Who Is Danelo Cavalcante? Pennsylvania Locals Warned Over Escaped Convict

An “extremely dangerous” convicted killer who escaped from prison last week remains on the run as police continue to search for him, with officials warning local residents to stay inside for their own safety.

Danelo Cavalcante, 34, brutally butchered his former girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her two young children by stabbing her 38 times in a frenzied attack in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors said there was an active warrant out for his arrest over a murder in his home country of Brazil and suggested he had killed Brandao to prevent her from telling police that he was wanted by Brazilian officials investigating that crime.

Cavalcante was being held at the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, as he awaited transfer to a state institution, but managed to break out at 8:50 a.m. last Thursday morning. Now, locals living in the area have been warned to take extra safety precautions as the manhunt continues, with the U.S. Marshals Service sharing his photo and issuing a $10,000 reward for information that leads to his capture.

During a press conference on Saturday, Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan warned neighbors not to leave their homes.

“We are requesting that residents in the area of Pocopson Township remain inside. Lock your doors, lock your cars. He is still considered an extremely dangerous individual…We do not believe he has gotten more than one to two miles away from the prison,” she said.

Ryan expressed confidence that police will apprehend Cavalcante, adding: “We believe we are getting closer to locating the suspect at this time, and we are narrowing the scope of our search.”

It remains unclear how Cavalcante managed to escape. However, the prison’s acting warden, Howard Holland, said an investigation into the incident is now underway, ABC 6 Action News reported on Sunday.

“Once we knew we had an issue with an inmate not being there, we immediately followed our protocols, locked down the prison, did what we call a special count to confirm there was only one person missing,” he said.

There have been various sightings of Cavalcante, with some fearing he may be behind alleged burglaries around Pocopson Township in the days since he sprang free. A surveillance video picked him up on Saturday morning on the 1800 block of Lenape Road in Pocopson Township, which is less than 2 miles away from the prison, according to ABC 6 Action News.

He was wearing prison-issued pants, a white T-shirt, white sneakers, and carrying a backpack. He is 5 feet tall and weights 120 pounds, with long, curly black hair, and brown eyes. Cavalcante speaks Portuguese and Spanish, and a little English. He has some family in Phoenixville, who investigators have warned will be prosecuted if they try to aid him in his escape.

More than 100 tips have flooded in from people living in the area with possible sightings of the convicted felon, ABC 6 Action News reported. The breakout has sparked fear in the local community, with resident Desiree D’Onofrio telling the local news station: “I just can’t believe it and I really hope that they catch him soon. I hope everybody’s paying attention and they’re locking their doors and staying alert.”

There are 271 homes in the township, which lies in a heavily wooded area, U.S. Marshal Robert Clark told ABC 6 Action News, noting that the region is “not easy for our investigators” to comb through.

Anyone with information about Cavalcante’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the U.S. Marshals’ tip line at 877-WANTED-2.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service Philadelphia by email for further information and comment.

News of the prison break comes just over a year after a Texas convict murdered a family-of-five whilst on the run. Gonzalo Lopez, who had been serving a life sentence for murder, was captured and killed after fleeing in the slain family’s car. He had escaped by stabbing a correctional officer while he was being taken to a medical appointment.

Another escape bid was made in January 2021 when a $70,000 reward was offered by authorities trying to catch two inmates from the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. The men had broken into an equipment room and then used tools they stole to cut through a fence.

Later that same year, gunmen in Africa stormed a prison and freed hundreds of inmates at the facility in Kogi State, Nigeria. Officials were forced to scramble to try to catch all of the escapees.