Charlotte, NC – Mother of One Missing North Carolina girl He was charged in connection with his disappearance, convicted, released from prison, and then fled the United States within a two-year period.
Madalina Cojocari was last seen getting off a school bus in her hometown Cornelius, just north of CharlotteOn November 21, 2022, when she was 11 years old. Madalina’s mother and stepfather did not report her missing until December 15, 2022, even though they told police that they last saw their daughter at home on the evening of November 23, 2022.
Cornelius Police Department Chief David Baucom told Fox News Digital, “It never crosses my mind. And I feel comfortable saying that’s the same way for all the detectives and all the people who put so much time into this case.” Is.” “There were times at the beginning of the investigation where some of us didn’t go home for 48 hours because we were working so hard on the case and chasing leads and everything else. Of course, that’s only sustainable for any person. ” For so long. But…she never leaves our minds.”
Madalena’s mother Diana Cojocari and her stepfather Christopher Palmiter were arrested in 2022 on charges of failure to report a missing child.
What happens after Madalena Cojocari’s mother’s guilty plea?
Madalina Cojocari was last seen on November 21, 2022 in Cornelius, NC. (Google Maps/Charlotte FBI)
Diana pleaded guilty in May and argued that the time he had spent in prison up to that point was sufficient time.
Mecklenburg County jury finds Palmiter guilty Failure to report a missing child to law enforcement on May 31 after a week-long hearing, and he was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation.
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Authorities released Diana from prison at the same time, and neighbors reported seeing her back in her quiet, suburban neighborhood in early June. Baucom said that he and Palmiter were “never really living together” after his release from prison, but Diana showed up in early June at the house where they previously lived.
The poster shows Madalina Cojocari, who has not been seen since getting off a school bus in November 2022. (Cornelius Police Department)
In late June, Cornelius police named Diana Prime suspect Madalina’s disappearance, but by that time she had already left the United States, possibly for Moldova.
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“We… are unable to confirm that she is in Moldova. But our assumption is that she has returned to her country.”
Baucom said, “And then he eventually left the country. I don’t know the exact date he left the country.” He later said that there were no restrictions that would prevent him from fleeing the United States.
Madalina Cojocari was last seen in November 2022. (Cornelius Police Department)
Baucom said that when Diana was initially arrested in 2022, “she was charged and served time on the only charge that we could sustain during the early part of the investigation.”
Police managed to contact Diana, while she was still in Cornelius after her release, but authorities have since been unable to determine her exact whereabouts and have reached out to federal authorities for help locating her abroad.
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Authorities arrested and charged Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter with failure to report a missing child to law enforcement after Madalina Cojocari disappeared from her hometown of Cornelius, NC in November 2022. (Mecklenburg County Detention Center)
“We have made that request, but we have not received any response as to whether it has been completed yet,” the police chief said of the Cornelius Police Department’s request to federal authorities.
Diana was in America on a green card. In May, Palmiter filed for divorce against his estranged wife.
When Baucom was asked whether Diana’s decision to leave the country would hinder efforts to find Madalina, he said, “It’s unfortunate that she went back to Moldova, but our case here is still ongoing, and we We will continue to investigate.” Turned 13 years old today. “Although this investigation has been complicated from the beginning… with us being three weeks behind from the start, it certainly doesn’t make our investigation any easier with him not being here. But it doesn’t change what we’re doing.” We will continue the investigation.”
madalina cojocari (Cornelius Police Department)
Based on their investigation so far, Cornelius police do not believe Madalena ever left the United States, although they are not ruling out either possibility.
“It’s still a very active case. We still meet regularly on it. We have a detective. So it’s by no means cold Case, And I just want to make sure that the community and really anyone who sees this … (knows) our goal is to find Madalena,” Baucom said.
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Cornelius, NC, residents say they saw Diana Cojocari at a neighborhood pool and walking around town before she left town. (Facebook user)
Diana told school officials and Cornelius police that she has not seen her daughter, a sixth-grader at Bailey Middle School, who was born in Moldova, since she and her husband were found around 10 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2022. After meeting Palmiter, she went to her bedroom. In one argument, court documents state.
Palmiter said that on November 24, 2022, he drove to his relatives’ home in Michigan “to pick up some stuff” after an argument with his wife. According to the affidavit, Diana apparently went to her daughter’s room around 11:30 that morning and discovered that the 11-year-old was missing.
WATCH: Madalena last seen getting off school bus in 2022
When Palmiter returned to Cornelius’ home on 26 November, Diana apparently asked him where their daughter was. Palmiter, in turn, asked her the same question, the affidavit says.
Police did not learn of Madalina’s disappearance until the 11-year-old was reported truant from her middle school.
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Madalina Cojocari was caught on camera getting off a school bus at 5 pm on November 21, 2022. (Twitter/@FBICharlotte)
Bailey Middle School resource officers, along with a school counselor, attempted to conduct a home visit to the Cojocari address on December 12 after Madalina had not attended school since November 21. No one opened the door, and the school counselor disappeared. Package at home.
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According to phone records obtained by the Cornelius Police Department, search warrants obtained last year show that Diana and her mother contacted a distant relative asking if he could bring Diana and Madalina to their Cornelius home before Madalina disappeared. Will help in “smuggling” from.
Officials are asking anyone with information about Madalena’s whereabouts to contact CPD at 704-892-7773.
