The search continues for an escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante, who has been on the run for 13 days, following a Pennsylvania prison escape. Now, he’s armed with a rifle and a phone.
On Tuesday’s “Crime Stories” episode with Nancy Grace, Fox 29 reports Eddie Kadhim said police tracked calls from a van that Calvalcante stole over the weekend, indicating that the convicted killer somehow managed to get access to a phone.
“He potentially had a phone. They tracked some calls from where the van [he stole] was dumped on Sunday,” Kadhim said. “So, he either had a phone or still has a phone. He could have been potentially been seeing news updates this entire time.”
Cavalcante stole a delivery van from a Bailey’s Dairy Farm in West Chester on Saturday, at some point between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Police said the van was unlocked and the keys were inside the vehicle.
Then, on Monday night, he walked into an open garage door shortly after 10 p.m. at North Chester county home and stole the rifle.
The homeowner spotted Calvante but Calvalcante quickly fled.
“The homeowner started firing at Calvalcante but didn’t hit him,” Kadhim explained. “Police were able to find his sweatshirt and shoes at the end of the driveway.”
“Even driving a refrigerated dairy van, he still got away,” Grace added.
Kadhim said there was a three hour gap from the time he stole the vehicle until police were notified, putting a wedge in time and allowing him to escape.
A little before 10 p.m. Saturday, Cavalcante was caught on camera trying to contact two former coworkers in the Phoenixville area. A doorbell camera showed that he’s now now clean-shaven and wearing a green hoodie, white shoes, a black cap, and the same prison pants he wore when he escaped.
Some 15 minutes afterward, he went to the home of another former coworker, who wasn’t home. Police were called about that sighting by the friend of a woman who lived a the house.
Bivens said that Cavalcante was spotted elsewhere in the Phoenixville area on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, police found the van abandoned in field behind a barn in in East Nantmeal Township, which is around “15 miles west of Phoenixville,” NBC Philadelphia reports.
State police said late Sunday morning in a Faceook post that “investigative leads have emerged that indicate Cavalcante is no longer in [the Phoenixville] area,” although they did not say how he was traveling or in which direction he might be going.
“I do believe he remains in Pennsylvania,” Bivens told reporters Sunday. “The victim’s family remains under police protection.”
Bivens said Sunday that Cavalcante’s sister, Eleni Cavalcante, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and now faces deportation. He said she had “some immigration issues” but did not say if police believe she had been helping her brother.
Cavalcante, crabwalked up a wall in the exercise yard of Chester County Prison when he escaped. He was awaiting transfer to a state prison after being sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in 2021.
Investigators say he killed her because he feared she would tell authorities that he was wanted for a 2017 murder in his native Brazil.
“This guy is not Superman,”swamp survival expert,’Turtleman’ Chris Adams, told Grace.
“He’s an opportunist…he’s not thinking about it, he’s doing it haphazardly… He may be capable of surviving, but clearly he is using human advantages (vehicles, food).”
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the police tip line at 717-562-2987. There is currently a $25,000 reward for information that leads to his capture.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Danelo Cavalcante/Pennsylvania State Police]
