This week, authorities investigating the disappearance of a North Carolina toddler revealed a video that appears to show her exiting a school bus on November 21, the last time she was officially seen before she disappeared.
Madalina Cojocari, 11, is now the subject of a wide-ranging search involving detectives from the Cornelius Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, according to a Tuesday news release that primarily introduced surveillance footage from a school bus.
According to Cornelius Police, the 20-second-long clip shows Cojocari walking along the center aisle of a bus, flanked by classmates, before exiting at her normal stop. Although the footage only confirms the child’s whereabouts until November 21, her mother and stepfather earlier informed authorities that she was last seen at their home on November 23, two days later.
Investigators are still seeking independent witnesses outside of Cojocari’s family who may be able to corroborate the parents’ testimonies or otherwise shed light on the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested and charged over the weekend for not reporting their daughter missing until December 15 – more than three weeks after she was last seen at home. In North Carolina, failing to notify the disappearance of a child to police enforcement is a Class I felony. At the Mecklenburg County Detention Center are both the mother and dad.
Staff at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools contacted Diana Cojocari “on multiple occasions” between November 23 and December 15 due to Madalina Cojocari’s extended absences from class, according to police. Diana reported the sixth-disappearance grader’s to the School Resource Officer at Bailey Middle School on December 15 “after repeated contact.”
According to authorities, Madalina Cojocari was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple, and white Adidas shoes, as well as a white T-shirt and jacket. She is 4’10” tall, weighs 90 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes, according to the investigators.
Monday, police said that, in conjunction with the FBI and state detectives, they had widened the search for Cojocari to include Lake Cornelius, an artificial lake that is approximately 30 miles long and 10 miles wide.
“As part of the standard investigation procedure, we are widening our search area to include Lake Cornelius. Madalina was last seen in her home. As a precaution, we are undertaking additional land and water searches. Nothing will stop us from #FindingMadalina “police said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7779 or the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
»Video shows 11-year-old girl getting off bus before to her disappearance«