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Diana Cojocari, seen in a mug shot at left, failed to report her daughter Madalina Cojocari missing, police said. (Mug shot: Mecklenburg County Jail; image of Madalina: Cornelius Police Department)
The mother of a long-missing young girl refused to attend an arraignment Friday for allegedly failing to report her disappearance. The defendant, Diana Cojocari, has already served more than half her possible maximum sentence while the whereabouts of her daughter, Madalina Cojocari, remains unknown.
And yet prosecutors said in court that she refused to show up, according to Charlotte Fox affiliate WJZY. Her defense reportedly asked to reschedule.
“And if it’s being said on part by the defense that the defendant chooses not to come, we can’t force her to be here,” Superior Court Judge Donald Cureton said.
The relevant charge is a Class I felony in North Carolina. Crimes in this category carry a maximum possible sentence of two years behind bars. Diana Cojocari, 38, has been locked up at the Mecklenburg County Jail since Dec. 17, 2022, after school officials confronted her for Madalina, who was 11 and is now 12, missing school since the last confirmed whereabouts on Nov. 21, 2022.
She allegedly said that she and the child’s stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 62, argued the night of Nov. 23, 2023, and that he drove off the next day — Nov. 24, Thanksgiving — to his family’s home in Michigan to get some things. Diana allegedly said she discovered that her daughter was not in her room that same morning.
“Diana Cojocari stated she waited until Saturday, November 26th at 1900 hours, when Christopher Palmiter returned home before asking if he knew where Madalina was,” officers said.
Palmiter claimed not to know, and he asked Diana the same question, defendant Cojocari allegedly said.
“I [the affiant] asked Diana why she did not report Madalina missing until now,” authorities said. “Diana stated she was worried it might start a ‘conflict’ between her and Christopher.”
Palmiter, who is also charged with failing to report the disappearance, told reporters nothing when he bonded out of jail in August 2023.
Christopher James Palmiter leaves jail after posting bond. Police said he failed to report his stepdaughter, Madalina Cojocari, missing. (Screenshot: WCNC; image of Madalina: Cornelius Police Department)
Police have claimed that Diana Cojocari had texted during the disappearance that she was in her daughter’s presence. They also said that she left the home county during the disappearance and that she had previously sought help from a distant relative in “smuggling” herself and her daughter from their home to get away from Palmiter. Cops have also claimed that there’s surveillance footage possibly showing the missing Madalina and that distant relative together.
Whatever the case, however, there remains no public confirmation of the child’s whereabouts or condition.
The FBI described Madalina as “last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes, and a white t-shirt and jacket.” She stood four feet, 10 inches and weighed 90 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She is white, with brown hair and brown eyes.
From the FBI:
If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of Madalina Cojocari, please contact the the Cornelius Police Department at (704) 892-7773. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
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