Madalina Cojocari’s mother had passports, wanted to ‘smuggle’ child away, police say
Newly-released police records, filed in court, state detectives were told the mother of Madalina Cojocari was attempting to “smuggle” both her daughter and herself away from their home in Cornelius because of her “bad” relationship with her husband.
Search warrant documents show Diana Cojocari had a conversation with a distant relative on Dec. 2, 2022 and that relative later told police he was asked to help Cojocari leave with Madalina because Diana wanted a divorce.
Madalina Cojocari was last seen sometime between Nov. 21 and Nov. 23, according to previous information released by police. Her family waited three weeks after her disappearance to report her missing. Her mother Diana and stepfather Christopher Palmiter are charged with failing to immediately report her disappearance.
The newly-released court documents include search warrants and notes from investigators that show a K-9 police dog “alerted” — meaning may have detected — the scent of narcotics on Diana Cojocari’s car on Feb. 10. The car is in police possession, the records state.
Previous arrest records released by the courts show that on the night Madalina disappeared, her parents were fighting. Her mother told investigators she believed her husband, Madalina’s step father, put their family in danger. She also told police she did not report her daughter missing sooner because she feared “conflict” with him.
The court records related to the search of Cojocari’s car are dated Feb. 13 and 14.
Investigators searched Diana Cojocari’s green 2008 Toyota Prius and seized Madalina’s Moldovan and Romanian passports, Diana’s Romanian passport, a Moldovan debit card, and “miscellaneous education certificates and work documents,” court records indicate. All of these items were found in the car’s center console, police wrote.
Drug trafficking connection?
In addition to the K-9 search of the car, the relative Diana Cojocari was in contact with made “multiple” calls to numbers belonging to “unidentified targets” involved in ongoing narcotic trafficking investigations, police told a judge in applying for a search warrant.
Detectives state in the warrant application it’s possible “persons associated with narcotics activity are also associated with human smuggling.”
“A search of the residence may locate drugs and/or money not previously found in the residence,” the detective applying for the warrant wrote making a note that a K-9 would be needed. “We believe that an additional search could be helpful in locating and leading to information on the disappearance of Madalina Cojocari.”
Timeline of Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance
The last time police have been able to verify Madalina was seen is Nov. 21 when surveillance footage showed her exiting her school bus.
Cojocari claims she last saw Madalina two days later when she went to bed.
Madalina missed nearly three weeks of school and on Dec. 15 Cojocari reported Madalina missing during a meeting with the school about the absences.
Since she was reported missing, police have searched her home repeatedly, combed Lake Cornelius, and asked residents of Madison County to come forward with information placing her parents in the area around the dates she disappeared. Detectives said they believed Cojocari was in the area sometime between Nov. 22 and Dec. 15.
Cojocari and Palmiter are expected in court on May 11.
Cornelius Police are asking the public to continue sharing photos of Madalina with the #findmadalina on social media.
Madalina was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes, and a white T-shirt and jacket. She is 4 feet, 10 inches, has dark brown hair and weighs about 90 pounds.
Investigators ask anyone with information on Madalina’s whereabouts to call the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI. To remain anonymous, call North Mecklenburg Crime Stoppers at 704-896-7867.
