The manhunt for an escaped Pennsylvania convicted murderer is entering its fifth day, with state police amplifying a message from the escapee’s mother asking him to surrender.
Danelo Cavalcante, 34, escaped from Chester County Prison on Thursday morning at about 8:50 a.m., according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Deb Ryan said Cavalcante is “an extremely dangerous man.”
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Cavalcante, who is a Brazilian national, was convicted of first-degree murder on Aug. 16 in the 2021 death of Deborah Brandao, 33, who was his former girlfriend. He received a sentence of life without parole last week and is currently wanted in Brazil for another murder.
Authorities are broadcasting a message from Cavalcante’s mother in Portuguese, which asks him to surrender to police, from helicopters and patrol cars. Officers have homed in on a wooded area with a two-mile radius near the prison as a possible location for the escapee, according to Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Clark did not release the exact details of the message during Monday’s press conference, but he said that “she’s just encouraging that his family loves him and that she wants him to surrender. And that’s what our hope is as well.”
“As desperate as he is, maybe he has a change of thought and hears his mother telling him to surrender, and his family cares about him,” Clark added. “Perhaps this is what puts him over the edge where we can get a peaceful surrender.”
Police have received four credible sightings of Cavalcante, authorities said, with the most recent occurring on Sunday. Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said during the news conference that a trooper had spotted Cavalcante on Sunday afternoon.
Bivens said the police are working to “stress” Cavalcante because they do not know if or how he is obtaining food or water while hiding in the woods.
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“I intend to stress him. I want to push him hard. He’ll make mistakes,” he said. “He’ll show himself. He’s already shown himself, we believe, a few times.”
Police are investigating two burglaries in the area where investigators believe Cavalcante is hiding. While officials cannot tie the burglaries to Cavalcante at this time, “they are of interest to us,” Bivens said.
