It’s been 18 months since 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari was last seen returning home from a day of school.
But for one of those months, no one was even looking for her.
Last month she turned 13 years old – without anyone knowing where she was, what she was doing or if she could even celebrate.
The sixth-grader’s mother and stepfather have been behind bars in North Carolina for more than a year. On May 20, 2024, her mother Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for failing to report her missing. Meanwhile, Madalina’s stepfather Christopher Palmiter began his trial on May 21 after pleading not guilty to the same crime.
But it’s still unclear what happened to the high school student. Theories about what may have happened to her – outlined in recent court documents – are chilling, to say the least.
Was she taken to the mountains of North Carolina? Was she sold by her stepfather? Has she been placed in the care of a family member?
The answer is still a mystery.
One thing the police in Cornelius, North Carolina do know is that someone – especially her parents – knows more than they’re letting on.
“This is a serious case of a child whose parents are clearly not telling us everything they know,” Cornelius Police Chief Jennifer Thompson said in a video statement in January.
Reported missing
Madalina was last seen on November 21, 2022 when surveillance footage captured her getting off a school bus at her home in Cornelius.
Her mother, Ms. Cojocari, and stepfather, Mr. Palmiter, claim they saw her at their home two days later. Police have not been able to verify this claim.
Over the next three weeks, Bailey Middle School staff contacted her mother, Mrs. Cojocari, to inquire about Madalina’s whereabouts when she failed to show up at school.
Finally, on December 15, 2022, Ms. Cojocari went to the school and told a school employee that her daughter was missing.
Last known sighting
Cornelius police said the last confirmed sighting of Madalina was on Friday, November 21, 2022, when she got off her school bus at the stop near her home.
The footage released by authorities shows the sixth-grader walking down the aisle of the bus and getting off at 4:59 p.m.
“This is the last time we have independent confirmation of when she was last seen,” Cornelius police said.
Arrests of parents and versions of events
On December 17, 2022 – two days after she was officially reported missing – Madalina’s mother and stepfather were arrested and charged with failing to report the disappearance of a child to police.
Ms. Cojocari has been in jail since 2022 under a $250,000 bond. Meanwhile, Mr. Palmiter was released from jail in August after posting $25,000 bail.
Since their arrest, both have continued to insist they do not know where the 11-year-old went.
Both claim to have last seen Madalina on November 23, 2022.
Court documents obtained by WBTV reveal that Madalina’s mother told investigators that she last saw her daughter around 10 p.m. on November 23 when Madalina went to her room to go to bed.
Mrs. Cojocari claims she and her husband got into an argument that evening and he drove to his family’s home in Michigan the next morning, according to the arrest warrant.
When she then went to check on her daughter at around 11:30 am on November 24, 2022, Ms Cojocari claims she was missing.
The arrest warrant states that Ms. Cojocari told investigators that she then waited for Mr. Palmiter to return home on Nov. 26, 2022, to ask if he knew where Madalina was.
When asked why she did not report her daughter missing before mid-December 2022, she said “she was concerned that there could be a ‘conflict’ between her and Christopher,” according to the warrant.
The documents also show that Mrs. Cojocari said she believed her husband had “put her family in danger.”
Meanwhile, Mr Palmiter also told investigators he does not know what happened to his stepdaughter. He claims that he returned from his three-day trip and his wife asked where Madalina was.
He claims he spoke to Ms Cojocari “several times” over the next three weeks[s] about Madalina’s whereabouts[s] … and both stated that they did not know where she was, but that they had not contacted the police to report Madalina missing.”
Mountain tour and possible sightings
Investigators believe Madalina’s mother took a trip to the North Carolina mountains during the three-week period she said her daughter was missing, but she did not report her disappearance.
Search warrants, released in July, state that on December 2, 2022, Ms. Cojocari sent a text message indicating that “she was in the presence of the missing child.”
The next day, she was seen at a gas station in Hickory changing the oil in her vehicle. The car attendant told investigators they saw children’s toys in the car, but no sign of a child.
A day later, Ms. Cojocari then allegedly drove to the mountains of North Carolina “claiming to be looking for Madalina,” according to the documents.
Less than two weeks later – on December 16, 2022 – surveillance photos captured a girl and a man together in Sugar Mountain.
The documents say the pair were “physically consistent with” Madalina and her “only known blood relative” in the US. They were also seen together at Lowe’s Foods in Linville, the arrest warrants say.
Search warrants show that Ms. Cojocari asked a distant relative to help “smuggle” her and Madalina away because they needed to get away from her “bad relationship” with Mr. Palmiter.
Court documents obtained by local WCNC in May 2024 show that law enforcement officials also spoke with Ms. Cojocari’s cousin, who said Madalina and her mother were having problems with a third party unrelated to Mr. Palmiter.
Ms. Cojocari wanted to flee the country with her daughter after plans to stay with Mr. Palmiter’s extended family fell through, Ms. Cojocari’s cousin told police, according to WCNC.
Despite the sightings, police say the last confirmed sighting of Madalina is still when she got off the school bus on November 22.
The quest
Since the alarm was raised for the missing 11-year-old, more than 100 law enforcement officers from the Cornelius Police Department, FBI and SBI, among others, have worked to help find her.
Several searches have been carried out at the parental home for clues to her whereabouts.
Three mobile phones and dozens of other items were seized during the searches, the documents show.
Meanwhile, investigators also “searched” hours of surveillance video from local businesses and conducted land and water surveys around nearby Lake Cornelius.
However, police acknowledged that the three-week delay in police learning of Madalina’s disappearance led to an immediate setback for the investigation.
Much of the search appears to have focused on Madalina’s home, where multiple search warrants have been obtained and executed over the past two weeks.
On December 21, 2022, a large search team was seen descending on the house for the second time.
During an earlier search, officers were seen digging up the backyard.
According to court documents, officials at the property found a secret area in the kitchen, closed off with plywood.
When asked, Mr. Palmiter reportedly told investigators he planned to create a separate apartment in the space.
One of the worrying lines of inquiry is that Madalina may have been a victim of human trafficking.
During a jailhouse phone call, detailed in court documents, Ms. Cojocari and her mother are heard discussing a large amount of money and the theory that the girl’s stepfather “gave the girl away for money.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Palmiter was heard saying in conversations with his brother and sister-in-law that Ms. Cojocari had a lot of cash and that he did not know where she got it.
Extended family and community express ‘shock’
A week after the investigation, Cornelius police shared a handwritten note from the missing girl’s relatives.
In the note, the unnamed relatives said they remain “hopeful and positive” that the young girl will be found safe as more than a month has now passed since she was last seen.
It’s unclear which family member wrote the heartbreaking note, but an FBI official confirmed to WBTV that it was not Madalina’s mother or stepfather.
“It’s strange that it appears she went missing in November and it’s only 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, standing 4 feet tall and weighing approximately 90 pounds.
Anyone with information on Madalina’s whereabouts is asked to call Cornelius police at 704-892-7773.