One Week Later, Authorities Still Searching For Escaped Pennsylvania Fugitive

It has been one week since an inmate escaped from a Pennsylvania prison, and authorities are still searching for him.

Danelo Cavalcante, an illegal immigrant from Brazil, escaped from the Chester County Prison around 8:30 a.m. on August 31, just a couple of weeks after he was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend. He had been sentenced to life in prison on August 22 and is now on the run.

Surveillance footage released this week shows 34-year-old Cavalcante “crab walking” between two walls, climbing through razor wire, running across a roof before climbing another fence and moving through more razor wire, CNN reported. The footage also shows the inmate in the exercise yard shimmying up a space between two walls after looking through a window in a door.

Chester County Prison Acting Warden Howard Holland said Cavalcante’s escape was unnoticed by a prison guard in a tower who was watching inmates while they exercised in the yard. The escape was also missed by the person monitoring the 160 cameras set up around the prison. Holland said the tower guard is on administrative leave, and the escape is being investigated.

Lt. Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police told reporters that a resident had seen Cavalcante on Tuesday in the woods near a home on the eastern side of the search perimeter.

“We have a mix of very dense woodlands in places, and then a lot of residential property with many outbuildings, landscaping, a lot of places that would be very easy for someone to hide even when they’re not in the dense woodland and everything,” Bivens said, according to CNN.

He has also been spotted elsewhere since he escaped.

“[He] has clearly already obtained some clothing and unknown other supplies and we want to minimize any opportunity to obtain anything more,” Bivens said of the escapee. “It is important that we keep pressure on him as we continue the hunt.”

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School districts in the area have been closed as residents of Chester County remain uneasy, CNN reported. As of Wednesday, authorities believe the inmate is just south of the original search area. On Monday evening, a security camera caught him at Longwood Gardens, a botanical garden nearly 3 miles from the prison where Cavalcante escaped.

In 2021, Cavalcante stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in front of her two children. He fled Pennsylvania and was arrested in Virginia.

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy. Two children are left without a mother. The pain these children and all of Deborah’s loved ones are enduring as a result of this depravity is horrific,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said after the murder. “We will ensure that the defendant is brought to justice for this cold-blooded, premeditated, and despicable act.”

Cavalcante is also wanted in Brazil for another murder.

Cavalcante is not the first inmate to escape from the Chester County Prison. In May, Igor Bolte escaped the same way Cavalcante did but was caught minutes after escaping.

In July, a dangerous inmate escaped from a Warren County, Pennsylvania jail. It took nine days for authorities to recapture Michael Burham.