Danelo Cavalcante: K9 officer recovering after heat-related illness during search for escaped killer
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - A K9 officer was released from veterinary care after suffering a heat-related illness during the search for escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante.
‘Loki’, a German Shepard working with the Pennsylvania State Police, fell ill while working within the miles wide search area on Wednesday.
He was cared for by veterinarians and released on Thursday, according to state police. He is expected to be back on the job within a week.
"Thank you for to the veterinary staff for their care and the public for their well-wishes on his recovery," state police wrote in a post on X.
A late-summer heat wave brought near-record temperatures to parts of the Delaware Valley with added humidity that made it feel much hotter.
Authorities remain confident that they will recapture Cavalcante, who was recently served a life sentence for killing his former girlfriend in Pennsylvania.
Cavalcante has been spotted at least eight times since he escaped, said state police Lt. Col. George Bivens. The most recent was at around noon Thursday, when a civilian saw someone who looked like Cavalcante running through an area near Longwood Gardens, one of the nation’s premier botanical gardens. A trail surveillance video had captured Cavalcante walking through the garden’s grounds on Monday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report