Danelo Cavalcante survived on watermelon and creek water and stole clothing during his two-week run from police
The convicted murderer moved only at night and kept watch on the officers pursuing him, according to the U.S. Marshals.
Danelo Cavalcante survived for two weeks on the run in Chester County by seeking refuge in deep, thick underbrush, living off produce pilfered from gardens and water from the Brandywine Creek, and burying his feces to avoid detection, according to a statement he gave investigators after his arrest Wednesday.
He had become so desperate in recent days that he planned to carjack someone and flee north to Canada, investigators said.
Cavalcante, 34, broke out of the county prison Aug. 31, sparking a massive search that, at one point, brought about 500 law enforcement officers to a quiet, rural corner of Chester County. He was in custody after having been sentenced a week earlier to life in prison for first-degree murder for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children.
People across the world turned their attention to the Philadelphia suburb, captivated by Cavalcante’s ability to hide. In his native Brazil — where Cavalcante is also wanted for murder in a separate case from 2017 — some even cheered him on, almost as a folk hero, Brazilian media reports said.
But that hunt came to an end early Wednesday in South Coventry Township, when a U.S. Border Patrol dog locked its jaws around Cavalcante’s scalp and a thigh, and he was taken into custody.
U.S. Marshals Supervisory Deputy Robert Clark said in an interview Thursday that Cavalcante was cooperative after his arrest, providing, through an interpreter, key details about his time on the run.
“He was exactly what we thought: A desperate man trying to survive on a day-to-day basis,” Clark said.
The convicted murderer had drawn upon his background in Brazil to survive, authorities said. Cavalcante grew up in poverty in a northern state in the country, working as a laborer and farmhand in his youth. He spent time in the forests, living off the land, including a stint in 2017, authorities said, when he was on the run from police after killing a man who owed him money.
Those experiences prepared him for his time as a fugitive in Chester County, law enforcement officials said. Cavalcante had no way of communicating with his friends or family, and received no assistance after his escape, Clark said, so he stole whatever he could.
In the first two days after scaling a wall in the prison’s exercise yard, Cavalcante barely left his hiding spot, surviving on watermelons he grabbedfrom a nearby farm, Clark said. Along the way, he also stole a backpack and changes of clothes, and used a razor he found inside to shave his beard.
Cavalcante hid in thick patches of forest near Longwood Gardens, moving only at night and bedding down during daylight hours, according to Clark. The vegetation was so thick in that area, Clark said, that it provided deep cover.
Still, Cavalcante’s attempts to elude law enforcement officials were tenuous, Clark said. He told investigators that officers searching for him came within seven or eight yards from his hiding spot at least three times.
» READ MORE: A step-by-step look at Danelo Cavalcante’s escape, search, and capture
Eventually, as the number of officers looking for Cavalcante in the search perimeter grew, he grew desperate, Clark said. From his hidden vantage point, Cavalcante took note of where the officers were posted around him, and looked for weaknesses.
He found one Saturday near Baily’s Dairy, a farm near Longwood Gardens. At nightfall, Cavalcante ran to the farm and noticed that two vehicles on the property were unlocked and had keys inside.
Cavalcante stole a van, and drove north about 20 miles to northern Chester County near Phoenixville, an area he was familiar with, Clark said. Along the way, he ditched his prison shoes, which were saturated with mud and sodden from rain, with boots that a homeowner had left out on a porch.
He also stopped to visit the homes of two former coworkers whom he hadn’t spoken with in years, asking for help that they declined to provide.
“He didn’t go to the first degree of relatives. He told us it was too obvious,” Clark said. “He went to people who were one degree off, or people he thought law enforcement didn’t know about.”
As he made his way through the area, Clark said, Cavalcante ventured into East Nantmeal Township, where he discovered that a homeowner had left his garage door open. He waited until Monday night to enter the garage, where he was surprised to encounter the homeowner, who was armed with a pistol, Clark said.
In a panic, Cavalcante grabbed a .22-caliber Ruger rifle that was leaning against a wall in the garage and fled, narrowly avoiding bullets as the homeowner opened fire.
Once law enforcement officials learned that Cavalcante was armed, they added more officers to the search operation and established a new, tighter perimeter.
Cavalcante told investigators the increased pressure made him nervous, and he began to fear that it was only a matter of time before he would be caught. He had planned to use the stolen rifle to carjack a motorist and flee the area, Cavalcante said, a plan that was thwarted by his arrest.
After his capture, Cavalcante was taken to the State Correctional Institute at Phoenix in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, where he will begin to serve his life sentence for the fatal stabbing of Brandao. He has also been charged with escape, and is scheduled to appear before a judge for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 27.