The stepfather of a missing 11-year-old girl has said he believes her mother sent his stepdaughter to be with her Moldovan family.
Christopher Palmiter, 61, had previously claimed that he did not know where his stepdaughter Madalina Cojocari was after the young woman disappeared in Cornelius, North Carolina, on November 21, 2022.
But during testimony heard during his weeklong trial, an FBI analyst showed telephone and email evidence that suggested Palmiter knew Madalina was missing and where she might be.
Both Palmiter and the girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 38, were accused of failing to report a girl missing on Dec. 15 of the same year after waiting nearly a month before alerting authorities about her disappearance. .
“I think Diana took her somewhere to her Moldovan family,” Palmiter testified at trial. “I think Diana has hidden it somewhere where they won’t find it.”
Christopher Palmiter, 61, had previously said he did not know where his stepdaughter Madalina was. But he told prosecutors that he has a theory about where she might be.
Madalina disappeared in Cornelius, North Carolina, on November 21, 2022.
Search warrants revealed in 2023 suggest that Diana, along with her mother, had contacted a distant relative to ask if he could help her “smuggle” her and her daughter out of their home in Cornelius before Madalina would disappear.
Palmiter’s actions were a large part of the reason Madalina could be located, according to the prosecutor.
“He was the person who was tasked with supervising her and he failed,” prosecutor Austin Butler said during closing arguments in court. “That’s why he’s sitting in this seat.”
Madalina was last seen getting off a school bus in Cornelius, near Charlotte, on November 21, 2022. Authorities have not been able to find her since.
Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 38, says she last saw her daughter at 10:00 p.m. on November 23.
Madalina was born in Moldova and was in sixth grade at Bailey Middle School.
On the night of November 23, 2022, Diana and Palmiter argued. Madalina was believed to be in her room around 10pm that night.
The next morning, the 11-year-old boy was gone, according to an affidavit. The couple reported him missing on December 15 of that year.
The state cited the fact that Palmiter had been working remotely from home several days a week and should have been aware that the girl was missing.
The idea that he could have been in the house for three weeks and not know it is ridiculous, the state told the judge.
Palmiter’s weeklong trial ended Friday, with the jury taking just 15 minutes to reach a verdict, reports fox 8.
Madalina was seen in footage of the school bus leaving her stop on Nov. 21, police say.
Both Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter were arrested on charges in December 2022 of failing to report a missing child. to the police.
The couple admitted to telling police they had last seen their daughter in late November, two days after she was last seen on surveillance footage.
Palmiter’s defense lawyers had argued that Diana had assured him that his stepdaughter was safe at the time of her disappearance, noting that he believed she had manipulated him.
In December last year, Dailymail.com revealed that Madalina’s parents were seen lighting a fire and burning sofa cushions and other items in their backyard when she was officially last seen.
The mother of Madalina Cojocari, of Cornelius, North Carolina, says she last saw her on Nov. 23, three weeks before the 11-year-old girl was reported missing from her school.
Stepfather Christopher Palmiter, 61, and the missing girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 38, were charged with failing to report a missing girl on December 17, 2022.
Palmiter was sentenced by the Mecklenburg County Judge to serve 30 months of suspended supervised probation.
Investigators searched Madalina’s family home, where her mother claims she was last seen.
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com reveals that Madalina had been missing for three weeks when her mother reported her missing.
Neighbors recalled seeing flames and smoke coming from the yard of the Victoria Bay Drive home in late November, prompting calls to police and the Cornelius Fire Department.
Another neighbor told DailyMail.com that the fire was not that bad at the time because no one knew the girl was missing.
“If you don’t know the context in which a girl disappeared, it’s an unimportant call,” he said. “At the time, it was more of a fire safety or permitting issue.”
Palmiter was sentenced by the Mecklenburg County Judge to serve 30 months of suspended supervised probation.