Fugitive Murderer Tried Contacting Others For Help: Police

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — A van stolen by Danelo Cavalcante has been recovered, but the search for the escaped murderer continues as of Sunday afternoon.

Cavalcante tried contacting two people he knew Saturday night, authorities said. One wasn't home and only saw him later on doorbell surveillance, while a person at another home he went to had contacted a friend to call police, according to State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.

"He is absolutely looking for support," Bivens said during a news conference. "He needs that support. He hasn’t had it."

Bivens did not know whether anyone Cavalcante tried to contact had an existing relationship with him.

At about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Cavalcante was spotted in East Pikeland with a van he'd stolen from 3/4 of a mile outside the perimeter authorities established.

The stolen vehicle was found at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, abandoned behind a barn on a field in East Nantmeal Township. Investigators have been searching the area since, Bivens said at about 2 p.m. Sunday.

"We are obviously concerned that Cavalcante has or will steal another vehicle to attempt his escape," Bivens said.

Cavalcante found the vehicle with the keys left inside, authorities said.

The escaped murderer tried contacting two former work associates in the hours beforehand, Bivens said. He went to one person's home at 9:52 p.m. and tried speaking to them via the property's video doorbell. But that person was out to dinner with family and only saw the footage of Cavalcante once he returned home.

Cavalcante was sighted again at 10:07 p.m. in the Phoenixville area, where he tried to contact another former work associate, police said. That individual wasn't home, but a female resident saw Cavalcante and called a friend. That friend responded to the home and eventually called local police, Bivens said.

There's "no indication" that Cavalcante has left Pennsylvania, Bivens said.

State police released new photographs of a clean-shaven Cavalcante, and said the fugitive has been driving around Chester County. In the latest photographs, he's seen in a bright-green hooded sweatshirt.

He was driving a 2020 white Ford van bearing Pennsylvania registration ZST8818l. Police said the van has a refrigeration unit on the top and was reported stolen by Baily's Dairy, near West Chester.

A $20,000 reward has been offered for anyone who has information about his whereabouts that leads to an arrest.

Phoenixville is next to Collegeville in Montgomery County, and East Pikeland, Schuylkill and Charlestown townships in Chester County.

Authorities increased the number of officers searching for him to more than 400, the largest number in this search, but Cavalcante still remains at large, police said.

So far, Cavalcante evaded hundreds of police officers searching woods, suburban and rural neighborhoods, busy highways, and back streets throughout southern Chester County.

The manhunt Friday and Saturday centered around an 8-square-mile wooded area near Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square and a field off Lenape Road and Baltimore Pike in Kennett Township. Longwood Gardens was closed Friday until further notice.

Residents in the area said they are on edge as helicopters are flying over the homes and road barriers are blocking roads in their neighborhoods. However, they also are grateful to the law enforcement officers' commitment to capturing the convicted killer.

Bivens said Cavalcante, a native of Brazil, has experience living in woods, following a murder he committed in Brazil in 2017.

"There is a jungle down there," he said of Cavalcante living in Brazil.

Cavalcante escaped to the United States to live near family in Schuylkill Township, bordering Phoenixville. He went out with Deborah Brandao, whom he fatally stabbed in April 2021.

The Escape

Cavalcante escaped from the prison exercise yard at 8:50 a.m. on Aug. 31. Officials released a video of the escape, which showed Cavalcante nimbly scaling two walls by bracing himself with his hand and feet between two walls and climbing up.

A resident, who is conducting an investigation, said Cavalcante was able to get a cell phone.

Authorities said Cavalcante was seen at Meddenhall, a wedding venue in Kennett Township.

Cavalcante escaped from the prison in a method similar to the way another inmate, Igor Bolte, escaped on May 19.

Bolte, 30, was in the exercise yard of the Chester County Prison when he scaled the wall until reaching the roof.

Surveillance footage showed Bolte climbing down the roof of the building and running past the security station.

Bolte was captured in five minutes. Cavalcante has still not yet been captured.

The correctional officer who was on duty in a tower outside the prison in Pocopson Township when Calvalcante escaped at 8:50 a.m. on Aug. 31 has been fired.

The escape is under investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office. The state police are overseeing the manhunt, with headquarters set up at a fire station in Unionville.

West Chester University

Meanwhile, West Chester University has remained open, with an expanded police presence on campus throughout most of the nine-day hunt.

The university closed on Friday, Sept. 1, out of caution due to the search. Classes resumed on Tuesday, Sept. 5, following news that the search had moved south.

The university, which has over 17,500 students, has been keeping its community closely apprised of the situation via a series of text messages and emails.

“West Chester University police are always in a constant state of awareness,” Nancy Gainer, vice president and spokeswoman, said Friday.

The Crime

Cavalcante was convicted on Aug. 16 of first-degree murder in the April 18, 2021 stabbing of Deborah Brandao in front of her children, ages 4 and 7, outside her home in the 300 block of Pawlings Road, Schuylkill Township.

During his trial, witnesses testified that Cavalcante stabbed the victim 38 times after learning that she was planning on telling Brazilian authorities where Cavalcante was living. Cavalcante was wanted by police in Brazil for a 2017 killing.

He was sentenced on Aug. 22 in the Chester County Court to life in prison after a jury deliberated for 15 minutes. On Thursday, Aug. 31, he was awaiting transfer to state prison to serve out his sentence.

The reward for information leading to an arrest of Cavelcante has increased to $20,000.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the PA State Police command post at 717-562-2987.