On August 31st, 2023, Danelo Cavalcante, a 34 year old Brazilian male, escaped Chester County Prison. The prison’s security footage shows Cavalcante placing his arms on a fence and his feet on a wall, scaling up to the roof, where he got through razor wire and fled the prison grounds. He is wanted for a murder in his home country that took place in 2017, and he was convicted of stabbing and killing his ex-girlfriend, 33 year old Deborah Brandao. He escaped just days after his conviction, where he was sentenced life without parole. State and federal authorities had announced a $10,000 dollar reward which was then raised to $20,000.
The following Monday, 10 days after Danelo’s escape, he was spotted. No details were provided of the sighting, but the following day, state police created a Facebook post stating that it was confirmed Mr. Cavalcante was “armed with a weapon.” The post encouraged residents to stay inside of their homes, and to lock their doors, windows, and vehicles. He was spotted several times as officers used drones, dogs, and even helicopters in an attempt to find and capture the dangerous fugitive. Even though helicopters circled the skies that Tuesday, Mr. Cavalcante was still loose and armed for multiple days. Police also issued an alert asking residents to check any surveillance footage they may have. Multiple people found that their footage showed Danelo at homes near Phoenixville.
After over a week searching for Danelo, he stole a delivery van on the weekend. Police began searching the countryside area where Danelo had abandoned the van after it ran out of gas. Rewards on information about his whereabouts were then raised to $25,000. The following Monday night, after 10 p.m., a shooting causing injuries took place on Coventreyville Road, which is one of the three main roads the state police included in the area of their search early Tuesday. It was unclear whether or not the fugitive was involved in the shooting, but police took precaution.
At around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, an aircraft that was flying above the search area picked up on a heat signal on the ground. However a thunder storm rolled in and forced the aircraft out of the mission. A tactical team consisting of around 20 to 25 members circled and secured the area and waited out the storm till morning. Police stated they cornered the fugitive quietly enough so that he was unaware until it was too late.
When police found Cavalcante, he was sleeping in the woods on top of a .22 caliber Ruger rifle with a scope. He had stolen this from a garage at a home on Countreyville Road at 10pm on Monday, the same Date, time, and location the nearby shooting had taken place. Cavalcante, who was woken by surprise, attempted to flee by crawling through thick and thorned bushes with his rifle in hand. The police released a police K9 named Yoda, who had bit Cavalcante on the scalp, bringing him to his forcible arrest. “When the dog got to him, he then went flat with the dog on him – the dog was able to detain him there,” Bivens, the main detective on the case said. A number of officers also posed for a group photo with the fugitive and the rifle.
So what was Cavalcante’s plan? How bad was the crime he was arrested for that led to his escape? Well, according to prosecutors, in April 2021 in the state of Pennsylvania, Cavalcante stabbed his ex-girlfriend around 38 times in front of her two young children. Several hours after the murder, the arrest took place in Virginia. Authorities stated his plan was to flee USA and go to Mexico, which he would then head to his home country, Brazil. In Cavalcante’s limited days of freedom after his escape, he had tried desperately to avoid apprehension and to survive. He had been living off of a watermelon he found at a farm, was drinking stream water, was spotted inside homes stealing clothing, found ways to slip through police perimeters, stole a delivery van, altered his appearance, and showed up at the doorstep of people he knew years ago to steal a firearm. According to Cavalcante himself, police had almost stepped on him while he was hiding, and came within yards of him three separate times during the search.
At around 3 p.m. on the Wednesday Cavalcante was captured, he was in the State Correctional Institution, a Pennsylvania state prison with maximum security and a capacity for nearly 4,000 inmates located in Montgomery County. This is where he will serve his life sentence for first degree murder. In addition to that, he was also charged with felony escape, and his bail was denied.