PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Danilo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison on Aug. 31 — one week after being sentenced to life in prison without parole for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend.
For two weeks, neighbors in a quiet and mostly rural suburban county west of Philadelphia were put on high alert. With each day came reports of residents catching sight of the 34-year-old fugitive, and news of break-ins as he took food, clothing, a van, and a rifle.
They had little choice but to wait and hope for good news when Pennsylvania State Police took the lead in a massive manhunt, which included thermal imaging technology, drones, helicopters, dogs, and hundreds of personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, ATF, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, and municipal partners in Chester, Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks counties.
The search team even had the recorded voice of Cavalcante’s mother in their toolbox.
How did a late-night cigarette break tip authorities off to the whereabouts of the escaped killer? How did a dog named Yoda help detain him? And, moving forward, can the public be reassured that an escape like this will never happen again?
KYW Newsradio's Suburban Bureau Chief Jim Melwert covered the search from beginning to end. He joins KYW’s Brian Seltzer and Phil Casey to empty his notebook from a wild story.