A convicted killer who escaped from an eastern Pennsylvania prison nearly two weeks ago was spotted again Monday night and is now armed with a weapon, police warned, calling for nearby residents to stay indoors and lock their doors.
The latest sighting of 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante – the first one reported since Saturday – brings a heightened sense of danger as the search enters its 13th day Tuesday.
The fugitive was spotted in Chester County’s South Coventry Township, about 20 miles north of the county prison he escaped from, according to an emergency alert sent by Chester County officials Monday night to area residents via email and text message.
“Residents in the area are asked to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors,” the alert read, adding that there were reports of the fugitive in the area of Ridge, Coventryville and Daisy Point roads, “possibly armed with a weapon.”
Pennsylvania State Police later said on Facebook around 1:38 a.m. ET they were “pursuing” Cavalcante in the South Coventry Township, and that he “is armed with a weapon.” The post did not say how they knew he was armed or what kind of weapon he had.
Video from CNN affiliate WPVI shows a massive police response in the South Coventry Township overnight, with dozens of patrol cars and an armored vehicle converging on the scene.
While few details about Monday night’s sighting were immediately released, it was the first time authorities said Cavalcante might be armed – though he has repeatedly been described as dangerous.
Cavalcante was being held at Chester County Prison, in a rural area some 30 miles west of Philadelphia, following his conviction last month of first-degree murder for the killing of his former girlfriend, 33-year-old Deborah Brandão. He escaped from custody August 31, launching the dayslong manhunt.
Before Monday night, no sightings of Cavalcante had been reported since the weekend, when authorities say he slipped through a police search perimeter. Police say he stole a van, changed his appearance and showed up Saturday at the homes of people he knew years ago, more than 20 miles outside the search perimeter. He then ditched the vehicle in a field East Nantmeal Township and vanished, authorities said.
The weekend’s developments shifted the search for police, who had previously been focused on a search perimeter that included a botanical garden – just a few miles from the prison – where he was sighted multiple times.
Despite the shifting search areas, all reported sightings of Cavalcante so far have happened in Chester County.
On Saturday evening, Cavalcante appeared at the East Pikeland Township home of an acquaintance he’d known several years ago, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said said in a Sunday news conference.
He spoke with the acquaintance on a Ring doorbell camera, which captured his new clean-shaven look, but the person wasn’t home and did not respond to meet Cavalcante, Bivens said.
Cavalcante then tried to contact another acquaintance in the nearby Phoenixville area. That person was also not home but called police after a female resident saw the escaped inmate, according to Bivens.
“He needs additional help. He needs resources for the long run, and he is seeking those,” Bivens said in a news conference Monday afternoon.
While Cavalcante has so far managed to evade the hundreds of officers looking for him, police have said they don’t believe he’ll be able to cross state lines.
“I don’t believe he has the resources to get out of Pennsylvania,” Bivens said.
How Cavalcante has managed to stay on the run so long
Cavalcante left the prison by “crab-walking” between two walls, scaling a fence and traversing across razor wire and heading into the forest.
Despite several sightings…