Madalina Cojocari went missing 2 years ago. Cornelius police chief says search continues
The chief of Cornelius police marked the the two-year anniversary of Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance with a video update Thursday morning, saying the department is continuing its search for her.
“We continue to work it just as hard today as we always have,” Chief David Baucom said in the two-minute video. “We continue to search for Madalina and we won’t stop until we find her.”
Madalina was last seen on Nov. 21, 2022, when she was getting off the school bus. She was 11 at the time.
Baucom said police interviewed her mother, Diana Cojocari, after she was released from jail in May, but it did not lead to Madalina. Diana Cojocari, 39, then moved to her home country of Moldova, the chief said.
Madalina’s case started about a month before Baucom took over as Cornelius police chief. He said he’s been consumed by it since.
Her mother and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 61, didn’t report her missing until Dec. 15, 2022, when school officials confronted them. Each gave conflicting statements about what happened to the girl.
They were charged with failing to report the disappearance of a child.
Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to the charge in May, but had already served 17 months in jail in pretrial detention, so she was released.
A jury found Palmiter guilty of the failing-to-report charge, also in May. A judge sentenced him to 30 months of supervised probation; he had already served 244 days in jail.
Gov. Roy Cooper offered a reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Contact the Cornelius Police Department at (704) 892-1363 or the State Bureau of Investigation at (919) 662-4500.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 1:19 PM.
