Pennsylvania State Police have taken over the search for a recently convicted murderer who escaped from a state prison and are broadcasting a message from his mother asking him to turn himself over to law enforcement officials.
Danelo Cavalcante, a 34-year-old originally from Brazil, was awaiting transfer to a state facility when he escaped from Chester County Prison in West Chester at around 8:45 a.m. on Aug. 31.
Authorities have yet to disclose how he was able to get out of prison but are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Mr. Cavalcante fatally stabbed his girlfriend of two years, Deborah Brandao, in front of her 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son at her home in Schuylkill Township in April 2021. A jury sentenced him to life in prison without parole last month.
Prosecutors allege that Ms. Brandao had threatened to expose Mr. Cavalcante’s criminal past. He is also wanted in connection with a 2017 homicide in Brazil.
Although U.S. Marshals, along with local and other federal law enforcement agencies, have been searching for Mr. Cavalcante—who has been spotted four times since his escape, including just one hour after getting out of the prison—they are yet to locate and apprehend him.
‘Encouraging’ Message From Killer’s Mother
Additionally, Mr. Cavalcante’s mother has been called in to help and has recorded a voice message urging her son to turn himself over to the police “peacefully,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a press conference Monday.The recording, which is in Portuguese, is being broadcast in the search area to “facilitate” Mr. Cavalcante’s “peaceful surrender” he said, without providing details regarding the exact contents of the message.
Elsewhere, Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, confirmed that state police have taken over the investigation but stressed that law enforcement officials were “all on the same team” and would continue to put pressure on Mr. Cavalcante until they could bring him in.
Speaking of the broadcast, Mr. Clark said it was sent out “through the helicopter yesterday and through the patrol cars in the hopes that perhaps, as desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender and his family cares about him.”
The message is “just encouraging that his family loves him and that she wants him to surrender,” he said.
Credible Sightings of Suspect
Officials also confirmed during Monday’s press conference that there have been four credible sightings of Mr. Cavalcante in a two-mile radius of the Pocopson Township since his escape and police are focusing their search in that area.The latest sighting was on Sunday afternoon by a trooper who was unable to reach Mr. Cavalcante before he disappeared, officials said.
“When you talk a two-mile radius, you’ve got to remember this is a five-foot-tall gentleman, 120 pounds, and this is a heavily, heavily wooded area,” Mr. Clark said. “It’s very, very thick back there. There are a lot of ravines. There’s a lot of hiding spots.”
Police have described Mr. Cavalcante as a light-skinned Brazilian male who speaks Portuguese and Spanish.
He is five feet tall, weighs 120 pounds, and has shaggy black curly hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, gray shorts, and white sneakers and carrying a backpack, according to police.
Additionally, police are asking residents to remain vigilant and check their property and surveillance cameras regularly.
Mr. Clark said Monday that police plan to push Mr. Cavalcante hard and “stress him” until he is detained again.
“I want to push him hard, he‘ll make mistakes, and he’ll show himself, he’s already shown himself we believe a few times,” Mr. Clark said. “Our position is that Danelo Cavalcante’s desperateness will not outlast the resolve of our investigators here.”
