Pennsylvania Manhunt for Escaped Inmate Enters Second Week

Police say they believe convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante is still in Chester County

Cavalcante got free from Chester County Prison last Thursday by "crab walking" between two walls.

By Joseph De Avila - WSJ

Sept. 7, 2023 

The manhunt for an escaped Pennsylvania inmate entered its second week as law-enforcement officials continued their search while urging residents to remain vigilant.

Pennsylvania State Police said Danelo Cavalcante, who escaped on Aug. 31 from Chester County Prison, was possibly spotted Thursday just before noon in the vicinity of Longwood Gardens, a botanical garden in the Philadelphia suburb of Kennett Square, Pa. Police searched that area and continued their sweep Thursday afternoon.

Hundreds of law-enforcement officials are searching a 10-square-mile perimeter in Chester County, said Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police.

“I have every reason to believe he is still within that perimeter,” Bivens said at a news briefing Thursday. “We have had no sightings outside of that area. We have maintained as secure of a perimeter as we possibly could. And as recently as today we have another reported sighting.” 

Cavalcante, 34 years old, was convicted in August of murdering his former girlfriend in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison. He was awaiting transfer to a state prison. He also faces homicide charges in his home country of Brazil, police said.

Video footage released by law-enforcement officials Wednesday shows that Cavalcante escaped an exercise yard by stretching his body between two walls to climb to the roof of the prison, which is located about 40 miles west of Philadelphia. He then moved through razor wire, ran across the roof, scaled another fence and maneuvered through another layer of razor wire, prison officials said.

Another inmate who used the same method in May to reach the roof was apprehended minutes after he was spotted by a tower officer, prison officials said. After that incident, the prison added razor wire to the roof to deter future escape attempts, they said.

The razor wire, however, didn’t stop Cavalcante, prison officials said. The tower officer also didn’t see him scale to the roof, they said.

Danelo Cavalcante is seen in this image from security footage released by Pennsylvania State Police.

That tower officer has been placed on administrative leave as the prison conducts an internal investigation, prison officials said. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is also conducting a criminal investigation of the escape.

A resident observed Cavalcante in Pennsbury Township, located about 5 miles from Chester County Prison, on Tuesday night, Bivens previously said. Police told residents in the area to keep their homes and cars locked.

Most schools in the area reopened Thursday after closing earlier in the week. Greenwood Elementary School in Kennett Square, which was within the search area, was closed Thursday.

Bivens said police swept Greenwood Elementary and the area around it on Thursday and have removed it from the search area.