The manhunt for fugitive killer Danelo Cavalcante has entered its 13th day, as police warn the convict is now armed after breaking into a home and stealing a rifle on Monday night.
Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said on Tuesday that more than 500 law enforcement agents have joined the search for the 34-year-old, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend at the Chester County Prison, 30 miles west of Philadelphia, when he escaped on August 31.
Cavalcante was last seen on Monday night breaking into the garage of a home in East Nantmeal – 20 miles from the search area police had spent days combing last week. The homeowner was home and shot him several times, but Bivens said there is no evidence to suggest the convict was hurt.
Police say the killer managed to get away with a a .22 caliber rifle that has a scope and flashlight attached to it. He’s also believed to have ammunition.
When questioned about how the killer has managed to escape the hundreds of officials actively looking for him, Bivens defended his department, saying they have ‘done nothing wrong.’
The manhunt for fugitive murderer Danelo Cavalcante has expanded after several sightings over the weekend. He is seen outside a former coworker’s home
Police updated the search perimeter after Cavalcante was spotted outside the original search area over the weekend
Bivens said police arrived ‘within minutes’ of receiving the homeowner’s call, but the fugitive was already gone. Officials then found a green sweatshirt and white shirt believed to be his near the home.
State police said on Facebook shortly before 2am on Tuesday they were pursuing Cavalcante in the South Coventry Township, adding that he was ‘armed with a weapon.’
‘He is armed. Residents in the area are asked to lock all doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors. Do not approach. Call 911 if seen,’ state police said.
It was the first sighting reported since Saturday, when Cavalcante stole a van and tried contacting former coworkers before dumping the vehicle in a field.
The search area has now been updated to a three-mile by two-mile perimeter covering wooded and hilly terrain.
Cavalcante’s sister, who has an overstay status, was detained by ICE and entered into a deportation proceeding after she chose not to cooperate in the investigation, Bivens said.
The Owen J. Roberts School District in Chester County announced it would be closed on Tuesday as the community stays on alert. Moreover, four schools in the neighboring Downingtown Area School District will keep their activities indoors.
Police had focused their search in the perimeter near the prison, where he had been spotted several times last week. But on Saturday, a clean-shaven Cavalcante was seen outside a former colleague’s home through a Ring doorbell camera in East Pikeland Township, before he was spotted outside a different ex co-worker’s home in nearby Phoenixville.
Law enforcement officers gather as the search for escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante continues Tuesday
When questioned about how the killer has managed to escape hundreds of officials, Bivens defended his department, saying they have ‘done nothing wrong’
The Owen J. Roberts School District in Chester County announced t would be closed on Tuesday as the community stays on alert
On Sunday, police found a 2020 Ford Transit van Cavalcante in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township – well outside the previous search area
Cavalcante was seen wearing a black baseball-style hat, a green hooded sweatshirt, green prison pants and white shoes as he appeared to smirk at the doorbell camera at one of his former colleague’s home.
Flowing the sightings, lieutenant Bivens vowed to ‘aggressively continue’ the search with the aid of federal, state, county and local resources and expressed confidence that the fugitive would eventually be recaptured.
‘This is a minor setback,’ he said. ‘We´ll get him, it´s a matter of time.’
Cops have warned local residents that Cavalcante is extremely dangerous and urged them to lock their doors. Authorities have now raised the reward for information to $25,000.
Meanwhile, Dog the Bounty Hunter has apparently been making calls to Pennsylvania contacts and police as he considers jumping into the search for the 34-year-old Brazil native.
TMZ reports the reality star wants to get in on the manhunt, and has been monitoring the search, but wants to get a ‘better sense of the lay of the land’ before he flies out to the area.
On August 31, Cavalcante was seen on surveillance camera in the prison’s outdoor area looking at the camera before ‘crab walking’ between two walls, scaling a fence and jumping over razor wire during the daring break out that took place in broad daylight.
Last week, the prison guard who did not see or report the escape was fired. Prison officials told CNN, the corrections officer was an 18-year veteran of the prison.
Before this weekend, there were repeated sightings of the ‘extremely dangerous’ killer in the 759 square mile search area around the prison.
On Sunday, police found a 2020 Ford Transit van Cavalcante had stolen in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township – outside the previous search area. Cavalcante had taken it from the West Chester based Baily’s Dairy, near the prison.
Baily´s Dairy said on its Facebook page that the delivery van was stolen between 7pm and 10pm Saturday ‘while we were still here working.’
Bivens said he believed Cavalcante abandoned the vehicle at least in part because it was low on fuel. While law enforcement was searching the immediate area for any signs of him authorities were concerned that he would attempt to obtain another vehicle or had already done so.
Dog the Bounty Hunter has apparently been making calls to local contacts and police as he considers jumping into the search
Cavalcante is also wanted in a 2017 homicide case in his native country of Brazil
‘We are obviously very concerned that Cavalcante has or will attempt to steal another vehicle to facilitate his escape,’ Bivens said. ‘This most recent incident is a reminder that he will take advantage of any opportunity to obtain items he needs.’
The theft wasn’t noticed for hours, and in the meantime Cavalcante, 34, traveled more than 20 miles northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville. Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday he went to an East Pikeland Township home of a person he had worked with several years ago and asked to meet with him, police said.
Cavalcante is also wanted in a homicide case in his native country of Brazil. He managed to flee the country in 2017 after he killed a student at a food truck stand.
He gunned down Walter Junior in Figuéiropolis, Tocantins on November 5, 2017, and then managed to slip past authorities at Brasília–President Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport two months later.
Evaldo Feitosa told Brazilian news outlet G1 that he was talking to Cavalcante and that he approached Junior at a corner table.
He remembered they were having a conversation before he heard several shots being fired and someone shout, ‘man the guy killed his friend.’
TV Globo also reported that the killing was over money Junior owed Calvacante.
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