MADALINA Cojocari cops have given a new update on the second anniversary of the child’s disappearance after her mother fled the country.
The schoolgirl was 11 when she vanished on November 21, 2022, after getting off her school bus.
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Madalina Cojocari vanished in November 2022Credit: Fox
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Her mother, Diana Cojocari, left the US for Moldova in SeptemberCredit: Facebook/Diana Cojocari
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Since then she has posted photos looking carefree and relaxedCredit: Facebook/Diana Cojocari
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Cornelius police chief David Baucom says officers are still working the caseCredit: Cornelius Police Department
Her mother, Diana Cojocari, reportedly left the US for either Romania or her native Moldova in September this year.
She had given police in her hometown of Cornelius, North Carolina, conflicting dates about when Madalina was last seen.
The young girl was last seen in security footage getting off a school bus near her home in Mecklenburg County, on the outskirts of Charlotte, at the start of the Thanksgiving break.
Now, two years on from her disappearance, police have released an update.
“The Cornelius Police Department has been actively investigating her disappearance for nearly two years,” David Baucom, Cornelius Chief of Police, told The U.S. Sun.
“CPD is committed to finding Madalina and our investigation will continue until she is found.”
Chief Baucom added that the force “still has Detectives assigned to the case, and we continue to work with our law enforcement partners at the FBI and NCSBI.”
He added: “Even though Diana Cojocari has returned to her home country of Moldova, our investigation continues.
“CPD asks anyone with information to please call the Cornelius Police Department,” the statement concluded.
Diana Cojocari and her stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, have both spent time in jail for not reporting Madalina missing.
They have both denied knowing where Madalina is.
In July, the Cornelius Police Department referred to Diana Cojocari as a suspect for the first time publicly in a social media post.
Days before the police statement, Madalina’s mother posted on Facebook and appeared to indicate she was leaving the country.
On July 6, a Facebook group called Where is Madalina Cojocari? uncovered an alleged Facebook photo of Diana Cojocari on a plane to Eastern Europe alongside her mother.
The post suggested she was flying to Germany and then on to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, which borders Moldova.
“On the way from New York JFK to Frankfurt then to Bucharest,” she wrote, accompanied by a selfie taken on board a plane.
“After nine years of absence from the country.”
She also shared a picture of a poem called “The Echo.”
The poem refers to a daughter looking for her mother.
“I’m calling my mother, you echo, who are you calling?” the poem reads.
Timeline of Madalina Cojocari’s disappearance
Madalina, 13, has been missing since November 2022, when her school grew worried that she hadn’t shown up for class. Her parents waited to report her missing for 21 days and they were eventually arrested.
November 21, 2022 – Madalina, then 11 years old, is seen in surveillance footage getting off her school bus in her last confirmed sighting.
November 23, 2022 – The day Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, claims she last saw her daughter. She said she put her to bed and she vanished the next morning.
November 26, 2022 – Diana confronts her husband, Chris Palmiter, when he returns from an out-of-town trip and asks if he knows where Madalina was. Both parents say they hadn’t seen her.
December 2, 2022 – Diana tells someone in a text message that she is with Madalina.
December 12, 2022 – A counselor from Bailey Middle School visits the Cojocari household after Madalina didn’t show up for class since November 21. No one answers the door.
December 15, 2022 – Diana comes to the school without Madalina and tells officials her daughter has been missing since November 23. This is 21 days after she allegedly last saw her daughter.
December 17, 2022 – Madalina’s mom and stepdad Chris Palmiter are arrested on Failure to Report a Child Disappearance charges.
May 21, 2024 – Diana is released from jail after changing her plea to guilty.
May 24, 2024 – The trial for Chris Palmiter begins.
May 31, 2024 – Palmiter was found guilty of failing to report Madalina missing.
June 25, 2024 – Diana Cojocari has been named a suspect in Madalina’s disappearance.
As she is only a suspect and hasn’t been charged, police cannot legally prevent her from leaving the country.
That same month, Madalina’s mom shared photographs from her new life after apparently fleeing the US.
One photo shows Diana holding a large sunflower as she smiles at the camera.
“Daddy’s Lui garden …” read the caption.
Another snap showed the mother wearing sunglasses and standing before a lake.
Diana also posted several photos of sunsets, landscapes, and lakes.
“Si asta e Romania,” read a caption, loosely translating to “And this is Romania.”
Other photos appear to be close-ups of flowers, which may be found in her father’s garden, according to a post.
In September, Diana Cojocari was confirmed to have left the US, according to Homeland Security Investigations, although it isn’t known exactly when she left the country.
Madalina’s parents waited three weeks before reporting the schoolgirl missing.
Diana was released in May because the maximum jail sentence was 24 months.
At that point, she had already spent 520 days in jail after being arrested in December 2022.
A $2,500 reward is still being offered in Madalina’s disappearance.
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Diana Cojocari’s mugshot after her arrest for failing to report her daughter’s disappearance