Ramona Shekhar
Editor-in-Chief

U.S. Customs and Border Protection tactical agents captured 34-year-old escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante, ending the 14-day manhunt on Sept. 14, according to Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens. The Chester County prison escapee’s flight that had made national news ended in South Coventry Township as officers took him into custody.
This two-week manhunt fostered anxiety and apprehension among numerous areas within the community, pressuring many regional school districts to close. In Spring-Ford, after-school activities, such as sports practices and games, were either postponed or moved indoors on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
“I was nervous for my friends,” recounts junior Jack Miscavage. “I have a lot of friends that are in Phoenixville and Owen J. Roberts. I kept in contact with them throughout all of this.”
Within his first week of escape, Cavalcante had changed his appearance by shaving his head with a razor he had found in a stolen backpack, while also driving 25 miles in a stolen van, eventually abandoning it.
After roaming the outskirts of suburban towns and forests of Chester County, Cavalcante was taken by surprise with the help of a search dog and a heat-sensing aircraft, ending the intense search that gripped local residents with fear and pressed hundreds of authorities to scour the region.
The tactical team composed of 20-to-25 law enforcement officers found Cavalcante lying in an underbrush, soaked and grimy. He was reported to be armed with a .22-caliber rifle that he allegedly stole from a local garage. Yoda, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, was subsequently released and subdued the crawling fugitive by wounding his scalp.
“Cavalcante did resist arrest but was ultimately forcibly taken into custody,” the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. “No one was injured during the arrest. Cavalcante did sustain a minor bite wound from the search canine, and medical personnel at the scene were able to examine him for any injuries. After being taken into custody, Cavalcante was transported to the Pennsylvania State Police Avondale Barracks for further processing and interviewing. Cavalcante will be transferred to a State Correctional Facility, where he will be housed and will begin to serve his life sentence.”
Prior to his escape, he was sentenced to serve a lifetime sentence in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend.