Mother of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari says husband put family in danger

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The mother of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari has claimed that her husband “put her family in danger” as investigators descended on the girl’s home in North Carolina after discovering a secret area boarded up with plywood.

Madalina was last seen on 21 November when surveillance footage captured her getting off a school bus at her home in Cornelius, North Carolina.

More than three weeks passed before her mother finally reported her missing to a school resource officer at Bailey Middle School on 15 December.

School officials then alerted law enforcement, sparking a huge manhunt to find the 11-year-old.

One week into the search and the young girl’s whereabouts are still unknown. Her mother and stepfather are behind bars – each charged with failing to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement.

Court records, obtained by WBTV, reveal that Madalina’s mother Diana Cojocari told investigators that she believed her husband and Madalina’s stepfather Christopher Palmiter “put her family in danger”.

It is not clear why she thought this but she has insisted that she does not know what happened to her daughter.

She said that Madalina does not have a phone or any friends or family she could be with and that a bookbag and some of her clothes had gone missing from their family home, according to the probable cause document.

The girl’s mother also told investigators that family members in Moldova had urged her to call the police about her daughter’s disappearance, but she hesitated to do so. Instead, she failed to report her missing for a staggering 22 days.

One month after the last confirmed sighting of the 11-year-old, the Cornelius Police, the FBI and the SBI are desperately trying to find out what happened to her.

On Wednesday evening, a heavy police presence was spotted returning to the girl’s home to carry out a second search. Investigators previously searched the address last weekend and were seen digging up the backyard.

Inside the home, officials had found an area in the kitchen blocked off with plywood, according to the documents.

When asked about it, Mr Palmiter allegedly told investigators that he had been planning to make a separate apartment in the space.

It is unclear if the search teams removed the boards and scoured that particular area of the property.

Investigators have also focused their attention on nearby Lake Cornelius.

The FBI’s Charlotte field office said in a social media post on Monday that the search of the water was a “precautionary measure” and was simply “part of the normal investigative process”.

Investigators released surveillance footage on Tuesday, showing Madalina’s last known movements.

In the footage, the sixth grader is seen dressed in a plain t-shirt and a backpack as she walks down the aisle of her school bus on 21 November. The young girl is fixing her necklace and hair as she walks.

Police said that Madalina got off the bus at her stop at 4.59pm, marking the last time investigators have independent confirmation of when she was last seen.

Ms Cojocari, 37, and Mr Palmiter, 60, claim they saw her two days later on 23 November. Investigators have been unable to verify this claim.

“We are seeking additional witnesses outside of the family to narrow down the exact timeline of when she disappeared,” Cornelius Police said. “As previously released, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School employees contacted Diana Cojocari on several occasions to inquire about Madalina being absent from school. After repeated contact, Diana Cojocari went to Bailey Middle School on December 15, 2022, and reported to the School Resource Officer, Madalina was missing.”

On 17 December, Ms Cojocari and Mr Palmiter were arrested and charged with one count of failing to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement.

Both suspects are being held at Mecklenburg County Detention Center.

A neighbour told local outlet WCCB that the young girl’s disappearance has shocked the neighbourhood.

“I’ve lived here my whole life so I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sydney Capps. “It’s odd that it seems like she went missing back in November, and it’s just now being reported.”

Madalina was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes, and a white t-shirt and jacket.

She is described as having brown hair and brown eyes, being 4 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing around 90 pounds.

Anyone with information about Madalina’s whereabouts is asked to call the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773.