Longwood Gardens to reopen this week as Danelo Cavalcante manhunt shifts north

Sep. 10—It's been a rough time for Longwood Gardens, the popular Chester County attraction that had been at the center of the manhunt for escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante.

But with the news that Cavalcante stole a vehicle and made it out of the search perimeter, the botanical landmark is finally ready to reopen.

Longwood Gardens announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it will reopen at 10 a.m. Wednesday. It has been closed for all but two days since Sept. 2, two days after Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison, as the manhunt focused on the area.

The gardens then reopened for Labor Day on Sept. 4, but later that evening, a trail camera on the property captured Cavalcante's image. The attraction remained closed the next day, Sept. 5, as it is normally closed Tuesdays. However, the next day it announced on X it would remain closed "for the safety of our guests and staff members."

The attraction briefly reopened Sept. 7 after the search for Cavalcante had appeared to move out of the area. However, it announced that night it would close again until further notice after a new sighting of Cavalcante was reported near the gardens.

It was less than a mile from the gardens where Cavalcante stole a vehicle from Baily's Dairy on Saturday night, before eventually ditching it in East Nantmeal Township in a rural area of northern Chester County, officials said at a news conference Sunday.

The world-renowned Longwood Gardens is located off Route 1 just north of Kennett Square, on land once owned by industrialist Pierre S. du Pont. It consists of 1,100 acres and includes gardens, meadows, woodlands, treehouses and fountains.

Longwood Gardens first opened to the public in 1921.