Madalina Cojocari’s mom Diana didn't report child's disappearance as she feared 'conflict' with husband
CORNELIUS, NORTH CAROLINA: On the night Madalina Cojocari, 11, was last seen, her mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arguing at their home in Cornelius, according to recently released police records. The mother later told authorities that she initially kept her daughter's disappearance a secret for fear of a "conflict" with her husband.
Documents related to the detention of Madalina's stepfather Palmiter, 60, and her mother Diana Cojocari, 37, provide new insight into what the sixth-grader's parents claim happened. The puzzling information in the new data sheds light on why the child wasn't reported missing for nearly three weeks. Notably, Palmiter told police he last saw Madalina about a week before the time period investigators suspected her disappearance - November 21-23. Palmiter drove to a family home in Michigan on November 23, the morning Madalina's mother noticed her disappearance, her parents told authorities. Public records show Palmiter lived at several addresses in Michigan before moving to the Charlotte area.
RELATED ARTICLES
Police claim that after discussing Madalina's disappearance "several" times with each other, Palmiter and Diana did not call the police and "were adamant that they did not know where Madalina could be," reports Charlotte Observer. Madalina's mother claims that after the girl went missing, she got in touch with relatives in Moldova, where she is from, who advised her to notify the police. But she chose not to. On December 20, police made a video from Madalina's school bus available. On November 21, it depicts her getting off the bus at her stop. Officials stated last week that this was the final instance in which detectives were able to independently establish her whereabouts. Authorities from Charlotte-Mecklenburg School previously told the Charlotte Observer that Madalina's final day of classes was November 22. On the evening of November 23, her mother claimed to have seen Madalina enter her bedroom to sleep at around ten o'clock.
According to two "arrest sheets" made public by Mecklenburg County court officials, Diana discovered her daughter was missing the following morning, on November 24, according to the police. She admitted to waiting until Saturday, a few days later, to inquire about Madalina's whereabouts from Palmiter. Diana claims that upon Palmiter's return from Michigan, he claimed not to know Madalina's whereabouts and inquired of her mother. On December 15, police initially questioned Madalina's mother at the institution. She explained to authorities that she delayed filing a missing person report because "she was worried it might start a conflict between her and Christopher," as per Charlotte Observer. Diana is quoted in a police report that was submitted to the court as saying that her husband, Madalina's stepfather, "put her family in danger."