Two weeks of intensive operations passed, but US authorities finally confirmed the arrest of Danelo Cavalcante (34).
The Brazilian escaped from the Chester County Jail in West Chester, Pennsylvania on the morning of August 31st.
A week before this event, he had been sentenced to life in prison without parole for stabbing his ex-partner Deborah Brandao to death in front of their two small children, just four and seven years old.
The crime in question occurred in 2021. However, the police in his country were previously looking for him for his alleged involvement in another murder that occurred in Brazil in 2017.
The operation involved everything from drones and helicopters to trained dogs, as Cavalcante is described as an “extremely dangerous” criminal.
In addition, techniques such as publicly broadcasting an audio recording of his mother calling on him to surrender peacefully were used.
The whole conspiracy, in which he was even filmed by surveillance cameras without any further conclusions being drawn about his whereabouts, came to an end.
On the morning of this Wednesday, a group of state and federal security forces found the Brazilian with a stolen .22 caliber rifle in a wooded area in South Coventry Township.
They arrived after a burglar alarm went off around midnight.
Cavalcante tried to escape by crawling through the undergrowth, but one of the police dogs was faster, went straight for him and then bit him on the scalp.
That was enough for them to reduce it without any shots being fired, the agents assured in statements rescued by CNN en Español.
“Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys have won,” District Attorney Deb Ryan said after his arrest.
The criminal received the gun on Monday night after robbing a local resident’s garage. When the man realized this situation, he shot him several times while the Brazilian fled.
Although the bullets from his pistol did not hit him, this scene was crucial to the later determination of his whereabouts.
Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, a DEA aircraft involved in the investigation detected a heat signal. However, although the agents went to the area to see what was going on, the planes had to be withdrawn due to weather conditions caused by a storm.
After the most intense phase was over, officials visited the sector, which was already surrounded by troops. There they found Cavalcante.
“I was desperate and it was just a matter of time,” Pennsylvania Gov. John Shapiro said while confirming from Chester County at 8:18 a.m. that they had arrested him.
Then an alarm was given to the residents of the area: “The search for Danelo Cavalcante is over.”
