The manhunt for fugitive killer Danelo Cavalcante is finally over; a police dog captures him

America held its breath for two weeks as fugitive Brazilian killer Danelo Cavalcante evaded drones, helicopters, and law enforcement from the FBI to Border Patrol, only to be trapped Wednesday by a police dog, which restrained him with only a “minor bite wound.” In photographs seen on US media, the small Cavalcante was surrounded by hundreds of officers dressed in military-style gear, blood flowing down his face, and wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweater that he had presumably stolen during his days on the run.

At a news conference, Pennsylvania state police announced the facts of his arrest after he was apprehended in deep underbrush by the K9 unit in rural Pennsylvania, where he had spent days evading law enforcement. “Last night, shortly after midnight, a series of events started to unfold,” Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens told reporters in Chester County. A burglar alarm went off within a police cordon, catching the attention of law enforcement, and an aircraft picked up a heat signal in the woods, according to Bivens.

Cavalcante had just begun his sentence for murdering his fiancée — stabbing her hundreds of times in front of her children

With a storm brewing overhead, the aircraft was forced to return, but police closed in on their objective the next morning. “They had a sense of surprise. Cavalcante was unaware he was surrounded, according to Bivens. According to Bivens, the 34-year-old still refused to submit and attempted to crawl away through heavy underbrush while clutching a stolen gun. Law enforcement then deployed their K9 squad, which “subdued him and team members… moved in.” “He continued to resist but was forcibly detained,” Bivens claimed. As police closed in, one eyewitness reported a burst of energy.

“We basically just saw them storming, checking the tree lines, checking the stream, and out of nowhere, everybody started to congregate back by the shed, and here they were already bringing him out,” store manager Jim Martin told NBC Philadelphia. On CNN, highly armed officers in camouflage handcuffed the Brazilian citizen and removed his shirt, displaying a big tattoo on his back, before depositing him in the back of a police truck. Cavalcante had just begun his sentence for murdering his fiancée — stabbing her hundreds of times in front of her children — when he climbed over the prison wall and cleared two razor-wire fences on August 31.

Cavalcante, who stands only five feet (1.52 meters) tall, raised the stakes on Tuesday by breaking into a private garage and stealing a 22 caliber rifle with a scope, then fleeing by evading pistol bullets from the pursuing homeowner. According to police, he was “armed and extremely dangerous.” One of the first calls made after Cavalcante’s capture, according to Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan, was to his victim’s family, “who as you can imagine have been living in a complete nightmare.” “They can now finally sleep again,” she adds.

Pennsylvania authorities were in celebratory mode, a large group of officers in camouflage even bunching up for a victory photo around him

Police have long tried to pinpoint the fugitive’s whereabouts in the densely forested area. Cavalcante, on the other hand, appeared regularly on private security cameras and even trail cams used to monitor wildlife, turning his ordeal into a type of sad reality TV show. He found clothes, food, a firearm, and a van, and even managed to get shaven while stealing from houses. During the press conference on Wednesday, police stated that they would replace the Eagles hoodie for whoever Cavalcante allegedly took it from. Following the weapon theft on Tuesday, authorities set up barricades in the remote roads surrounding Bucktown, Pennsylvania, where elite SWAT officers and armored vehicles were also deployed. In addition to bombarding the search zone with warning messages, a decision was made.

But Pennsylvania authorities were in celebratory mode, a large group of officers in camouflage even bunching up for a victory photo around the handcuffed Cavalcante. “Our nightmare is finally over and the good guys won,” Ryan told the press conference. In response to criticism that the police were ineffective in their manhunt, Bivens referred to Cavalcante as the “proverbial needle in a haystack.” The director of Lundale Farm, which is located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Philadelphia, stated that cops were “walking through our property, walking through the woods.” 

She described the surroundings as having “trees, creeks, bridges, and all kinds of corners (where) you could sneak around.” “It’s been very stressful.” The prize for information leading to Cavalcante’s location had been increased from $20,000 to $25,000. Cavalcante is also wanted for murder in Brazil, where his name is properly spelt Danilo Souza Cavalcante. It was unclear whether the recently recaptured felon will face fresh charges in the United States.