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On Tuesday, December 20, the FBI released a video of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, showing her getting off a school bus before she disappeared in North Carolina last month.
Madalina Cojocari, a sixth grader at Bailey Middle School, was last seen at her North Carolina home on November 23, 2022. Authorities said the 11-year-old’s mother and stepfather did not report her missing to the school’s resource officer until December 15, who notified law enforcement.
The FBI, who are assisting the Cornelius Police Department in the investigation of the missing girl, released a video showing Cojocari wearing a plain t-shirt and a backpack, getting off of a school bus shortly before 5 pm on November 21. The FBI, who posted the video on Twitter, said:
"This is the last time investigators have independent confirmation of when Madalina was last seen. She got off the bus on 11-21-22, at 4:59 p.m. We are seeking additional witnesses outside of the family to narrow down the exact timeline of when she disappeared."
Madalina Cojocari was reported missing three weeks after her disappearance
On Tuesday afternoon, FBI Charlotte shared a video that showed Madalina Cojocari getting off a school bus two days before she disappeared on November 23.
Madalina Cojocari was reported missing on December 15, three weeks after she was last seen by her mother, Diana Cojocari, in their North Carolina home. However, Cojocari’s stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, told police that he hadn’t seen his stepdaughter since a week before his trip to Michigan on November 23.
Diana Cojocari reported her daughter missing after a Bailey Middle School resource officer and a counselor showed up at their house on December 12 to check on their daughter, who was absent from school for weeks. The parents reportedly did not answer their door when school officials dropped in for a welfare check.
Shortly after the school alerted law enforcement about Cojocari’s disappearance, Diana Cojocari told the police that she last saw her daughter on November 23 before she went to bed.
Diana Cojocari, who had not seen her daughter since then, told the police that she and her husband had an argument on November 23 and assumed that her daughter was being hidden by him. However, she did not ask her husband about her daughter’s whereabouts until November 26, despite not having seen her for days.
As per WSOC, Diana Cojocari told the police that she did not notify the police immediately as she did want the investigations into her daughter’s disappearance to create contention between her and her husband.
On December 17, police arrested Cojocari’s stepfather and her mother for failing to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement. Authorities are still trying to locate the missing girl.
