Police scour NC for 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, missing after more than a month
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Where is Madalina Cojocari?
Madalina Cojocari was 11 years old when she went missing in Cornelius, N.C. in November 2022. But her mother and stepfather did not report her missing for about three weeks and have been charged with failing to report the disappearance of a minor. Meanwhile, as of May 2024, Madalina remains missing.
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Investigators have followed more than 250 leads from around the world to find a missing Cornelius 11-year-old. But after more than a month, she is still missing and has been for more than a month.
The Cornelius Police Department, the FBI, and the state Bureau of Investigation have been searching for Madalina Cojocari since Dec. 15. Her parents refused to report her missing for nearly three weeks, allowing her case to grow cold, officials say.
“This is a serious case of a child whose parents clearly are not telling us everything they know,” Cornelius Police Captain Jennifer Thompson said in a video posted Tuesday afternoon.
Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 37, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 60, are charged with failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement. Their next court appearances will be Dec. 28.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials have searched the state, spoken with “hundreds of people” in North Carolina and across the globe, and gone door to door at more than 245 homes in the area, Thompson said Tuesday.
As a precaution, a search was conducted of Lake Cornelius and the land surrounding it, Thompson said.
Search warrants were obtained and executed for Madalina’s house to preserve every piece of evidence that could help to find her, Thompson said.
“We know everyone has a lot of questions, we also have questions and are doing everything we can with proper legal authority to get those answers,” Thompson said.
Madalina was last seen on Nov. 21 when surveillance footage recorded her getting off the school bus at a stop near her home. Her mother claims she was last seen Nov. 23 when she went to bed that evening.
Thompson asked any eyewitnesses to come forward and anyone with information to call the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773 or 1-800-Call FBI.
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This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Police scour NC for 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, missing after more than a month."
