A newly unsealed search warrant in the case of missing 12-year-old Madalina Cojocari reveals that her mother, who was arrested for failing to report the girl’s disappearance, and grandmother discussed a theory that the child’s stepfather had given her away for money.
Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 37, and her stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested on December 17 for failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement, police said.
The Mecklenburg District Attorney’s Office told CNN there are no new charges in the case.
Madalina, who would now be 12 years old, was last seen at her home in Cornelius, North Carolina, about 20 miles north of Charlotte, on November 23, but her parents took until December 15 to report her missing to a resource officer at Bailey Middle School, where she attended.
Both Cojocari and Palmiter are being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, according to records.
CNN has reached out to Palmiter’s public defender, Brandon Roseman, and Cojocari’s public defender, Susan Weigand, for comment on their behalf. According to the probable cause affidavits filed by police in the case, both adults denied knowledge of Madalina’s whereabouts.
According to the warrant, issued in March of this year, Madalina’s mother and grandmother discussed a theory that Palmiter “gave the girl away for money” during a recorded jail phone call. They also discussed a “bag with money” and “withdrawing cash,” the warrant says.
Investigators then asked for access to bank records, the warrant shows, which they believed would “allow investigators to establish a financial pattern for Chris Palmiter and may contain information pertaining to the disappearance of Madalina.”
FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/us/madalina-cojocari-missing-north-carolina-warrant/index.html
