Manhunt for killer fugitive Danelo Cavalcante expands as he slips out of Pennsylvania search perimeter, steals a van, changes appearance and tries to contact former co-workers

The manhunt for fugitive killer Danelo Cavalcante has expanded after he was spotted at the homes of former colleagues – more than 20 miles outside the previously designated search area, officials said.

The search for Cavalcante entered its 12th day on Monday, following several sightings over the weekend and the discovery of a van he had stolen and dumped outside the area where hundreds of officers had been searching.

The 34-year-old was serving a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and was awaiting transfer to the Chester County Jail in Pennsylvania when he escaped on August 31 by climbing a wall.

Police had concentrated their search in the nearby area, where he had been spotted several times last week. But on Saturday, a clean-shaven Cavalcante was spotted outside the home of a former co-worker on a ring doorbell camera in East Pikeland Township, before being spotted outside the home of another former co-worker in nearby Phoenixville.

The homes are both outside the perimeter where police initially concentrated, leading to questions about how Cavalcante slipped through hundreds of officers patrolling the area.

State Police Lt. George Bivens vowed to “aggressively continue” the search using federal, state, county and local resources and expressed confidence that the fugitive would ultimately be recaptured.

“This is a minor setback,” he said. “We’ll get him, it’s just a matter of time.”

On Sunday, police found a 2020 Cavalcante Ford Transit stolen in a field behind a shed in East Nantmeal Township – outside the previous search area. Cavalcante took it from Baily’s Dairy, located in West Chester, near the prison.

Baily’s Dairy said on its Facebook page that the van was stolen between 7pm and 10pm on Saturday “while we were still working here.”

Bivens said he believed Cavalcante abandoned the vehicle at least partially because it was running low on fuel. As police searched the immediate area for signs of him, authorities were concerned that he might attempt to obtain another vehicle or had already done so.

“We are clearly very concerned that Cavalcante has or will attempt to steal another vehicle to facilitate his escape,” Bivens said. “This latest incident is a reminder that he will take every opportunity to obtain the items he needs.”

The theft went unnoticed for hours and in the meantime, Cavalcante, 34, traveled more than 20 miles northeast to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville. Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, he went to the home of a person he had worked with several years ago in East Pikeland Township and asked to meet him, police said.

The homeowner, who was eating with his family and was unresponsive, called police after returning home and watching his doorbell video. Shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, police said, Cavalcante went to the Phoenixville-area home of another former coworker, who was not home, police said.

Cavalcante, who is from Brazil, was seen on an outdoor surveillance camera looking at the camera before the crab ‘walked’ between two walls, climbed a fence and jumped over barbed wire during the daring escape that took place in broad daylight from the Prison of Chester County on August 31.

Before this weekend, there had been repeated sightings of the “extremely dangerous” killer in the 759 square kilometer search area around the prison.

On Saturday, Cavalcante was seen wearing a black baseball-style hat, green hooded sweatshirt, green prison pants and white shoes as he appeared to grin at the doorbell camera at his former colleague’s home.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania prison guard who did not see or report the escape was fired. Prison officials told CNN that the corrections officer was an 18-year veteran of the prison.

Hundreds of officers have been deployed and are involved in the massive manhunt as the search for the fugitive intensifies.

Helicopters, drones and dogs are being executed in ground and air searches as authorities face extreme heat, high humidity and difficult landscapes.

Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said Friday that they “brought in more people last night, with some additional help from other agencies, from our own agency.”

“We have somewhere north of 350, almost 400 people working on this right now.”

Police have warned local residents that Cavalcante is extremely dangerous and urged them to lock their doors. Authorities have now increased the reward for information to $20,000.

Several schools closed and terrified residents remained barricaded in their homes.

The first sighting of Cavalcante occurred when he was spotted at 1:43 a.m. on September 2 on the 1800 block of Lenape Road in Pocopson Township, about 1.5 miles from the Chester County Prison.

He was then later seen on surveillance video in the early hours of September 2, wearing a white T-shirt and white sneakers with a backpack he had mysteriously acquired.

It was later reported that the criminal was seen again in the same area that evening at 11:45 PM on Friday by a Pocopson Township resident at his home. He “switched off the lights” at the owner before stealing some food and leaving.

A trail camera recorded how Cavalcante walked through the forest twice within an hour late on Monday, September 4.

On Tuesday, September 5, overnight, there was another confirmed sighting of Cavalcante near Chandler Road in the Pennsbury area by a resident who saw the inmate in the creek bed near their home.

The escaped convict was then spotted near Longwood Gardens around noon on September 7. He was seen running in a wooded area by a resident and Longwood Gardens was closed early as law enforcement officials searched for Cavalcante.

Police confirmed a new sighting of the criminal on the evening of Thursday, September 7, but did not provide details.

There may have been a ninth sighting of the escaped convict in connection with the burglary of a house in Kennett Square on the morning of Friday, September 8.

Cavalcante is also wanted in a 2017 murder case in his native Brazil. Authorities believe he tried to flee to Mexico to return to Brazil after being arrested in Virginia for Brandão’s murder.

Police aired recordings of the detainee’s mother speaking Portuguese from helicopters flying over the search area to facilitate his peaceful surrender. They have previously warned that the fugitive could try to flee to Brazil.