Madalina Cojocari was 11 years old when she went missing from Cornelius, North Carolina on 21st November 2022. Madalina was last seen on surveillance footage getting off a school bus at 4:59pm. Her mother and stepfather claimed to have seen her two days later at home, but authorities have been unable to verify this.
After this date, Madalina began missing school, which led to the school attempting to contact her mother, Diana Cojocari.
Diana eventually went to the school on 15th December to tell a school resource officer that her daughter was missing. The school contacted law enforcement immediately, and they began investigating Madalina's disappearance.
It took Madalina's parents three weeks to tell anyone she was missing.
Two days after reporting Madalina missing, on 17th December, Diana and Madalina's stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arrested and charged with one count of failing to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement. Both have maintained their innocence and insist they do not know what happened to Madalina.
Diana said she discovered Madalina missing on 24th November, and that her book bag and some clothes were missing too. When Christopher returned home, she waited until the 26th to ask him if he knew where Madalina was. (Christopher had allegedly traveled to his family's home in Michigan on 23rd November after an argument with Diana).
When Diana was asked why she did not report her child missing sooner, she said that she was worried it might start a conflict between her and Christopher.
Diana stated she believed her husband had "put her family in danger" but it is not clear what she meant by this.
In the three weeks Madalina was missing, Diana took a trip up to the mountains of North Carolina. There were also text messages on 2nd December showing that Diana was in the presence of Madalina.
On 16th December, surveillance cameras showed a girl and a man, which looked like Madalina and her only known blood relative who resided in the US, in Sugar Mountain and Lowe's Foods in Linville.
Search warrants also reveal that Diana had asked a distant relative if they would help smuggle her and Madalina away because they needed to escape her “bad relationship".
Age at time of disappearance: 11
Age Now: 12
Missing for: 9 months
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 4'10" Weight: 90lbs
Cornelius Police Department: 704-892-1363
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