The manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante has changed, closing two adjacent school districts and putting the neighborhood on high alert, Pennsylvania police said Tuesday, after the fugitive murderer was seen beyond the first search area.
Authorities started searching a densely wooded region in Pocopson Township in Chester County, which is about 2 miles from the prison and about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, after Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on Thursday morning.
Following the discovery of Cavalcante on a surveillance camera at one of the city’s well-known botanical gardens on Monday evening, police have now widened the search zone. According to Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, that is south of the area where the old perimeter was located.
At 8:21 on Monday night, Cavalcante was captured on a surveillance camera at Longwood Gardens. At 9:33 p.m., he was seen again, this time walking south after having been seen before traveling north.
Bivens claimed that Cavalcante had acquired certain goods, including a backpack, a “duffel-sling type pack,” and a hooded sweater, despite the fact that Cavalcante’s look remained unaltered. A 5-foot, 120-pound man with light skin, shaggy black hair, and brown eyes is characterized as Cavalcante.
Longwood Gardens is home to more than 200 acres of “lush, formal gardens, open meadows, and winding paths.” Tuesday, when the temperature was in the low 90s, the attraction was closed while police searched the building and its surroundings.
On August 16, Cavalcante, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2021 murder of Deborah Brando, 33, who was his ex-girlfriend. He received a life without parole sentence.
There had been five “credible sightings” of Cavalcante within the prior search area, according to Bivens.
Residents who lived within three miles of the place where Cavalcante was seen received a Reverse 911 call from the police on Tuesday morning. Authorities have warned homeowners that Cavalcante is exceedingly dangerous and have encouraged them to keep their homes and vehicles locked.
According to Bivens, if his own house were close to the search area, “even while I was in the house, I would have my doors locked.”
Although the new search area is more open than the densely forested area police were concentrating on, Bivens claimed that Cavalcante has lots of places to hide.
At any given time, there are between 200 and 250 individuals helping with the hunt. Police are applying pressure to the prisoner because they think he or she took advantage of a situation to escape from custody and is currently “winging it.”
