Can you imagine your child going missing for over three weeks — and not reaching out to police in all that time?!
6th grader Madalina Cojocari was last seen in late November. However, the 11-year-old wasn’t reported missing until 22 days later! And even then, it wasn’t to the police — by her stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, told her school! According to a statement from Cornelius Police Department on Friday:
“The parents of the juvenile reported the juvenile missing to the Bailey Middle School SRO where the juvenile attends school. The juvenile was last seen at home, on the evening of November 23, 2022, and has not been seen since.”
Madalina was last seen at her home in North Carolina and as soon as her school was notified of her disappearance, the CPD got to work. Eventually the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI got involved in the search for the missing girl — and quickly they raised eyebrows at how Palmiter, 60, and the girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 37, failed to report her missing for so long.
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According to police records the parents were arrested on Saturday on charges of failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement. Jail records show they’re being held at Mecklenburg County Detention Center; it’s unclear if they’ve entered a plea, but both of them are due in court early this week. North Carolina law states guardians must report a child within a “reasonable time” — 22 days being much too long to be considered reasonable. If you’ll recall, Casey Anthony didn’t report her daughter Caylee missing for 31 days…
The investigation into the 11-year-old’s disappearance is ongoing. Disturbingly, the FBI decided to search a nearby lake as a “precautionary measure” according to their Twitter:
“As part of the normal investigative process, we are expanding our search to include Lake Cornelius as a precautionary measure. There’s nothing we won’t do to #FindMadalina.”
See their full statement (below):
The @CorneliusPD, #FBI, & @SBI1937 are developing & following many leads to #FindMadalina. As part of the normal investigative process, we are expanding our search to include Lake Cornelius as a precautionary measure. There’s nothing we won’t do to #FindMadalina. pic.twitter.com/xTWKwkDa7v
— FBI Charlotte (@FBICharlotte) December 19, 2022
So scary…
Police reported they’re trying to piece together an “exact timeline of when she was last seen” as well as working with the FBI and NCSBI to speak with everyone who may have info on the child’s disappearance. The official missing persons site says Madalina was last seen about 20 miles outside of Charlotte wearing “jeans, a white t-shirt and jacket, and pink, purple, and white Adidas shoes”.
You can see a recent photo of Madalina (below):
The CPD urge anyone with any information on the girl to contact them at (704) 892-7773 or send a tip to a local FBI office. We’re sending her loved ones light and we hope she’s found safe very soon.
[Image via WCNC/YouTube/FBI]
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