Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante seen near Phoenixville, Pa. state police say

KENNETT — Overnight, state police said Cavalcante was seen in the northern Chester County area near Phoenixville, about 2 miles from where he murdered Deborah Brandao in 2021.

“He changed his appearance. He is clean shaven and last seen wearing a yellow or green hooded sweatshirt, black baseball style hat, green prison pants, and white shoes,” said Trooper Michael J. Carter Jr., spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police.

“He is operating an unknown vehicle — possibly white,” he said.

If anyone has any information regarding this update, call 911 or call the Tip Line at 717-562-2987, he said.

Concurrently, a pre-dawn reverse 911 call urged residents in Chester County to check and see if any of their vehicles were missing.

Nearly 400 members of law enforcement, from state troopers to U.S. Marshals, were searching for Cavalcante over the weekend, and there were two confirmed sightings of the fugitive near Longwood Gardens on Friday.

In August, Cavalcante, 34, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Deborah Brandao, his former partner, whom he killed in April 2021. She was 33.

Cavalcante stabbed Brandao 37 times outside her home in Schuylkill Township, before her son and daughter. Her children survived.

“Law enforcement is working around the clock to bring this man to justice,” said Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan while speaking to the Daily Local in East Marlborough on Friday.

Brandao’s family is being protected by a security detail, the district attorney confirmed.

“They’re terrified,” she said on Thursday.

On Saturday ,  Cavalcante was still believed to be within the approximately 10-square-mile police perimeter that had been set up around the vicinity of Longwood Gardens over the last 11 days. State police expanded its presence westward along North Walnut Road late Thursday, with patrol vehicles stationed about a mile shy from the Kennett Square Borough.