead from her house in Pennsbury Township.
Numerous law enforcement personnel are involved in the manhunt, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. On Monday, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Customs and Border Protection were sent out to assist with the search.
Blass is one of many people in a 3-mile radius of the camera that caught Cavalcante on Monday night who received a reverse 911 text informing them that the search area had expanded further south and included Longwood Gardens.
She acknowledged in an email that “we miss normal.”