The Drug Enforcement Agency has released the thermal video it used to track escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante in the hours before the Brazilian native was caught.

Cavalcante escaped the Chester County Prison on August 31 and stayed ahead of hundreds of law enforcement agents for two weeks, first in a relatively small area not far from the prison and then in an expanded area in the north of Chester County, where he fled after sneaking through the perimeter and stealing a dairy farm’s delivery van.

It was there, in northern Chester County, that investigators began to narrow the gap between them and the fugitive.

On September 9, after stealing the van, Cavalcante tried unsuccessfully to contact two former coworkers, both of whom reported sightings. Two days later, Cavalcante walked into a garage and stole a rifle leaning in the corner — as the homeowner shot at him with a pistol.

On Tuesday night, a burglar alarm focused the search, and about an hour later, early Wednesday morning, the DEA airplane and it’s thermal camera spotted a heat signature on the move through thick brush.

A thunderstorm forced the plane out of the area, but not before ground crews moved in, surrounding the location where the heat signature was found.

By 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, agents from Pennsylvania State Police and the US Border Patrol moved in. Cavalcante was taken by surprise and tried to crawl away, carrying the rifle he’d stolen. The Border Patrol tactical unit unleashed one of its dogs, Yoda, who bit Cavalcante’s scalp and then latched onto his thigh.

The search was over.

In an interview after his capture, Cavalcante told police he intended to use the rifle to carjack a vehicle and flee to Canada.

He’s now been taken to a state prison to serve a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend in 2021.

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[Featured image: DEA via WPVI]