Missing Madalina: Last independent sighting was Nov. 21 on CMS bus

Dec. 28.  A judge decided the mother and step-father of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari each must surrender their passport if they post bail. Diana Cojocari, 37, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 60, have been charged with failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement.

There’s been no sign of Madalina, a sixth-grader at Bailey Middle, for more than a month. The family’s home is in Victoria Bay, just east of I-77 on Catawba Avenue.

If the parents make bail and are released from jail, each must wear a monitoring device. They are scheduled for aa bond hearing next month.

D Cojocari

The investigation

Police have chased down hundreds of leads and visited 245 homes, as well as canvassed businesses and searched Lake Cornelius. Police have stated that the mother has actually hindered the investigation.

“This is a serious case of a child whose parents clearly are not telling us everything they know,” Cornelius Police Dept. Captain Jennifer Thompson said in a Facebook video.

The last time investigators have independent confirmation of when Madalina was last seen was on a school bus late in the afternoon of Nov. 21.

Palmiter

Diana Cojocari said the sixth-grader disappeared two days later—but Madalina was not reported missing for another three weeks.

The mother is being held under a $250,000 bond while her husband’s is set at $200,000.