Police manhunt for Danelo Cavalcante presses on; schools reopen, perimeter shifts
Escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante continues to elude capture as the massive search to find him presses on into Thursday, a week after he fled the Chester County Prison by crab-walking up a wall, the same method used by another inmate who escaped in May.
The manhunt has brought hundreds of law enforcement officers using drones, helicopters and dogs to southeastern Pennsylvania, disrupting the lives of thousands of residents, many of whom are on edge about the fugitive's whereabouts.
At a Wednesday press conference, authorities released video of Cavalcante's brazen escape and announced a shift east in its perimeter after a resident saw Cavalcante in a creek bed behind their house in Pennsbury Township, a suburban residential neighborhood several miles east of Longwood Gardens, where Cavalcante was seen on camera Monday night.
"He was already traveling into the woods when that individual called us," Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said of the Pennsbury Township sighting during the Wednesday press conference.
Officials have said they're hopeful the pressure being put on Cavalcante through the exhaustive search will cause him to make a mistake, leading to his capture, especially as he grows tired, hungry and desperate.
"I'm quite confident that we're wearing him down," he said. "These are hot, humid temperatures; he's not living in shelter, has no regular means of obtaining food other than if he's able to break in some place... it's a difficult existence ... that will definitely take its toll."
Cavalcante, considered extremely dangerous by authorities, was sentenced to life in prison in late August for brutally stabbing his ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao in front of her two children. He is also wanted in connection to a murder in Brazil, his native country.
"We are not going any place until we have him in custody," Bivens said Wednesday. "We will continue the manhunt."
Schools, Longwood Gardens reopen after most recent perimeter shift
With the changing area of focus, the two school districts that canceled classes Tuesday and Wednesday largely reopened on Thursday.
Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester County reopened all its schools except for one elementary school that remains in the new perimeter. The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District has reopened all its schools.
Both districts said local law enforcement will provide additional security and that they are excusing absences of students whose families prefer to keep them home.
"We appreciate the impact of prolonged stress and know that normalcy is needed," read a statement from John Sanville, superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, to parents. "We share your hopes that the prisoner is captured today."
Longwood Gardens, a popular tourist destination of about 200 acres of rolling meadows and expansive vistas, partially reopened Thursday after the police perimeter shifted eastward. The most recent images of Cavalcante, in which he has a backpack, duffel bag and a sweatshirt, were shot by a private trail camera at the botanical garden.
Video shows Cavalcante's escape
An officer in a tower missed Cavalcante's stealthy walk up the wall the morning of Aug. 31 while his prison block was outside in the exercise yard, Howard Holland, acting warden of Chester County Prison, said at the news conference.
The guard officer in the tower has been put on administrative leave, Holland said.
Security footage released shows the moment at about 8:50 a.m. that Cavalcante used his outstretched arms and legs to brace himself between two walls and "crab-walk" up before disappearing out of sight. From there, he pushed through razor wire, ran across the roof, and scaled a fence lined with more razor wire, Holland said.
It's the second escape from the facility in recent months. In May, inmate Igor Bolte broke out from the same location in a similar way, but was seen by the tower officer on watch and quickly recaptured. Cavalcante's escape differed in two important ways: He had to get through new razor wire that was added after Bolte's escape and nobody saw him do it.
Cavalcante's disappearance was discovered nearly an hour later during an inmate count after the block returned from the yard.
Holland said officials now realize the razor wire wasn't enough, and are working on plans to better secure the prison through physical barriers and increased staff. Instead of a fence with an open top, Holland said engineers are working on a plan to enclose fencing to make it more like a cage that can't be scaled.