Escaped killer spotted with new look, Pennsylvania police say

The convicted killer who escaped a Pennsylvania prison more than a week ago was spotted Saturday night with a changed appearance, authorities said.

The Pennsylvania State Police on Sunday morning released updated photos of Danelo Cavalcante, 34, that were apparently captured by a doorbell camera near Phoenixville, a borough about 25 miles northeast of the prison he fled. The once-bearded fugitive was clean-shaven and dressed in a dark-billed baseball cap and green or yellow hooded sweatshirt.

He had left the area without being caught, police posted to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, at midday.

Cavalcante, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, was believed to be driving a 2020 white Ford Transit van with a refrigeration unit on top. The van had been reported stolen by a dairy farm, the Chester County district attorney said on Facebook.

The escapee has eluded hundreds of law enforcement officers since breaking out of the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31. Authorities said last week that he got out by scrambling up the prison yard walls, diving through barbed wire and bolting across the roof of the facility. A corrections officer who was stationed in a guard tower and did not spot the escape was fired Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In the days that Cavalcante has been on the run, authorities have used drones, helicopters and dogs to try to track him down. The search perimeter has fluctuated, including after he was believed to have been seen last week on a trail camera outside the zone officials were focused on.

Two districts with schools in the area, Kennett Consolidated School District and Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, canceled classes Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cavalcante escaped about a week after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the fatal stabbing of his 33-year-old ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao.

Prosecutors said Cavalcante, who had a history of domestic violence, stabbed his ex dozens of times in front of her two young children in August 2021. Brandao had found out that Cavalcante had a warrant for a 2017 murder in Brazil, where he was born. He killed her after she threatened to expose him to police, detectives said.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan (D) described him days after his escape as “extremely dangerous.”