Convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante’s sister has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as authorities say the escaped murderer has tried to contact former co-workers a week and a half after breaking out of a Chester County prison.
Eleni Cavalcante faces possible deportation over "some immigration issues," Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said Sunday during a news conference, though he didn’t say if she was arrested for helping Cavalcante elude police capture.
On Saturday night, Cavalcante slipped through a police perimeter around the Longwood Gardens botanical park, changed his appearance, and stole a dairy delivery van. He drove more than 20 miles to East Pikeland Township and Phoenixville, where he sought help from two former co-workers.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday he went to an East Pikeland Township home of a person he had worked with several years ago and asked to meet with him, police said. The homeowner, who was at dinner with his family and did not respond, called police after returning home and reviewing his doorbell video.
Cavalcante then traveled to Phoenixville shortly after 10 p.m., where police said he went to the home of another former work associate, who also was not home.
A clean-shaven Cavalcante was captured on a doorbell, which showed him wearing a yellow or green hooded sweatshirt, black baseball cap, green prison pants, and white shoes, according to state police.
The stolen van, a white Ford Transit, was found at 10:40 a.m. Sunday in a field behind a barn in East Nantmeal Township, about 15 miles west of Phoenixville, investigators said.
Bivens said he believed Cavalcante abandoned the vehicle at least in part because it was low on fuel.
Law enforcement was searching the immediate area for any signs of Cavalcante, though authorities were concerned that he would attempt to steal another vehicle or had already done so.
"I do not have a report of a stolen vehicle; I anticipate that we will," Bivens said.
FAMILY OF ESCAPED MURDERER'S VICTIM RECEIVING 24/7 PROTECTION AS PENNSYLVANIA MANHUNT CONTINUES
Bivens vowed to "aggressively continue" the search with the aid of federal, state, county and local resources, calling the situation "a minor setback."
"We’ll get him, it’s a matter of time," Bivens said.
Cavalcante was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison. He is originally from Brazil, where he is also wanted for homicide, and is allegedly in the United States illegally.
Cavalcante escaped from the Chester County Prison on the morning of Aug. 31. Cavalcante was seen on surveillance video crab-walking a wall in the exercise yard. He then went on to push through razor wire, run across the roof, scale another fence, and push through more razor wire before leaving the prison.
Fox News Digital confirmed on Friday that the prison guard assigned to the watchtower at the time of Cavalcante’s escape was fired on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
