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DEA has released infrared video that led to Danilo Cavalcante’s capture

The video from early Wednesday led to convicted murder's capture that morning.

Surveillance footage shows thermal imaging that led to Danelo Cavalcante's capture
Surveillance footage shows thermal imaging that led to Danelo Cavalcante's captureRead moreCourtesy of DEA

The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday released video from a thermal imaging camera that led to Danilo Cavalcante’s capture Wednesday after the convicted murderer evaded police for more than two weeks.

In the grainy 17-second video, shot from a DEA airplane, Cavalcante appears as a white splotch moving through a wooded area. A DEA spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking more details about the footage.

Thermal imaging works by picking up heat that bodies emit and then coverts that radiation into visible light. The DEA aircraft picked up Cavalcante’s heat signal around 1 a.m. Wednesday in South Coventry Township, west of Route 100.

After Cavalcante had survived for two weeks on watermelon and creek water, law enforcement officers, with the help of a dog from a customs and border-patrol team, captured the fugitive at 8:18 a.m. Wednesday.