Chester County residents express fear and frustration as the search for a fugitive enters day 7

As the hunt for Danelo Cavalcante entered its seventh day Wednesday, Chester County residents who live near the area of the search for the convicted murderer expressed a mixture of wariness and fatigue.

Cavalcante, 34, escaped from the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 and has been spotted multiple times in wooded areas east of the facility in the intervening days, according to investigators.

Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder Aug. 16 for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in 2021. He is also wanted for the 2017 murder of Valter Júnior Moreira dos Reis, who owed him money, in a cafeteria in Toncantins, Brazil.

He escaped from the prison through one of its exercise yards, a source at the facility said this week. He climbed onto the roof and then jumped down to a less-secure area, the source said.

» READ MORE: Chester County Prison fugitive escaped using similar method as an inmate who fled in May, source says

On Wednesday, the search for the fugitive shifted to an area around the Brandywine Creek in Chadds Ford. It was the second time that law enforcement had moved their perimeter: They moved slightly south on Tuesday, after a trail camera in Longwood Gardens recorded Cavalcante twice within an hour late Monday.

Outside of the post office in Chadds Ford on Wednesday morning, neighbors quickly ferried in and out of their cars as sirens flashed at a nearby checkpoint. Every so often, a helicopter circled overhead.

George Glauner couldn’t help but notice the tense atmosphere as he ran an errand, as the manhunt continued into its seventh day.

Glauner, 77, said he’d stepped outside of his house on Tuesday to find state police parked practically every 50 yards down Parkersville Road.

After learning that Cavalcante may have broken into several homes near the Chester County Prison, Glauner is keeping an extra eye on his back shed, where he believes Cavalcante could potentially hide.

“It’s tense,” Glauner said. “Doors are locked, cars are locked.”

The heavy police presence in the area caused a bit of inconvenience for Joe Delahanty, 40, who was stopped four times by officers on his way to work early Wednesday. During the last stop, on Creek Road, Delahanty said he was asked by a state trooper to open his trunk, as they checked passing cars for Cavalcante.

“This is the first time in nine years that I’ve felt the need to lock my house doors when leaving for work,” said Delahanty, who lives in Birmingham Township.

He expressed frustration that Cavalcante had not been caught, despite the sizable search force that included the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol.

“I understand it’s a heavily wooded area,” Delahanty said, “but between the drones, helicopters, and hundreds of cops, I feel like they should’ve gotten him by now.”

Caroline Sarkis, 53, who lives not far from Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, said the constant barrage of reported sightings of Cavalcante has left her feeling unnerved, unable to get much sleep.

“I’ve definitely become more vigilant; I check my back seat and trunk every time I go for a drive,” she said Wednesday. “For a few days, I really considered leaving and staying with a friend, but I thought I’d be better off hunkering down here.”

Sarkis said her anxiety peaked when Cavalcante was spotted on the Longwood property. In the last few days, she’s felt slightly more relieved, she said, as investigators shifted their search area.

» READ MORE: West Chester man says escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante took food from his home

A few houses down from Sarkis, Young Leahy, 51, said the sound of helicopters circling overhead has become a constant soundtrack for her and her family.

Leahy, a middle school music teacher in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, has been home the last two days with her daughter, whose classes at Kennett Square School District have also been canceled.

The family’s life has changed in small, yet significant ways, she said. Less time outside. More attentiveness and anxiety when taking their dogs, Daisy and Bailey, out for their daily walks.

“There definitely was a sense of fear instilled in us early on,” Leahy said, referencing the multiple bulletins put out by county investigators and Pennsylvania State Police. “None of us really knew what he was capable of, given his past crimes.”

Jeanne Jacobson, who lives in the Kendall Crosslands retirement community, recalled Wednesday the constant swirl of police helicopters overhead the prior evening around dinnertime, and, more chillingly, the sound of a prerecorded message blasting through loudspeakers in which Cavalcante’s mother , speaking in Portuguese, urged her son to surrender.

“Last night was the worst,” said Jacobson, 88. “The entire community is locked down.”

Though Jacobson said the atmosphere in Chester County was nerve-wracking, the lockdown didn’t stop her from slipping out of lockdown to run some overdue errands.

“I just escaped,” she said with a smile.