The two-week manhunt for an escaped Pennsylvania murderer has come to a dramatic end after he was captured with the help of a hero K-9 on Wednesday morning.
Danelo Cavalcante, 34, managed to escape from the Chester County Prison, 30 miles west of Philadelphia, on August 31. The convicted killer had been serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
For two weeks, a state-wide manhunt set the Pennsylvania community into a terror as Cavalcante was able to evade law enforcement and hide in the woods, changing his appearance and stealing a rifle.
It was on Wednesday morning that 25 officers managed to surprise and surround the escaped murderer, who was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt. However, he attempted to escape a second time by crawling through the underbrush.
This is when officials released a police dog to subdue and help capture the killer. Witnesses say that the dog bit him on the scalp, and he was treated for the injury at the scene.
After a bloodied Cavalcante was captured, the SWAT officers in the search team posed for a photo while escorting him to a nearby state police barracks in an armored vehicle surrounded by a dozen-vehicle convoy with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Two police helicopters followed above.
The Brazilian, who is in the US illegally, was caught in a wooded area near South Coventry Township, inside the updated perimeter set up by police this week. Cavalcante had been hiding with the rifle he stole from a home he broke into on Monday, as well as the stolen 2020 Ford Transit van from Baily’s Dairy near the prison.
Cavalcante was arraigned on an escape charge before he was driven to a state prison to continue serving the life sentence he got last month for killing his ex-girlfriend.
The capture of the killer has brought immense relief to residents of southeastern Pennsylvania who feared for their safety over these past two weeks.
State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens stated that she was surprised to see the officers take photos with the convict, but that she “wasn’t bothered at all by the fact they took a photo with him.”
Authorities used thermal imaging from an aircraft to pinpoint the killer’s location, as well as the ground forces to capture him.
Before the capture, local officials warned residents to stay alert and indoors as more than 500 agents actively searched for the escaped convict.
Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said she called the family of Cavalcante’s victim Deborah Brandao as soon as the killer was found.
As for Cavalcante’s escape from the prison itself, the guard who failed to notice or report his disappearance has been fired. The 18-year veteran corrections officer apparently failed to notice Cavalcante “crab walking” between walls and scaling a fence in full view of the surveillance cameras.
It has also been reported that Cavalcante is wanted in a homicide case in his native country of Brazil and that he managed to flee the country in 2017 after he killed a student at a food truck stand.
The arrest of Cavalcante eases anxiousness in the Pennsylvania area and brings to a conclusion the incredible two-week manhunt.
