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

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

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.

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

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.

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

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Cornelius police address speculation after human remains found in Madison County

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday said that human remains were found in a rural area of Madison County.

www.wsoctv.com

By WSOCTV.com News Staff
October 30, 2023 at 12:20 pm EDT

CORNELIUS, N.C. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday said that human remains were found in a rural area of Madison County, and it happens to be within miles of a location where the mother of a missing girl from Cornelius was spotted by deputies.

According to the FBI, hunters were in a wooded area near Stackhouse Road in the Pisgah National Forest when they found the human remains on Sunday.

Stackhouse Road is northwest of Marshall, North Carolina.

The FBI says the remains will be sent to a lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be processed. A news release said “it is too early in the investigation to know the identity of the person or their cause of death.”

The location of the remains caused people online to speculate if it’s connected with the disappearance of Madalina Cojocari, who was last seen in November of 2022 and reported missing weeks later.

Her mother, Diana Cojocari, was spotted by deputies near Lonesome Mountain Road, which is close to Stackhouse Road in Madison County.

Channel 9 reached out to the Cornelius Police Department for information after the remains were found.

Cornelius police said that while the remains haven’t been officially identified, early indications were that they belonged to an older man.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Bond back to $250K for mother of Madalina Cojocari after error with record

The bond for the mother of Madalina Cojocari has returned to its original amount of $250,000 records show.

www.wsoctv.com

Bond back to $250K for mother of Madalina Cojocari after error with record​

The bond for the mother of Madalina Cojocari has been set at $250,000 again after the court website listed a lower one for her earlier Thursday

On Thursday morning, records showed Diana Cojocari’s bond had been reduced from $250,000 to $100,000 on Oct. 24. By the afternoon, records showed her bond had been adjusted again to the original amount.

The courts confirmed to Channel 9 that the change was due to an error with Mecklenburg County’s new online court system.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Bond back to $250K for mother of Madalina Cojocari after error with record

The bond for the mother of Madalina Cojocari has returned to its original amount of $250,000 records show.

www.wsoctv.com

Bond back to $250K for mother of Madalina Cojocari after error with record​

The bond for the mother of Madalina Cojocari has been set at $250,000 again after the court website listed a lower one for her earlier Thursday

On Thursday morning, records showed Diana Cojocari’s bond had been reduced from $250,000 to $100,000 on Oct. 24. By the afternoon, records showed her bond had been adjusted again to the original amount.

The courts confirmed to Channel 9 that the change was due to an error with Mecklenburg County’s new online court system.

Hmm. Can' quite picture that but who knows...

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Madalina Cojocari has been missing for 1 year

There are no new leads on her whereabouts, and the case remains relatively stagnant. Here's a rundown of what led up to this.

www.wcnc.com

Madalina Cojocari has been missing for 1 year​

On Nov. 21, 2022, then-11-year-old Madalina Cojocari was last seen at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius, North Carolina, leaving her school bus just before 5 p.m. She has not been seen since.

It's been one year since Madalina disappeared. There are no new leads on her whereabouts, and the case remains relatively stagnant.

“I think it is very sad and all of us need to be very mindful of our kids right now in today's times,” said Kelly Collins, a Cornelius resident.


Cornelius police are encouraging people to continue to share Madalina’s photos and call in tips.

“There is no bad lead,” said Williams. “So, any information whether it doesn't seem reliable or if it is extremely reliable, anywhere on that spectrum is all valuable. Give that information to law enforcement as soon as possible.”

The community came together on Tuesday in support of the efforts to find Madalina Cojocari.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

What happens when a child goes missing? A year after Madalina Cojocari's disappearance, authorities are still searching for answers

On the next Charlotte Talks, a year after the disappearance of Madalina Cojocari and with police still holding the belief that she’s still out there, we look at how difficult it is to investigate these cases.

www.wfae.org

By Sarah Delia
Published December 3, 2023 at 7:24 AM EST

One year after Madalina Cojocari was last seen, there are more questions than answers about her disappearance. The chief of the Cornelius Police Department believes the 12-year-old Cornelius girl is still out there. But there are still questions about why her mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, waited to file a missing persons report weeks after she disappeared. They were both charged for failing to report Madalina missing in a timely manner.

Madalina was last seen getting off her school bus on Nov. 21, 2022. She was reported missing three weeks later on Dec. 15, 2022.

Efforts continue to find Madalina including new billboards — and new theories from family members of her whereabouts — including one that her disappearance is tied to human trafficking.

How hard is it to investigate missing children cases? How does North Carolina compare to the rest of the country? What do parents need to know if their children go missing? We ask these questions, and more, on the next Charlotte Talks.

GUESTS:

David Baucom, Cornelius chief of police
Juanita Vargas Ibanez, case manager with Pat’s Place
Callahan Walsh, executive director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

MON-FRI • 9AM-10AM / 8PM-9PM | SAT • 7AM-8AM

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Missing North Carolina schoolgirl Madalina Cojocari still believed to be alive more than a year since last sighting, lead detective says

Over a year since North Carolina preteen Madalina Cojocari was last seen, one investigator at the Cornelius Police Department hasn’t given up hope on finding the missing 11-year-old, who she …

nypost.com

By Social Links for Isabel Keane
Published Dec. 6, 2023, 1:21 p.m. ET

A detective leading the hunt for North Carolina schoolgirl Madalina Cojocari said she’s convinced the 11-year-old is still alive more than a year after she was last seen walking off her school bus.

“I believe she’s alive — I do, I do,” Major Jennifer Thompson, second in command at the Cornelius Police Department, told WCCB of her force’s biggest case.

“I believe it in my heart. And it’s not one of those feelings where that’s just what I want to believe — it’s truly what I believe,” she stated firmly.

“I think it would be a disservice to Madalina if we lost hope — we’re just not going to do that.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

More at link. ~Summer

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Mother of Madalina Cojocari could walk free from jail after arraignment

There's a chance Diana Cojocari, the mother of Madalina Cojocari, could walk free from jail Friday after she is arraigned.

www.wsoctv.com

By Hunter Sáenz, wsoctv.com
February 22, 2024 at 5:31 pm EST

CHARLOTTE — The mother of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari will face a judge on Friday.

It’s been more than a year since Madalina disappeared. Diana Cojocari has spent the last 14 months behind bars, charged with failure to report her missing child. Now, Channel 9 has learned she could soon walk free.

Diana Cojocari will be arraigned Friday, meaning the charge against her will be read and she’ll be asked how does she plea.

Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz spoke with local high-profile defense attorney George Laughrun, who said it’d be smart for her to plead guilty to the crime knowing she’s served nearly the maximum amount of jail time already. That could mean she’d walk out of jail.

“It’s a Lifetime movie,” Laughrun said. “You couldn’t make up these facts.”

The longtime criminal defense attorney said the plot will thicken on Friday. He said a guilty plea could actually fall in her favor.

“It’s great legal work if she wants to get out and go home or say ‘I want to put Charlotte in my rear view,’” he said.


Under the state’s structured sentencing guidelines, Laughrun said the judge would have to sentence Cojocari to probation because of the low-level felony and her lack of a criminal history.

Cojocari, who was arrested on Dec. 17, 2022, has 14 months of time served. So if the judge sentences her to anything less than that amount of time, Cojocari could say she wants to withdraw her consent to probation, activating the suspended sentence and thus using her time served. That could mean she gets out of jail with no restrictions.

“There’d be nothing keeping her here,” Laughrun said.

“And that’s what you’d place your poker chips on?” Sáenz asked.

“I’d push it all into the middle of the table,” Laughrun said.

There are technically other scenarios that could put her on electronic monitoring or in jail for another few months, but Laughrun says those seem unlikely. Those are:

• Cojocari could choose to take probation and then could be placed on electronic monitoring, confined to the area.
• Or, if the judge finds aggravating factors and goes with the maximum 19-month penalty, she could be told to finish a couple more months behind bars, after which she’d be free.

It’s unclear where she would go if she gets out of jail without restrictions, but we do know she shared a home with her husband, Christopher Palmiter, in Cornelius. He’s also charged and is currently living there while out on bond.

We also know Cojocari is from Moldova and has family there. Without restrictions, she could very well fly back.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Mom of missing Madalina Cojocari refuses to leave Charlotte jail cell, stalls court date

Here’s the latest on the case of the missing 12-year-old.

news.yahoo.com

Julia Coin
Fri, February 23, 2024 at 10:20 AM EST

The mysterious case of missing 12-year-old Madalina Cojocari has remained barren of details since she disappeared from her North Carolina home in 2022.

After more than a year and a half, the wait wages on.

Diana Cojocari, Madalina’s mother, refused to leave her jail cell Friday morning, when she was scheduled to appear across the street in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse.


A new date will be set to review her charge of failing to report a missing child, said Superior Court Judge Donald Ray Cureton Jr. during the arraignment.

“If she chooses not to come, we can’t force her to be here. So this is the outcome today,” Cureton said.

The arraignment was supposed to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Friday but the judge was still waiting on her at 10. Cojocari has been in jail since December 2022.

As 10 reporters shuffled out of the courtroom, Assistant District Attorney and Homicide Unit Chief Bill Bunting told The Charlotte Observer that what happened is “not unheard of.”

 

[GrandmaBear]

So yet another who refuses to attend court proceedings so they have to reschedule. And if she does not appear again by "choice" there is nothing they can do about it. Sure let's just let very likely criminals (charged with real cause) start running the world now.

The judge was still waiting for her at 10? WHAT? I can't imagine the repercussions of that in any court proceeding I've ever seen including just civil matters.

And so we shall all be silent and watch this new wave of BS go on. Why have judges or jailers, the person only has to refuse. And looking a post or two above it seems like she could be out if she only went.

I guess she likes jail.

WTH is going on. This is the third case in like a week I have seen this b.s. in. Harmony's, this one and I shoudl recall the other but I don't. I think in that one defendant tried to not appear but judge ordered it or let it go one time but gave an order that next time he had to be there or some such.

I never knew until not too many months ago that defense attorneys have like national get togethers, conferences, sympoisums, whatever one wants to call them. With strategies, new ways that worked and so on. And in WHAT I've been seeing in the past six months, two months even a year, it makes perfect sense. I think prosecutors do as well so not saying both don't. All of that was news to me.

The LAW however should still apply and be clear and if it is not clear, be made clear.

Not saying that's what is going on here but a new thing of defendants refusing to be at their own hearings or trials. Just in the past couple of weeks that has been so noticeable and I don't even get time to notice sh*t.

This isn't some playground or shouldn't be. On both sides and with the law, it should not be some GAME. And it IS. Sickening. I don't know that I've ever been so disgusted as what I am seeing in this last year (and years) but it just gets worse and worse.

It isn't that far of a reach any longer to wait for the defense that claims the Aliens did it instead of the Os. And I can actually believe a lot of people out there will actually buy it.

SMDH.

If she likes jail so much give her a free lifetime there.

Forget the poor child.

 

[GrandmaBear]

@Mel70 Read the last handful of posts and another refusing to attend court but could likely be free if she had and pled guilty and nothing the judge can do about it.

I'm sure you are all for that as am I. NOT.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

‘We are going to find her’: Search for missing Madalina Cojocari continues on 13th birthday

The girl was last seen in public getting off a school bus nearly a year and a half ago.

www.wect.com

By Mary Calkins
Published: Apr. 11, 2024 at 5:54 AM EDT|
Updated: 2 hours ago

CORNELIUS, N.C. (WBTV) - A day that should be one of celebration serves as a reminder of the search for a missing girl from Cornelius.

Thursday marks Madalina Cojocari’s 13th birthday, and comes nearly a year and a half since she was last seen in public, getting off her school bus right before Thanksgiving in 2022. Her parents were later arrested and charged with failing to report her missing.

In recognition of her birthday, the Cornelius Police Department, which is leading the investigation into her disappearance, will hold a vigil.

Cornelius Police Chief David Baucom said his department, along with the SBI and FBI, are working the case as diligently now as they were when Madalina first disappeared.

Pictures of the missing girl have been posted at the police department since she first disappeared, and the chief said they will remain up until she comes home.

“Every day we are just a little bit closer [to finding her] than we were the day before,” Baucom said. “This has been a long, grueling investigation over the last 15 months, 16 months or so. As the pieces of that puzzle come together, I do feel like we’ll find her.”

Madalina’s 13th birthday comes more than 500 days since she was last seen. Two weeks after she was last seen, a counselor and a school resource officer at Bailey Middle School began questioning the girl’s whereabouts after she stopped showing up to class.

<snip>
The vigil will be held at the Cornelius Police Department at 7 p.m.

 

[Mel70]

@Mel70 Read the last handful of posts and another refusing to attend court but could likely be free if she had and pled guilty and nothing the judge can do about it.

I'm sure you are all for that as am I. NOT.

Yeah. WTH is this CRAP! NAH! I'M NOT GOING!!! I always thought it was mandatory. IT SHOULD BE!!! Another right to the defendant now?!!!!

 

[Mel70]

So yet another who refuses to attend court proceedings so they have to reschedule. And if she does not appear again by "choice" there is nothing they can do about it. Sure let's just let very likely criminals (charged with real cause) start running the world now.

The judge was still waiting for her at 10? WHAT? I can't imagine the repercussions of that in any court proceeding I've ever seen including just civil matters.

And so we shall all be silent and watch this new wave of BS go on. Why have judges or jailers, the person only has to refuse. And looking a post or two above it seems like she could be out if she only went.

I guess she likes jail.

WTH is going on. This is the third case in like a week I have seen this b.s. in. Harmony's, this one and I shoudl recall the other but I don't. I think in that one defendant tried to not appear but judge ordered it or let it go one time but gave an order that next time he had to be there or some such.

I never knew until not too many months ago that defense attorneys have like national get togethers, conferences, sympoisums, whatever one wants to call them. With strategies, new ways that worked and so on. And in WHAT I've been seeing in the past six months, two months even a year, it makes perfect sense. I think prosecutors do as well so not saying both don't. All of that was news to me.

The LAW however should still apply and be clear and if it is not clear, be made clear.

Not saying that's what is going on here but a new thing of defendants refusing to be at their own hearings or trials. Just in the past couple of weeks that has been so noticeable and I don't even get time to notice sh*t.

This isn't some playground or shouldn't be. On both sides and with the law, it should not be some GAME. And it IS. Sickening. I don't know that I've ever been so disgusted as what I am seeing in this last year (and years) but it just gets worse and worse.

It isn't that far of a reach any longer to wait for the defense that claims the Aliens did it instead of the Os. And I can actually believe a lot of people out there will actually buy it.

SMDH.

If she likes jail so much give her a free lifetime there.

Forget the poor child.

LMAO @Free lifetime.

 

[Mel70]

So yet another who refuses to attend court proceedings so they have to reschedule. And if she does not appear again by "choice" there is nothing they can do about it. Sure let's just let very likely criminals (charged with real cause) start running the world now.

The judge was still waiting for her at 10? WHAT? I can't imagine the repercussions of that in any court proceeding I've ever seen including just civil matters.

And so we shall all be silent and watch this new wave of BS go on. Why have judges or jailers, the person only has to refuse. And looking a post or two above it seems like she could be out if she only went.

I guess she likes jail.

WTH is going on. This is the third case in like a week I have seen this b.s. in. Harmony's, this one and I shoudl recall the other but I don't. I think in that one defendant tried to not appear but judge ordered it or let it go one time but gave an order that next time he had to be there or some such.

I never knew until not too many months ago that defense attorneys have like national get togethers, conferences, sympoisums, whatever one wants to call them. With strategies, new ways that worked and so on. And in WHAT I've been seeing in the past six months, two months even a year, it makes perfect sense. I think prosecutors do as well so not saying both don't. All of that was news to me.

The LAW however should still apply and be clear and if it is not clear, be made clear.

Not saying that's what is going on here but a new thing of defendants refusing to be at their own hearings or trials. Just in the past couple of weeks that has been so noticeable and I don't even get time to notice sh*t.

This isn't some playground or shouldn't be. On both sides and with the law, it should not be some GAME. And it IS. Sickening. I don't know that I've ever been so disgusted as what I am seeing in this last year (and years) but it just gets worse and worse.

It isn't that far of a reach any longer to wait for the defense that claims the Aliens did it instead of the Os. And I can actually believe a lot of people out there will actually buy it.

SMDH.

If she likes jail so much give her a free lifetime there.

Forget the poor child.

I guess she does. Free housing, 3 meals a day, The best street drugs at a reasonable price. Free cable, Computers, A whole library. I might go. I wonder if they would let you have an "Emotional support" Pet?.

 

[Mel70]

I'm turning the channel. My movie's on. SHUT UP! STOP THROWING STUFF!!!! I'M SERIOUS!!!! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET ME THROWN IN SOLITARY!!!!!

 

[Summer_Breeze]

Stepfather of missing Cornelius girl pleads not guilty, DA’s office says

Christopher Palmiter was in court Friday morning, eight months after he bonded out of jail.

www.wbtv.com

By WBTV Web Staff
Published: Apr. 19, 2024 at 12:24 PM EDT
|Updated: 4 hours ago

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, has pleaded not guilty to failing to report her disappearance.

He was indicted on those charges just a few days ago.

Palmiter was in court Friday morning, eight months after he bonded out of jail.

Madalina vanished back before Thanksgiving in 2022, but her parents didn’t report the then 11-year-old missing until December.

Madalina’s mother is also facing similar charges.

Palmiter has a jury trial scheduled for May 20.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.qcnews.com/finding-madalina/finding-madalina-cojocaris-stepfather-set-for-jury-trial/

Finding Madalina: Cojocari’s stepfather set for jury trial​

The stepfather of a young Cornelius girl missing since 2022 is set for a jury trial in Mecklenburg County on Monday.

Christopher Palmiter will appear in a Mecklenburg County courtroom and for a jury trial after pleading not guilty during an arraignment to charges of failure to report Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance. She was 11 at the time of her disappearance.

The trial is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 20, at the Mecklenburg County courthouse. Since January of 2023, multiple dispositions and in-person arraignment hearings have been held, according to court records.


Cornelius Police said they continue to search for evidence and more leads for wherever Madalina might be. There are still posters plastering the town, looking for any tips.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/mother-of-madalina-cojocari-pleads-guilty-to-felony-charge-could-face-deportation/

by: Jesse Ullmann, Sydney Heiberger
Posted: May 20, 2024 / 12:44 PM EDT
Updated: May 20, 2024 / 12:44 PM EDT

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The mother of a young Cornelius girl missing since 2022 appeared in court on Monday and pleaded guilty to felony ‘failure to report a child disappearance.’ The stepfather is set for a jury trial this week.

According to a Mecklenburg County judge, because the mother, Diana Cojocari, is not a citizen and only has a Green Card, and has pleaded guilty to a felony, she will likely be deported.

Diana Cojocari acknowledged that she understood.

Court is now adjourned. Diana Cojocari will be released from jail shortly on Monday, as she has already served the maximum sentence.

The stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, will appear in a Mecklenburg County courtroom this week after pleading not guilty during an arraignment to charges of failure to report Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance. She was 11 at the time of her disappearance.

The trial was set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 20, at the Mecklenburg County courthouse, but got pushed back to Tuesday, May 21. Since January of 2023, multiple dispositions and in-person arraignment hearings have been held, according to court records.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Court documents show new evidence in Madalina Cojocari case, defense claims state is withholding evidence

The court documents were just filed on Monday, May 20 when Palmiter’s trial was set to begin.

www.wbtv.com

Newly released court documents surrounding the Madalina Cojocari case show that Christopher Palmiter’s attorneys feel the state is withholding evidence.

The court documents were just filed on Monday, May 20, when Palmiter’s trial was set to begin.

The documents detail a conversation the FBI had with Diana Cojocari’s cousin, Octavian Cebanu. During this interview, Cebanu confirmed key details that Palmiter had told police when discussing Madalina’s whereabouts.

The conversation states that Diana reportedly called Cebanu before her arrest, telling him she was trying to leave her husband, Christopher Palmiter.

Cebanu said Diana’s mother, Rodica Cojocari, was apparently also trying to help Diana and Madalina flee the country.

Diana told Cebanu that Palmiter was not involved in her plan to get away and was worried about him listening to their phone conversation. Diana also confirmed that she had made a plan with Palmiter that he was to arrange for her and Madalina to stay in a safe place in Michigan with family, but that never happened.

Documents also reveal that Diana reportedly told Cebanu she believes she’s in danger, but not from Palmiter but rather some other unnamed third party.

She also reportedly stated she had enough money stashed away to live off of for two to three months.

This information has Palmiter’s attorneys upset, as they state that the state withheld information about that FBI interview until recently.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Trial for stepfather of Madalina Cojocari delayed

Christopher Palmiter has been out on bond since August of 2022 awaiting his trial that was originally scheduled for Monday.

www.wbtv.com

Trial for stepfather of Madalina Cojocari delayed​

On Monday, the public information officer for the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court, Brittany Foster shared with WBTV that Monday’s trial for Christopher Palmiter is being delayed.

She released this statement to WBTV saying in part:

“Mr. Palmiter’s trial is delayed due to another trial being heard in 5370. Once the current trial in 5370 concludes, his trial is set to begin. I am not able to confirm any information regarding the rescheduling of his trial. Please continue to monitor Portal for any case updates.”