NC MADALINA COJOCARI: Missing from Cornelius, NC - 23 Nov 2022 - Age 11 *Reported Dec 15 *GUILTY of failure to report*

Madalina-Cojocari.jpg
unnamed-225x300.jpg

www.wbtv.com

Cornelius parents arrested for failing to report disappearance of 11-year-old girl

Police said the child was last seen at home on the evening of Nov. 23 and has not been seen since.
www.wbtv.com www.wbtv.com

11-year-old Cornelius girl missing since November, police say​

Police are looking for a child out of Cornelius who has been missing since the day before Thanksgiving.

According to the Cornelius Police Department, officers began investigating a missing person’s report involving a juvenile on Thursday.

The parents of the child, identified as 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, reported her missing to the Bailey Middle School school resource officer, where she attends.

Police said the child was last seen at home on the evening of Nov. 23 and has not been seen since.


www.wsoctv.com

FBI, police search for 11-year-old; mom, stepdad accused of not reporting disappearance

In court Monday, prosecutors said school resource officers had reached out to find out where Madalina was three days before her mom reported her disappearance.
www.wsoctv.com www.wsoctv.com

Cornelius police searching for missing 11-year-old girl​

The Cornelius Police Department is searching for an 11-year-old girl who has been reported missing.

Police said they began investigating after the parents of Madalina Cojocari reported her missing to a school research officer at Bailey Middle School on Dec. 15.

Cojocari was last seen at her home on the evening of Nov. 23, according to police.

www.crimewatchers.net

MADALINA COJOCARI: Missing from Cornelius, NC - 23 Nov 2022 - Age 11 *Reported December 15

Police said they began investigating after the parents of Madalina Cojocari reported her missing to a school research officer at Bailey Middle School on Dec. 15. Cojocari was last seen at her home on the evening of Nov. 23, according to police.
www.crimewatchers.net www.crimewatchers.net
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Click to expand...
www.courttv.com

Mother of Madalina Cojocari pleads guilty, stepfather heading to trial

Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter were arrested two days after Madalina Cojocari was reported missing to a school resource officer.
www.courttv.com www.courttv.com

On Monday, Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to a charge of failure to report a missing child to law enforcement. Diana’s daughter, Madalina Cojocari, has been missing since Nov. 2022. She was 11 years old when she disappeared.

*(plea deal?)
 
www.wsoctv.com

Madalina Cojocari’s mom leaves jail after failing to report daughter missing

Madalina Cojocari’s mother, Diana Cojocari, pleaded guilty Monday to failing to report her daughter's disappearance.
www.wsoctv.com www.wsoctv.com

Madalina Cojocari’s mom leaves jail after failing to report daughter missing​

On Monday, the mother of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari pleaded guilty in connection with her daughter’s disappearance.

Diana Cojocari was released from jail Tuesday afternoon. She told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz she hopes her daughter is OK.

“I hope she’s safe,” Cojocari said.

She spoke to Goetz before heading over to the public defender’s office across from the jail.


Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday in a courtroom that did not allow cameras. She answered all of the judge’s questions with one word, either yes or no.

Diana Cojocari’s plea was not part of a deal, and she has already spent the maximum amount of time in jail for this charge.

She was sentenced Monday to six to 17 months in prison, but because she has 520 days of time served, the judge said she will go free “shortly.”


The judge said it’s highly likely Diana Cojocari will face deportation back to Moldova since she’s in the United States on a green card.

According to the Mecklenburg County jail, if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement files the paperwork before her release papers are filed, then they will hold her until she’s given over to their custody. If ICE doesn’t get those papers before, she will be released as they will have no power to hold her.
 

by: Derek Dellinger
Posted: May 23, 2024 / 12:25 AM EDT
Updated: May 23, 2024 / 12:25 AM EDT

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Jury selection started Wednesday in the trial of Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather accused of failing to file a report on his stepdaughter’s disappearance.

That stepdaughter, Madalina Cojocari, has been missing since November 2022, and her missing persons case has gained national and international attention due to the circumstances.

Wednesday’s events also included some pre-trial discussions about the possibility of having Palmiter’s wife and Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, testifying.

The judge over the case said that the decision on Diana Cojocari testifying would likely come at a later time. Cojocari’s lawyer was present in court Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Fifty-four potential jurors were called into the courtroom Wednesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, three have been excused.

During discussions with the potential jurors, prosecutors noted they would likely bring forth an interview that was captured on body-worn camera, in addition to several witnesses.
 

by: Robin Kanady
Posted: May 24, 2024 / 07:40 PM EDT
Updated: May 24, 2024 / 11:24 PM EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The first day of testimony in the trial of Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, included witnesses from the school and reminders of what the trail was actually about.

Opening arguments got underway at the Mecklenburg County courthouse just before 2 this afternoon, and the state began calling witnesses.

Palmiter is on trial for not reporting his stepdaughter missing. She was 11 at the time of her disappearance.

Prosecutors say the counselor at Madalina’s school left Palmiter five voicemails over 23 days, and he never responded until his wife reportedly went to Bailey Middle School without Madalina. That’s when authorities discovered she was missing in December 2022.

Both the defense and prosecution reminded jurors that this trial is not about what happened to Madalina. They said jurors won’t get that answer during this trial.

The prosecution started out with some witnesses who got emotional on the stand. Prosecutors began by calling Madalina’s school bus driver, Tina Rorie.

She cried and had to take a moment on the stand to gather herself.

Rorie got upset when she talked about last seeing Madalina on Nov. 21, 2022, getting off the bus. She says Madalina was always polite and thanked her every day.

The prosecution’s second witness was Madalina’s guidance counselor, Danice Lampkin. She broke down several times on the stand.

The state played five voicemail messages that the counselor reportedly left on Palmiter’s cellphone asking how Madalina was and checking on her because she had been absent from school.

Lampkin got emotional early in her testimony when she talked about Madalina doing well in school. The counselor eventually went to Madalina’s home and left a truancy packet.

Two days later, Madalina’s mom showed up at the school without her daughter and that’s when authorities found out Madalina was missing.

The prosecutor asked the guidance counselor what she thought when after about three weeks, Madalina’s mother finally said her daughter was missing.

“Oh my God, where is this child?” Lampkin answered

Earlier this week Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, pleaded guilty to the same charge as Palmiter.

She was released from jail after time served for the conviction.

Testimony in Palmiter’s trial continues on Tuesday.
 
IS there SOME reason these two can't be charged with murder? We see it in tons of other cases with no body and parents that didnt' report, etc. It's absolutely disgusting that she is out and this is all he is facing. Weeks of not reporting your daughter missing until a truancy packet. Okay yeah right.

Some states, one or two, I forget which are making not reporting a crime. It needs to be a serious felony for not reporting a MINOR missing. With a lot of years not time served and a short number as she just got out on. CHANGE IT.

I have little doubt he will be found guilty of this charge. He is fighting it, she pled guilty to it. He should though be facing murder and she at minimum should be facing accessory or cover up or whatever, lacking words this morning or right terms.
 
www.wsoctv.com

Stepfather of Madalina Cojocari testifies in trial over her disappearance

Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, testified Tuesday in his criminal trial.
www.wsoctv.com www.wsoctv.com

Stepfather of Madalina Cojocari testifies in trial over her disappearance​

Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, took the stand Tuesday in his criminal trial.

The case was turned over to the defense Tuesday afternoon and they called their first witness to the stand: Christopher Palmiter. It’s the first time we’ve heard him answer any questions.

Palmiter’s defense attorney, Brandon Roseman, started off his testimony by asking his client three direct questions: “Did you harm Madalina Cojocari?” “Do you know where Madalina Cojocari is?” and “Did you know that Madalina Cojocari was missing?”

Palmiter answered “no” to all three questions. He answered several more questions from Roseman, at times becoming emotional while talking about Madalina.

Roseman began by methodically laying out how Palmiter met Diana Cojocari in 2008 while she was still living in her native country of Moldova.

“I met Diana on an online dating slash writing site,” he said, adding, “It was called Global Ladies.”

It was a slow and meticulous testimony, with Palmiter answering questions for about an hour about the work he did, how he and Diana first met online, when she and Madalina moved to the U.S., and how their relationship was over the years.

Palmiter said in 2010, their communication stopped.

“She had gotten pregnant with a local man and he didn’t want anything to do with her, so she contacted me just to say I’m still out here,” he said.

Palmiter said they picked up where they left off, got engaged, and he said Diana moved to the U.S. in 2015 with Madalina in tow. They eventually got married in 2016.

“My relationship with Diana, it was um — I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. “It was my first marriage. The couple dynamic, and then one with a little girl was all new to me.”

He said their eight-year marriage became a companionship.

“Our romantic relationship was mostly spiritual. We were never romantic.”

The testimony centered around getting to know Palmiter, not about when he became aware Madalina was missing or about her disappearance. When it came to raising Madalina, he said that was all Diana.

“I’d go to work and Diana would make sure Madalina got up in time for school, she would make sure Madalina took a bath before she went to bed at night,” Palmiter said. “She was 100% in charge of Madalina’s education, the whole thing.”

At the same time, Palmiter told the jury Diana was getting more wrapped up in her spirituality over the last few years. He described seeing her engage in bizarre rituals, including taking part in chants inside the house and praying aloud at a rapid pace.

“There were certain rituals that she would do. She always said that she was fighting demons.”

He said through emotion that it began to take a toll on her relationship with her daughter.

“Diana would be doing her prayers and stuff. Madalina would always ask me to play with her,” he said. “I’d take her for bike rides, play games with her, take her down to the park.”

Palmiter is expected to take the stand again Wednesday morning and then prosecutors will be able to cross-examine him.
 

‘None of your business’: Palmiter claims he didn’t know Madalina was missing​

Cross-examination started late Wednesday in the trial of Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl, Madalina Cojocari. Palmiter is on trial for not reporting Madalina missing.

The prosecution hammered Palmiter on how he could have been distant from Madalina and Diana when his own family helped bring them from Moldova to the United States, and he promised Madalina’s grandfather he’d take care of her.

The defense went day by day with Palmiter in his testimony from November 21 when Madalina was last seen in public, until her mother, Diana Cojocari, Palmiter’s wife, went to her school on December 15 and reported her daughter missing after 23 days and only after school authorities started asking questions.

At one point, Palmiter says Diana told him Madalina was sick and, in her room, but he testified that he never went to check on her.

The prosecution says Palmiter had to have known Madalina wasn’t home after he returned from a trip to Michigan on November 26, 2022, because after that, he never heard her jumping on her bed in her room like he usually did.

“You never heard her jumping on her bed after you returned from Michigan?” asked Austin Butler, an assistant district attorney for Mecklenburg County.

“No, I don’t think so,” answered Palmiter.

The defense showed a note from Palmiter’s phone that he took in the first or second week of December.

It said, “gone for two days” and was signed by Diana.

Palmiter says Diana grew more distant with him, confronting him about taking her things and accusing him of calling the police on her.

Palmiter says when he confronted Diana about where Madalina was, Diana told him it was none of his business.

Palmiter’s attorney asked him where he thinks Madalina is.

“I think Diana took her somewhere with her Moldovan family, I believe Diana has tucked her away somewhere where she’s not going to be found,” said Palmiter.

Palmiter says he never had concern for Madalina’s well-being because he didn’t think Diana would harm her, and he believed she was with Diana hiking in the mountains after he returned to Michigan.

The prosecution says Palmiter knew his daughter was missing school, and he had plenty of notices from the school.

Palmiter says right before Thanksgiving, Diana insisted that Palmiter go to Michigan and retrieve Madalina’s warm clothes for the winter.

Palmiter says they were stored in that state because the couple made a plan for Madalina and Diana to hide out in Michigan because Diana felt that “Russian entities” were watching her and Madalina.

That plan fell through, but Palmiter says he went to Michigan from November 23-26, 2022 to bring back the clothes.

An FBI phone analyst testified Tuesday about texts, emails and phone calls found on Palmiter’s phone which indicate he knew Madalina wasn’t showing up to school and searches from his phone about truancy laws days in December before Diana reported Madalina missing.

Palmiter testified for the defense that he didn’t know what truancy was and was researching it, and that prompted the search.

Palmiter’s cross-examination continues Thursday morning.
 
www.wbtv.com

Jury to hear closing arguments in Christopher Palmiter trial

He is accused of failing to report Madalina Cojocari as missing.
www.wbtv.com www.wbtv.com

By Mary Calkins
Published: May. 31, 2024 at 8:16 AM EDT|Updated: 47 minutes ago

Both sides have rested in the Christopher Palmiter trial and today, the jury will hear closing arguments.

WBTV has followed every development in this case, since Madalina Cojocari disappeared in November 2022 from Cornelius.

Palmiter, who is Madalina’s stepfather, as well as her mother Diana were both charged with failing to report the then 11-year-old missing.

Diana Cojocari already pleaded guilty but during this trial, we learned she has been staying with Palmiter in their Cornelius home.

She did not take the stand.

Despite earlier testimony when Palmiter said Diana was fully in charge of taking care of Madalina, Palmiter detailed how he was Madalina’s “entertainment” taking her to the park, the pool, playing hide and seek, playing with their cats, among other things that she asked him to do.

He shared he and Diana were having marital issues and when Diana asked him what he would do with Madalina should something happen to Diana, he said he would “adopt her.”

Later, one of Palmiter’s brothers testified Diana asked whether Madalina could stay with him and his wife in Michigan. He also said Christopher asked a slightly different version.

“Well when Chris came to see me, his main concern was if someone were to take Diana he would be left with Madalina to take care of her, and his concern was he said, ‘I don’t know how to take care of a little girl. You know, I’ve never never raised kids.’ He said, ‘Would you and Katie be willing to you know to help raise Madalina?’”

No one has seen Madalina since November of 2022 – both Christopher and Diana say they don’t know where she is.

Closing arguments start today at 10 a.m.
 
So she is staying with him while he basically blames her.

Neither charged with murder but should be.

if she's staying with him does that mean despite her guilty plea she is FREE???
 
So in one moment he's all hand's off and all the responsibility for her goes to her mom and then the next moment he was her total care taker. Can't have it both ways, dude. I understand things change over time, but he's talking about basically the same time.
 
Guess Who said:
So in one moment he's all hand's off and all the responsibility for her goes to her mom and then the next moment he was her total care taker. Can't have it both ways, dude. I understand things change over time, but he's talking about basically the same time.
Click to expand...
No sh*t! Scumbag.
 

Madalina Cojocari’s stepfather found guilty of failing to report 11-year-old missing​


BY JULIA COIN
MAY 31, 2024 2:01 PM

He was naive. His wife was manipulative. His daughter’s bedroom light was always on. Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing girl Madalina Cojocari, maintained during his two-week trial that he had “no idea” the 11-year-old was missing from his home for nearly three weeks in 2022.

An 11-man, one-woman jury overruled his plea of cluelessness. They found the 61-year-old guilty of failing to report the disappearance of a child after deliberating for less than 15 minutes on Friday.

Under North Carolina law, failing to report a child’s disappearance is defined by a supervisor’s failure to alert authorities after 24 hours of not knowing the location of a child or not having contact with that child for more than 24 hours. Madalina — who is still missing — was last seen in Cornelius on Nov. 23, 2022, police say. Palmiter and his wife, Diana Cojocari, did not report her missing until Dec. 15, 2023, after school administrators confronted them.

The couple was charged with failing to report Madalina missing — a Class I felony in North Carolina.

Cojocari pleaded guilty to the charge last week. She had already served 17 months — the maximum sentence — while awaiting a hearing in jail.

Cojocari, who was expected to be deported back to her home country of Moldova following her plea, was never called as a witness in Palmiter’s case. But she spent the night at his house Tuesday evening, Palmiter told assistant district attorney Austin Butler as he began cross examining Palmiter Wednesday afternoon.

Palmiter was just as responsible for Madalina’s safety as her mother, Butler argued to the jury inside the Mecklenburg County Courthouse Friday. Brandon Roseman, Palmiter’s court-appointed attorney, has filed a motion to appeal.
 
Summer_Breeze said:

Madalina Cojocari’s stepfather found guilty of failing to report 11-year-old missing​


BY JULIA COIN
MAY 31, 2024 2:01 PM

He was naive. His wife was manipulative. His daughter’s bedroom light was always on. Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing girl Madalina Cojocari, maintained during his two-week trial that he had “no idea” the 11-year-old was missing from his home for nearly three weeks in 2022.

An 11-man, one-woman jury overruled his plea of cluelessness. They found the 61-year-old guilty of failing to report the disappearance of a child after deliberating for less than 15 minutes on Friday.

Under North Carolina law, failing to report a child’s disappearance is defined by a supervisor’s failure to alert authorities after 24 hours of not knowing the location of a child or not having contact with that child for more than 24 hours. Madalina — who is still missing — was last seen in Cornelius on Nov. 23, 2022, police say. Palmiter and his wife, Diana Cojocari, did not report her missing until Dec. 15, 2023, after school administrators confronted them.

The couple was charged with failing to report Madalina missing — a Class I felony in North Carolina.

Cojocari pleaded guilty to the charge last week. She had already served 17 months — the maximum sentence — while awaiting a hearing in jail.

Cojocari, who was expected to be deported back to her home country of Moldova following her plea, was never called as a witness in Palmiter’s case. But she spent the night at his house Tuesday evening, Palmiter told assistant district attorney Austin Butler as he began cross examining Palmiter Wednesday afternoon.

Palmiter was just as responsible for Madalina’s safety as her mother, Butler argued to the jury inside the Mecklenburg County Courthouse Friday. Brandon Roseman, Palmiter’s court-appointed attorney, has filed a motion to appeal.
Click to expand...
Jury took less than 15 minutes after his weeks of trial! Now that's a jury making a STATEMENT!!

I wouldn't likely all her either with all her varying stories and if knowing she was spending the night at his house.

Why is she not in JAIL? I think if I have the right case she had time served or something? Disgusting.

Since pretty sure they know this child is dead imo. The two of them.
 
GrandmaBear said:
Jury took less than 15 minutes after his weeks of trial! Now that's a jury making a STATEMENT!!

I wouldn't likely all her either with all her varying stories and if knowing she was spending the night at his house.

Why is she not in JAIL? I think if I have the right case she had time served or something? Disgusting.

Since pretty sure they know this child is dead imo. The two of them.
Click to expand...
Hi @GrandmaBear

Cojocari pleaded guilty to the charge last week. She had already served 17 months — the maximum sentence — while awaiting a hearing in jail.
Click to expand...
 
Mystery looms over Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance as convicted parents end jail time
Madalina Cojocari didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but she got off her school bus before break ready to do her favorite things: Jump on her bed, play her horse game, chase her cats.

Pounce, click, lunge. It was routine.

Now, the squeaking springs that would keep Madalina’s parents up at night have gone silent. A neighbor says her mother burned the twin mattress in the backyard.

Madalina’s laptop — the one she’d play Star Stable on — is stored inside the Cornelius Police Department.

Madalina is gone, too. She got off the school bus on Nov. 21, 2022, and was never seen again.

Eighteen months later, theories about what happened to her still swirl.

Did Madalina’s parents give her “away for money?” Did her mother smuggle her back home to Moldova? Is she hidden in Michigan?

Is she safe? Is she alive?

Two arrests, hours of questioning, and a confidential informant have failed to lead local police and the FBI to the girl. They’ve searched mountains and lakes and phones and laptops.

Little — beyond her parents’ conflicting statements and unique, apparently loveless marriage — has been shared in court. But with every development, the mysterious case of Madalina’s disappearance grows more peculiar and the possibilities more frightening.

MORE AT LINK
 
www.wcnc.com

Christopher Palmiter files for divorce

The couple married in early 2016 after Diana Cojocari and her daughter Madalina came to the United States. The girl has been missing since 2022.
www.wcnc.com www.wcnc.com

Christopher Palmiter files for divorce​

Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of the missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, has filed for divorce from the girl's mother, Diana Cojocari.

In legal filings dated Monday, Palmiter filed for divorce indicating that he and Diana Cojocari had been separated since Dec. 17, 2022.
 
www.foxnews.com

North Carolina parents live carefree life after not reporting disappearance of daughter still missing

Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter have returned to their Cornelius, N.C., home while their daughter, Madalina Cojocari, remains missing. She disappeared in November 2022.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com

Published June 13, 2024 4:00am EDT
By Audrey Conklin

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina couple recently found guilty of failing to report their daughter missing in 2022 has gone back to their day-to-day lives in Cornelius, a lake town north of Charlotte.

Christopher Palmiter and Diana Cojocari were recently released following their sentencings in connection with the November 2022 disappearance of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, leaving locals feeling unnerved.

"It seems to me with everything we see online that everybody's bothered about it, but nobody's really saying or doing anything," a woman named Jennifer of Huntersville, a town directly south of Cornelius, told Fox News Digital. Jennifer frequently visits a friend in Cornelius who happens to live in the same neighborhood as Palmiter and Diana Cojocari.

<snip>

The Mecklenburg County judge sentenced Palmiter to serve a suspended 30-month supervised probation, FOX 8 reported. Palmiter's lawyer did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
3,035
Messages
244,946
Members
983
Latest member
yepugotme2
Back
Top Bottom