Danelo Cavalcante: Search for escaped Pennsylvania murderer enters second week

Behind the scenes look at police manhunt for escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante

As the search for Danelo Cavalcante surpasses a week, police are exhausting all of their resources to track down and recapture the convicted killer. FOX 29's Chris O'Connell gives you a behind the scenes look at the Pennsylvania State Police command center.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - As the hunt for an elusive murderer stretches into another week, residents of suburban southeast Pennsylvania say they're unsettled and perhaps frustrated — but not panicked — as hundreds of heavily armed searchers scoured roads, neighborhoods and dense woodlands.

Danelo Souza Cavalcante, a 34-year-old from Brazil, escaped from the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 by scaling a wall, climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof. The breakout mirrored an earlier escape there in May and wasn’t detected by guards for a full hour, authorities say.

"This is an outrage. It never should have happened," said Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan at a news conference.

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.

Search for Danelo Cavalcante stretches into ninth day as fugitive spotted again

An all-out manhunt for convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante stretched into its ninth day with another reported sighting of the escaped fugitive. The 34-year-old fled a Chester County prison by acrobatically scaling a prison wall, passing razor wire and jumping from the roof to freedom.

A massive police presence swarmed Longwood Gardens are 7 p.m. Thursday night after another reported sighting of Cavalcante. The police presence prompted Longwood Gardens to close until further notice and order a shelter-in-place for ‘tenants on the property.’

Pennsylvania State Police, who have been spearheading the ongoing manhunt, established a new search perimeter. The search zone includes areas within Lenape-Unionville Road to Route 1 and Parkersville Road to North Walnut Street and North Brook Road.

Heavily armed authorities returned to Longwood Gardens on Friday after another reported sighting of Cavalcanted, Sources say he was spotted on the garden grounds by an FBI agent who gave chase but was unable to recapture the fugitive.

The encounter caused authorities to remain around Longwood Gardens on Friday night to drag the search into its tenth day. As night fell, police and rouge search parties were spotted scouring thickets and heavily wooded areas amid rain and bouts of lightning.

Authorities established a new search zone in the ongoing manhunt for escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante.

"I don't feel scared, but it’s unsettling," said Wendy Hughes, 60, who lives about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Longwood Gardens. "You don’t want to have to think about it anymore."

Hughes has resumed her morning walks but now carries pepper spray with her, and had the added comfort of seeing a state trooper in the neighborhood Thursday morning.

She works from her home in Chadds Ford, and hasn't needed to go out much. But other residents have dealt with roadblocks, intermittent lockdowns and school closures as sightings are reported.

"There’s some frustration, but it’s amazing on social media how critical people are. I'm thankful for the law enforcement officers. It's a tough job, in this heat, in the terrain around here," said Hughes, who heard a flurry of helicopter activity nearby just before midnight Wednesday. "Those conditions are probably wearing them down."

Cavalcante received a life sentence last month for killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her children in 2021. He escaped while awaiting transfer to state prison. Prosecutors say he killed her to prevent her from telling police that he’s wanted in a 2017 killing back in Brazil.

He had been captured in Virginia after the ex-girlfriend’s murder, and authorities believe he was trying to return to Brazil.

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The slain woman's family is under police protection, said Ryan, the county district attorney. "And they are terrified. They are barricaded inside their home."

The escape and search have attracted international attention and became big news in Cavalcante’s native Brazil. The main newspaper in Rio de Janeiro ran a lengthy story Wednesday with the headline "Dangerous hide-and-seek."

Howard Holland, the acting warden of the Chester County Prison, said the prison had brought in a consultant after the first escape in May and added razor wire to that area.

"They probably did what made sense, to consult an expert, but obviously it was inadequate. Hindsight is 20/20," Hughes said.

Crowds gather in Chester County as Danelo Cavalcante manhunt continues

Curious onlookers gather near Longwood Gardens as law enforcement continue their search for escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante.

Ryan Drummond, 42, had a harrowing encounter with the man believed to be Cavalcante when his home in Pocopson was broken into late Friday.

After awaking to a noise in the kitchen at about 11:40 p.m., he checked on his young kids, grabbed a framed picture of his family as armor, then flickered the hall lights from upstairs several times — and felt fear pulse through him when the intruder flicked them back.

"That was kind of the terrifying moment, where I like, looked at (my wife) quickly and said, ‘He is in the house, call 911 right now,’" Drummond said Wednesday.

"I saw him methodically, not panicked, walk out of the kitchen, in the living room toward that French door and walk out," he said.

Police came within a minute, but not before Cavalcante — if it was him — was on the run again, with a few pieces of fruit from Drummond’s kitchen in hand.