Here’s the latest on the escaped Pennsylvania inmate: NPR

A convicted murderer who sparked a massive manhunt in Pennsylvania has brazenly escaped from a jail yard outside Philadelphia by scaling a side wall, scrambling over barbed wire and jumping from a roof, authorities said Wednesday.

Danelo Cavalcante, a 34-year-old man who killed his ex-girlfriend, escaped from Chester County Jail last Thursday, sparking a massive manhunt and stressing communities in eastern Pennsylvania .

Here is the latest.

What does the video show?

Police released the security video at a press conference on Wednesday as the manhunt entered its seventh day.

Cavalcante is seen standing in a passageway in a prison yard, checking out his surroundings before placing his hands on the wall, then kicking his feet back to begin moving perpendicular. After seven seconds, he disappears from the camera’s field of view.

Howard Holland, acting warden of Chester County Jail, said the jail was fully equipped at the time of Cavalcante’s escape, but the escape was not detected for more than an hour, when a count of prisoners at the end of an exercise period.

A tower guard who was on duty at the time was furloughed as part of the investigation.

Did the prison know this was a possible escape route?

The route was the same one used by another prisoner to escape in May, according to Holland. But in this case, a tower guard raised the alarm and the inmate was released minutes later.

Holland said the prison added barbed wire to the area after a consultant reviewed details of the first escape.

“What may have been overlooked is the fact that the single-point treatment of physical countermeasures should have been bolstered by additional means,” Holland said Wednesday. “We’re tackling that.”

The prison is also considering installing cages at the top of the yard and hiring more guards to oversee playtime.

What’s going on with research?

A manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement officers, drones, helicopters and K-9 units has developed since Cavalcante’s disappearance.

Cavalcante has been spotted six times since his escape, most recently Tuesday night when he disappeared into the woods behind a residential neighborhood.

The night before, a trail camera had twice caught him walking through Longwood Gardens, a botanical center about three miles from the jail. At the time, he was wearing a duffel bag and a hoodie.

Police believe Cavalcante may have entered the home of Pocopson, Pennsylvania resident Ryan Drummond on Friday night.

Drummond, who said his wife and children were trying to juggle a busy life between work and school, said the French doors to his house had a broken lock and Cavalcante may have overheard a conversation about this lock as the family checked the doors that evening.

The intruder walked away with “a peach, an apple, maybe a few snow peas” as well as a white hat which were all left on a kitchen counter, Drummond told The Associated Press. The hat was later found in a neighbour’s garden.

Authorities sent reverse 9-1-1 alert calls to residents as recently as Wednesday, and are still asking residents to keep their homes locked and be on the lookout for cars, bikes or means of transport. missing transport.

A combination of thick brush and scorching temperatures complicated the search, according to NPR member station WHYY. Excessive heat rendered thermal imaging cameras inoperable and led to the hospitalization of a tactical search dog.

Police are currently focused on the area surrounding the Pocopson County Jail in the township, about 25 miles west of Philadelphia.

Two area school districts closed earlier this week, but began reopening some schools on Thursday, with special escorts for students riding buses in and out of search areas.

The reward is now $20,000 for information leading to his arrest, WHYY reported.

Who is Danelo Cavalcante?

Cavalcante was awaiting transfer to a state prison where he would serve a life sentence. He was convicted of homicide last month for killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandão, in front of his children in 2021.

Prosecutors said he killed Brandão to prevent him from telling police he was wanted for a 2017 murder in his native Brazil.

He was captured for the Brandão murder in Virginia. Authorities said he was trying to return to Brazil.

Cavalcante’s homeland has watched the unfolding manhunt with intense fascination. Rio de Janeiro’s main newspaper published a lengthy article on the manhunt on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.. The article was headlined “Dangerous Hide and Seek”.