How police ultimately recaptured Danelo Cavalcante after 14 days on the run
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – After 14 days on the run and hundreds of law enforcement manpower, escaped Chester County prisoner Danelo Cavalcante has been caught. We take a look at what it took to recapture the convicted murderer.
"Today is a great day in Chester County. Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys won," Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said after Cavalcante's capture. "Our community can finally regain its normalcy and breathe a collective sigh of relief."
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Over the past two weeks, Cavalcante evaded police, breaking out of their perimeters despite several sightings. Early in the search, police broadcasted a message from Cavalcante's mother in Portuguese, urging him to surrender.
Cavalcante was seemingly able to move under the cover of night and hide during the day. During his time on the run, the escapee stole a vehicle, visited multiple acquaintances, changed his appearance and acquired essentials, like a change of clothing. He was also able to gain possession of a loaded rifle, equipped with a scope and flashlight.
How was Danelo Cavalcante ultimately caught?
Pennsylvania State Police, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the DA's office and supporting law enforcement agencies, held a press conference Wednesday morning, breaking down the events leading up to the recapture of Cavalcante. Officials said a combination of aircraft with thermal imaging, ground search and K-9s led to the successful end to the manhunt.
Shortly after midnight Wednesday, a series of events began to unfold, according to State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.
A burglar alarm on Prizer Road, near the perimeter in northern Chester County, was triggered. When investigators arrived, Cavalcante was nowhere to be found.
Bivens said tactical teams had already been searching in that area before the alarm went off but noted that this event initiated a larger presence in the area.
An aircraft with "FLIR" technology, or thermal imaging infrared cameras, was also in the area searching from above.
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Then, around 1 a.m., officials said they were able to pick up a heat signal, which they began to track west of Pottstown Pike (Route 100) and north of Prizer Road in South Coventry Township.
"It wasn't a hot rock, a deer or a fox," Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark, the supervisor of the U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force for Eastern Pennsylvania, said. "We believed we had a human image moving."
This is when tactical teams began to converge around where the heat source was moving, however, a weather system moved into the area, bringing lightning and forcing the aircraft to pull away, Bivens said.
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"Tactical teams made a decision to secure that area – that smaller area --- as best as they could and hold it through the storm and until we could bring additional resources in, and bring aircraft back overhead to ensure we did not have an issue with an escape," Bivens said.
For hours, officers held an extremely tight perimeter.
Once the storm was clear, police's efforts to advance on the location resumed and shortly after 8 a.m., law enforcement was able to quietly move in.
"They had the element of surprise. Cavalcante did not realize he was surrounded until that occurred," Bivens said.
Once Cavalcante realized he was surrounded, Bivens said he tried to make an escape by crawling through thick underbrush, carrying his rifle with him.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer then released his K-9, which subdued Cavalcante, who apparently suffered a "minor bite wound" on the scalp from the dog.
The K-9, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Yoda, is a part of the BORTAC K9 unit with the U.S. Border and Customs Patrol.
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"He continued to resist but was forcefully taken into custody," Bivens said.
The video from Chopper 3 capturing the apprehension live brought immediate relief to an exhausted Chester County.
"Thank God there were no injuries to law enforcement or the public. We, obviously, became deeply concerned after the suspect was able to steal a weapon. He was apprehended this morning with no shots fired," Shapiro said.
Medics were already on scene and were able to immediately check Cavalcante's bite wound before he was transferred to Avondale for processing and interview.
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"The public, over the last 13 days, has had a chance to see what excellence in law enforcement means," Shapiro said.
The governor also thanked the public for their assistance during the two-week manhunt, including submitting tips and their patience, as law enforcement worked around the clock to track down the escapee.
"All Pennsylvanians are indebted to you, gentlemen, for your bravery, your courage and for your leadership," Shapiro added.
How weather impacted the search
Police said a heat signal ultimately helped them pinpoint Cavalcante's location, although, it did not come without its challenges.
CBS News Philadelphia's Tammie Souza explained how the hot temperatures, as well as other weather events, impacted the search.
"Thermal imaging is brilliant and it picks up a lot of things, but it does have a few tiny constraints and some of them are: fog, extremely heavy rain, extremely heavy snow -- not light rain or light snow -- and also when you have extreme heat, like we did," Souza said.
Souza added that wind plays a role as well.
"If you get windy conditions, it can cool things off, such as body heat," she said.
For much of the two-week manhunt, a heat wave in the Philadelphia area made thermal imaging nearly useless.
Thermal imaging, or infrared thermography, is the process of using a special camera that detects heat waves being emitted from an object to convert radiation into a visible light picture, according to the Department of Homeland Security. However, thermal imaging cannot be used to look through materials that absorb radiation, such as water or glass.
"If you're going to have extreme heat, like we did, everything is going to be hot. Rocks are going to emanate heat, trees are going to emanate heat, asphalt will emanate heat -- it will be very confusing," Souza explained.
Many may ask, why not just use it at night? Well, Souza said that while this type of technology works great at night, fog is another factor that can hamper its accuracy.
"It looks for the waves to come off of something. It can't pick them up clearly and they are bounced all over the place when you have fog, which is teensy-tiny little cloud droplets -- moisture droplets -- in the air," Souza said, adding that fog was in the area during several nights of the search.
Storms also interfered with the search, as heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning moved through the Philadephia region Tuesday night. Souza said these weather factors also caused the heat waves to bounce around, making it more difficult to pinpoint and identify a source.
In the end, law enforcement was successful in apprehending Cavalcante. His escape is under investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
Cavalcante is now at the SCI Phoenix Prison in Montgomery County, where he will be for the foreseeable future as he serves out a life sentence for murder.
