Police: Danelo Cavalcante is armed, residents in South Coventry Township area should stay indoors

For the latest news Tuesday on the manhunt for convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, click here.

The Pennsylvania State Police posted a short update early Tuesday morning on the search for fugitive killer Danelo Cavalcante, confirming officially that he “is armed with a weapon” and that all residents in the area should stay indoors.

Authorities “are pursuing escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante in the area of Ridge Rd/Coventryville Rd/Daisy Point Rd in South Coventry Township, Chester County,” the state police posted on Facebook at 1:38 a.m.

South Coventry Township is just north of East Nantmeal Township in Chester County, where Cavalcante allegedly broke into a home and stole a rifle late Monday night.

”Residents in the area are asked [to] continue to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors. Please review your surveillance cameras and contact police if you observe anything suspicious. If you see him, do not approach. Call 911 immediately. Please call (717) 562-2987 with general tips and information,” the state police said.

Shortly before 12:30 a.m., police broadcast details to all units in the search area “from the command post” saying that 5-foot, 120-pound Cavalcante was last known to be shirtless and wearing blue pants and was carrying a .22-caliber rifle with a 10-round magazine with a scope, as well as a flashlight.

— Robert Moran

— John Duchneskie

A homeowner on the 3600 block of Coventryville Road in East Nantmeal Township reported that a person believed to be Danelo Cavalcante broke into the home and stole a .22-caliber Ruger rifle with a scope, a law enforcement source said.

Shots were reportedly fired during the incident, but it was unclear who fired, said the law-enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Shoes and a green sweatshirt were found outside the home, the source said. The sweatshirt appeared to match what Cavalcante was wearing when he was recorded on a Ring doorbell camera this weekend.

Residents in the township were told to shelter in place in their homes as tactical units arrived at the scene to continue the search for Cavalcante.

— Vinny Vella

Authorities have sent an alert to residents in East Nantmeal Township to “stay vigilant” and lock doors as police search a new perimeter Monday night for Danelo Cavalcante.

The notification advised residents that the Pennsylvania State Police are searching in the area of Fairview Road.

”Residents in the area are asked to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain vigilant,” and to review video from surveillance cameras, the alert said.

A reverse 911 call to residents mentioned Cavalcante was believe to be armed. Around 10:30 p.m., first responders were dispatched to a home on Coventryville Road for reports of a shooting.

— Robert Moran, Vinny Vella

The Pennsylvania State Police have established a new perimeter Monday night in East Nantmeal Township as they investigate a possible sighting of Danelo Cavalcante.

Shortly after 8 p.m., there was a possible sighting of Cavalcante somewhere around the 1900 block of Fairview Road, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

Authorities were investigating the discovery of shoes in the woods and foot prints.

Dozens of officers, as well as canines, searching for Cavalcante descended on the area. A person matching the fugitive’s description was seen running in a heavily wooded area, sparking the response.

— Vinny Vella, Robert Moran

Despite the swampy, early September heat, Ryan Davis sat for hours in the parking lot of a Wawa in northern Chester County on Sunday.

The 45-year-old Maryland native was manning a drone, a remote-controlled hovering camera that soared hundreds of feet above the ground, allowing him to scan the cornfields and thickets of trees below.

The search for escaped inmate and convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante was entering its 11th day. Davis, traversing state lines to be there, wanted to help.

“You’re just looking for movement,” Davis said, describing his flyover search near East Nantmeal Township, where police discovered a white dairy van they believe Cavalcante stole over the weekend. “A path through a cornfield, or a shirt. Contrasts, that’s what I was looking for, to see if this guy was just hiding around a corner.”

Davis is one of a handful of private citizens taking the search into their own hands.

Police are less than pleased.

Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police has denounced any form of vigilantism or involvement from amateur sleuths, saying citizens participating in the search had no authority and could face consequences.

“They’re not helping us in anyway, and in fact, they become a hindrance,” Bivens said at a news conference Monday. “Some of our resources have to be diverted at times when they insert themselves into a scene. It’s not helpful, I wish they wouldn’t do it, I’ve asked that they not. But I can’t stop them, in some cases, from doing it.”

» READ MORE: These citizens are looking for escaped inmate Danelo Cavalcante. Police are not pleased.

— Jesse Bunch

Police are planning for “the long game” as the manhunt for escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante nears its third week.

Robert Clark, a supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service, told reporters at a Monday news conference the advantage has shifted to law enforcement now that Cavalcante has left a wooded area with difficult terrain and moved north into a more urban area of Chester County.

“The search in the woods was to Cavalcante’s advantage,” Clark said. “He was in an eight-square-mile area with very difficult terrain that was very difficult to get to. And there were some weaknesses in the perimeter.”

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said he believes Cavalcante remains in Chester County, and that he lacks “the resources to get out of Pennsylvania.” Bivens said the search continues to focus on an area in East Nantmeal Township where police found a van Sunday they believe was stolen by the escaped convict.

Bivens also announced the reward for information leading to Cavalcante’s capture has been increased to $25,000.

“I know this is an extremely stressful time for the community,” Bivens said. “We are doing everything possible to bring this to a successful resolution as quickly as possible.”

» READ MORE: Who is Pa. State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens, the public face of law enforcement in the Danelo Cavalcante manhunt?

— Rob Tornoe

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said that Danelo Cavalcante’s sister, Eleni, is set to be deported after she “failed to cooperate” with their search for her brother.

“The sister is an overstay and she chose not to assist, and because of being in an overstay status she has been entered into a deportation proceeding and is being detained at this time,” Bivens said in a news conference Monday afternoon.

“There is no reason for me to try to interfere in that process because she serves no value to the investigation,” Bivens added, noting she could help Cavalcante if released.

Bivens issued a warning to anyone who decides to help Cavalcante evade police, who have been searching for the convicted murder since his escape from Chester County Prison on Aug. 31.

“I’d like to address a message to anyone who may have already offered assistance or is contemplating assisting Cavalcante in any way — we will prosecute you fully for those actions,” Bivens said.

— Rob Tornoe

Pennsylvania State Police will offer updates on the search for escaped convicted Danelo Cavalcante Monday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The news conference will be streamed on the Chester County District Attorney’s Facebook page.

— Rob Tornoe

A 30-year-old prisoner at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center slipped out a door that “was left unsecured” on Sunday afternoon, according to an internal incident report obtained by The Inquirer.

The woman, Angie Molinuevo, then climbed two fences equipped with razor wire and landed on rocks on the Delaware River banks, where she was captured by prison staff.

The attempt comes four months after two men, Ameen Hurst and Nasir Grant, escaped from the same jail through an unlocked door – and got a 19-hour head start before staff took note of their absence. Hurst, 18, who was charged with four homicides, remained at large for 10 days; Grant, 24, who faced drug and gun charges, was captured after five days of freedom disguised in women’s clothing.

The two had escaped through a pre-cut hole in a security fence. Molinuevo’s attempt, in the presence of several officers who immediately gave chase, appeared less calculated. She had arrived in the jail that day on charges of robbery, theft, terroristic threats and possession of an instrument of crime.

» READ MORE: Another near-escape at Philly jail: Woman walked out door ‘left unsecured’

— Samantha Melamed

Pennsylvania State Police are focusing their search efforts Monday on northern Chester County, an official told The Inquirer. No further specifics were offered.

Danelo Cavalcante was spotted twice in the Phoenixville area over the weekend trying to contact former coworkers. He has eluded police for nearly two weeks after escaping from Chester County prison on Aug. 31 and is considered extremely dangerous.

On Sunday, police said they believed Cavalcante was no longer around Phoenixville, but that he’s still in Pennsylvania.

Anyone with information on Cavalcante’s whereabouts is urged to call 911 or the State Police tip line at 717-562-2987.

— Rob Tornoe

Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante managed to elude hundreds of law enforcement officers searching a wooded area near Longwood Gardens, then stole a nearby dairy truck and surfaced over the weekend in surveillance footage in the Phoenixville area — on the other side of Chester County about 25 miles away.

Cavalcante, 34, who broke out of the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 by scaling a wall in an exercise yard, appeared Saturday night on a doorbell camera in East Pikeland Township, having changed into new clothes and shaved his beard and mustache along the way.

“He is a very determined individual,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a Sunday afternoon news conference to address a slew of developments over the preceding 24 hours.

In the ring cam video, Cavalcante asks a former coworker for help, police said. He then appeared at the home of another former coworker in the Phoenixville area Saturday night, who also wasn’t home. Both stops led to police being contacted.

In still photos distributed by police, Cavalcante is seen without the mustache and beard he had in prison. And instead of the prison-issued white T-shirt, he was wearing a yellow or green hooded sweatshirt, a black baseball-style hat, green prison pants and white shoes, police said.

Cavalcante drove north in a 2020 white Ford van that he’d stolen from Baily’s Dairy near Longwood Gardens. The keys had been left in the van, police said. Law enforcement agencies nationwide were alerted, but Cavalcante later ditched the van, most likely because he ran out of gas.

Asked how Cavalcante escaped the initial search perimeter and made it to the dairy farm, Bivens said a number of factors could have played a role, including rugged terrain, darkness, inclement weather, drainage ditches and underground tunnels.

“I don’t know how he got over there,” Bivens said. “I wish I did. ... No perimeter is 100% secure. We do the best we can. Most times we’re able to secure it adequately.”

» READ MORE: Danelo Cavalcante eludes capture after shaving, stealing a van and fleeing to northern Chester County

— William Bender, Vinny Vella, Ximena Conde, and Rob Tornoe

Schools will open on Monday in the Owen J. Roberts School District in Pottstown, but there will be an “increased security presence” with convict Danelo Cavalcante remaining on the loose, according to superintendent Will Stout.

“This change is being done out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that all available resources are being utilized for our schools,” Stout said in a letter to parents Sunday posted on the district’s website.

All outdoor activities, including physical education and recess, will be held inside Monday.

Pottstown is about 10 miles north of where Cavalcante was spotted Saturday evening.

— Rob Tornoe

—Tom Gralish

» READ MORE: Danelo Cavalcante sightings: Map shows where escaped prisoner was seen last

— John Duchneskie

With the search for Danelo Cavalcante shifting to northern Chester County, Longwood Gardens is planning to reopen Wednesday.

“We hope you can understand our need for a few days to ready the Gardens for you, and also to care for our staff as they process these unsettling events,” Longwood Gardens said in an email to members.

Outside of a couple of days, Longwood Gardens has been closed since Labor Day weekend after Cavalcante was spotted several times on trail cameras on the property of the popular attraction.

— Rob Tornoe

Danelo Cavalcante is a native Brazilian who illegally immigrated to the United States after a warrant was issued for his arrest for murder in his home country in 2017, investigators said. He first traveled to Puerto Rico, where he obtained a fake ID, according to evidence presented during his trial earlier this month.

He settled in Chester County because he had a sister and friends that had arrived here ahead of him, he later told police. Cavalcante worked for a while in construction and other trades, prosecutors said, and rented a storage trailer that he parked at a lot in East Pikeland Township.

Cavalcante was convicted earlier in August of killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, outside of her home in Schuylkill Township in 2021. Authorities have released little information about Cavalcante’s escape, saying that the matter remains under investigation.

He was sentenced to life in state prison and was awaiting transfer to a more secure, state-run correctional facility when he escaped Thursday, according to Chester County District Attorney Deborah Ryan.

— Vinny Vella