Two school districts in Pennsylvania canceled classes on Tuesday as troopers searched by land and air for a convicted murderer who was spotted near residential areas after escaping from a prison near Philadelphia last week, the authorities said.
The fugitive, Danelo Cavalcante, 34, a Brazilian national, fled from the Chester County Prison on Thursday, days after he was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder in the April 2021 killing of his former girlfriend, whom the authorities said he stabbed 38 times in front of her two children.
On Tuesday, investigators said they had expanded the search for Mr. Cavalcante because of several sightings just miles from the prison in Pocopson Township, adding that a reverse 911 call had been made to residents within a three-mile radius early on Tuesday.
Police cars and helicopters were also playing a message with the voice of Mr. Cavalcante’s mother urging him in his native Portuguese to surrender peacefully, the authorities said on Monday.
Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said at a news conference on Tuesday that one of the sightings of Mr. Cavalcante was probably on Monday evening, when a trail camera picked up a man walking on a property at Longwood Gardens, less than three miles south of the prison.
Persons:
Danelo Cavalcante, Cavalcante’s, George Bivens, Cavalcante
Organizations:
. Police, Pennsylvania State Police
Locations:
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Brazilian, Chester, Pocopson Township, Portuguese, Longwood