Danelo Cavalcante escape video shows him fleeing Chester County Prison

For the first time since Danelo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on Aug. 31, officials at the facility provided information on how he was able to flee.

Acting warden Howard Holland, at a news conference Wednesday in West Chester, confirmed details reported by The Inquirer a day earlier: Cavalcante, a convicted murderer who stabbed ex-girlfriend Deborah Brandao in 2021, “crab-walked” up a narrow wall in one of the prison’s exercise yards to access its roof, and then climbed down to another, less-secure part of the property.

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That method, depicted in a video released Wednesday by Holland, is identical to the way that another inmate, Igor Bolte, briefly escaped from the prison in May. Cavalcante even escaped at the exact same location in the prison, Holland said.

“We know the gravity of the situation and how it has impacted the community significantly,” Holland said. “The victims of this individual’s crimes remain in our thoughts and prayers as we work to bring him to justice.”

Holland declined to answer detailed questions about the investigation into how Cavalcante, 34, escaped, saying that the matter is now part of a criminal inquiry by the state Attorney General’s Office. He said he couldn’t say whether Cavalcante, who is also wanted for murder in his native Brazil, had any assistance in planning the break out.

(Holland is new to his position: He was appointed acting warden the day before Cavalcante fled the prison, when his predecessor, Ronald Phillips, retired after weeks on administrative leave.)

Holland said that a tower guard was posted in an observatory position above the exercise yard, but he “did not observe or report” Cavalcante’s escape. That guard, Holland said, has since been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues. And though the escape was fully captured by a surveillance camera, Holland said it happened so quickly — in a matter of seconds — that guards posted to view the camera monitors likely missed it.

Cavalcante’s escape wasn’t noticed until his fellow inmates returned to their cells, Holland said. Outside law enforcement agencies weren’t notified until over an hour later, when a public alert went out that Cavalcante was missing, according to a timeline Holland provided Wednesday.

The fugitive has spent the last seven days eluding hundreds of law enforcement officers from the Pennsylvania State Police, U.S. Marshals, FBI, and U.S. Border Patrol who have conducted a joint search, according to State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.

Bivens, who is overseeing the hunt for Cavalcante, said Wednesday that a resident in Pennsbury Township spotted Cavalcante late Tuesday walking along a creek bed behind her property. By the time she notified police, Cavalcante had already slipped into the woods beyond the creek.

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In light of that latest sighting, the boundaries of the search perimeter were expanded eastward, to include Creek Road near Chadds Ford, Bivens said.

The commanding officer reiterated that the hunt for Cavalcante has been made more difficult by the excessive heat in recent days, as well as the densely packed undergrowth in the area. To bolster their efforts, officers have set up cameras in the woods, as well as made continuous sweeps with drones and helicopters.

Still, Bivens said he was confident that the officers will locate Cavalcante, who he believes intends to head south, despite the mostly eastern route he has taken since leaving the prison in Pocopson Township.

“We are not going anywhere until he is caught,” Bivens said.

In the meantime, Holland, the acting warden, said he is reviewing the security procedures at the prison.

After Bolte’s May 19 escape, prison officials contracted with security experts to add security measures to the exercise yard, including razor wire strung along the top of the wall he climbed up, according to Holland. However, he said Cavalcante was able to “push past” the razor wire in his successful escape last week.

Bolte, who was in custody for violating his probation in an aggravated assault case, used a basketball game as a distraction to flee in May, according to court filings. Unlike Cavalcante’s escape, Bolte’s was witnessed by a prison guard, who sounded an alarm. Bolte was apprehended at a home nearby just five minutes later.

However, that wasn’t the first time Bolte fled custody: He escaped in 2019 for several hours after running out of an unlocked door in a lower-security work-release center on prison property.

In light of this year’s second escape in three months, prison officials hope to fully enclose the exercise yard, “basically as a cage so no one can climb out,” Holland said.

“We believed the security measures we had in place were sufficient,” he said. “They have proven otherwise.”

The proposal was finalized yesterday and has been sent to county commissioners for approval.

A reward for information leading to Cavalcante’s capture has increased to $20,000, thanks to a pledge made the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers. Anyone with information about the fugitive is asked to call 717-562-2987.