Following a manhunt with details that appear to be straight out of a Hollywood thriller, Danelo Cavalcante, convicted for the murder of his girlfriend in 2021, was nabbed by Pennsylvania State Police, US, on Wednesday.
The dramatic capture of the murder convict was completed after a plane fitted with a thermal imaging camera picked up his heat signals allowing teams on the ground to secure the area and launch the hunt with search dogs.
Mr Cavalcante was sleeping when police found him, lying on top of a rifle he had stolen from a nearby resident late Monday night. Surrounded on the ground, the fugitive tried to escape by crawling through an underbrush, but the search dog subdued him. The 34-year-old suffered minor wounds on his thighs and was also bitten by the dog on the scalp. Luckily, no gunshots were fired in the process.
The Prison Break
Danelo Cavalcante was among the 1,000 men locked up at Chester County Prison, a suburban facility nearly 50 km west of Philadelphia. In late August, he was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend Deborah Brandao in front of her children in April 2021. Mr Cavalcante was arrested for the killing in Virginia while attempting to escape Brazil, his native country, via Mexico.
On the morning of August 31, Mr Cavalcante's escape from the prison was captured on surveillance footage showing him crab-walking out between a pair of parallel walls up to the roof, where he then slipped through razor wire and fled the compound. The prison authorities did not realise the escape until an hour later.
After escaping the prison on August 31, the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance and stole a van and rifle while on the run for over 2 weeks.
Police alerted local residents warning them of the danger and advising people to lock their doors. The panic even led to some schools and businesses being closed.