Map: Fugitive Danelo Cavalcante seen 25 miles beyond search perimeter
Just hours after Pennsylvania police expressed confidence that escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante was in a historic garden, he showed up outside an acquaintance’s home 25 miles from the search area.
Cavalcante made visits Saturday night, Sept. 9, to the homes of two former co-workers. On Sunday morning, the van he is thought to have been driving was found abandoned.
Cavalcante, 34, was recently sentenced to life for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend. He’s also a suspect in a killing in his home country of Brazil.
The map above shows key sites in the search, which began shortly after his escape Aug. 31 from Chester County Prison, where he was awaiting transfer to state prison.
1/ Aug. 31, Chester County Prison. Cavalcante escaped at 8:51 a.m. by climbing a wall in the exercise yard and getting over razor wire. His disappearance was discovered at 9:45 a.m.
2-4/ Sightings at residences. About 40 hours after his escape, reports were received from a neighborhood a mile from the prison. At 11:30 p.m. Sept. 1, a burglary attempt was reported on Ballintree Lane (2). At 11:40 p.m., a resident on Waterglen Drive (3) said a stranger entered the kitchen of the occupied home and stole food. Surveillance video in the 1800 block of Lenape Road (4) captured a confirmed image of Cavalcante; the time was variously reported as 12:30 a.m. and 1:43 a.m. on Sept. 2.
5/ Sept. 4, Longwood Gardens. Confirmed on video at the 1½-square-mile historic gardens two miles from the prison.
6/ Sept. 5, Pennsbury Township. Confirmed sighting by a resident on Chandler Road (location approximate).
7/ Sept. 6 & 8, Longwood Gardens. More confirmed sightings. On Friday, Sept. 8, Pennsylvania State Police said a perimeter had been established around a 6-square-mile area centered on the gardens (black line on map). The following day, they said the focus was on the immediate area of the gardens (gray tone), and that they planned to bring in hundreds of officers on Monday, Sept. 11, for “one massive sweep” of the area.
8/ Sept. 9, van stolen. Between 7 p.m. and about 9:30 p.m., a van was taken from Baily’s Dairy, just beyond the police perimeter.
9/ East Pikeland Township (location approximate). At 9:52 p.m. Sept. 9, Cavalcante had a conversation via the doorbell video of a former co-worker, who was away from home at the time. Cavalcante had shaved off the facial hair he had in prison and was wearing a yellow or light green hooded sweatshirt. The acquaintance reported the contact to police.
10/ Phoenixville (location approximate). At 10:07 p.m., Cavalcante was outside another former co-worker’s home. That person was also not at home.
11/ Sept. 10, van found (location approximate). At 10:40 a.m. the van was found in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township.