CORNELIUS, N.C. — Newly unsealed search warrants in the case of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari reveal that on Dec. 16, 2022 surveillance photos of a child and man in Sugar Mountain "were physically consistent" with the missing girl and her only known blood relative in the United States. A police report also indicated the pair were spotted at a Lowe’s Foods in Linville.
"I think that's the biggest thing and I would certainly be interviewing that person looking for other camera video, who he was with that day," said Dr. Roy Taylor, a law enforcement consultant.
The records, released to WCNC Charlotte Tuesday after remaining under seal for months, also show police intentionally housed the girl's stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, with a confidential informant in jail and later seized his jail notebooks.
"It is a technique that's used, that they put a confidential informant on purpose in the cell with the other person, hopefully, to gain some admissions," Taylor said.
In addition, court records show during a recorded jail call, the girl's mother Diana Cojocari discussed a big bag of money and withdrawing cash with her mother, "and a theory that Chris gave the girl away for money."
A search warrant returned in late December shows investigators seized four items from the girl's home that the courts have redacted. During that search, they were looking for evidence of a missing person, including but not limited to clothing, weapons, bodily fluids, hair, and fiber, among other things.
Here is what we can add to the timeline after several search warrants were unsealed:
In a text message on Dec. 2, Diana indicated that she was with her daughter Madalina.
- Dec. 3: Diana was seen at a service station in Hickory getting an oil change. The attendant verified to police there were children’s toys in the car but did not see a child around.
- On Dec. 4, Diana traveled toward the North Carolina mountains claiming to be searching for Madalina.
- Again, on Dec. 16, Madalina and a possible family member may have been spotted in Linville.
In addition, the Cornelius Police Department was able to secure one of Palmiter's old hard drives after receiving a tip from a computer repair business. The business was hired by the stepfather to replace the hard drive. It was kept at the business per their policy.
The search warrants also revealed recorded conversations between Palmiter, his brother, and his sister-in-law. Palmiter mentioned that Diana had a lot of cash with her and he did not know where it came from. He also shared concerns about “financial stuff” coming up. His brother told him not to worry about the “financial stuff.”
Taylor said all inmates know their phone calls and communications are monitored and it would not be in their interest to say anything incriminating.
“I don't know if it's an effort on both their parts to deny their involvement and they are both involved, or one's telling the truth and one isn't,” Taylor said. “Again, it's just going to be a matter of time and looking at the financial records.”
Banking and credit card documents have been seized and police are looking for any patterns or signs of activity that link back to Madalina’s disappearance
“If there are any other close family members, I would have also tried to get a search warrant for their accounts,” he said. “So this is obviously involving more than just the mother and the stepfather. They have co-conspirators. The quicker they're identified and look at their records for any type of inculpatory information would be beneficial.”
Investigators also uncovered a Facebook message between Palmiter and a family member saying quote “We are in some kind of investigation, Madi is missing and the local police have taken all of our electronics luckily I have an old phone. Although they did not take my personal computer, probably because they overlooked it. Diana is using it now to call her parents.”
With Madalina still missing, Cornelius police are encouraging the public to continue to share Madalina’s photo and her story in an effort to help find her and bring her home.
What happened to Madalina?
Since Madalina was last seen, the story of her disappearance has raised more questions than answers, with conflicting dates and statements from her mother and stepfather.
Cojocari claimed she actually last saw Madalina at home on Nov. 23, 2022, around 10 p.m. when she went to bed. She reportedly told Bailey Middle School officials Madalina had been missing since Nov. 22 at noon after she arrived at the school without Madalina.
As police continue their search for Madalina, one lead they have been looking into were reports that she may be a victim of human trafficking.
Search warrants obtained by WCNC Charlotte reveal Madalina's mother asked a distant relative if he would help with "smuggling" her and Madalina away. She also told him she was in a "bad relationship" with her husband Christopher Palmiter and that she wanted a divorce.
According to the warrants, investigators reviewed phone records revealing "extensive communication on Dec. 2, 2022" with that relative. That person's phone records showed "multiple calls to phone numbers belonging to unidentified targets involved in ongoing T3 drug/narcotic trafficking investigations."
WCNC Charlotte has learned a "T3" investigation involves a wiretap of a phone.
The warrants show drugs were not found in the car or house this time, but it’s unclear if they were during other searches, that information was redacted from previous court documents.
Madalina’s parents have now been in custody for over five months on felony charges of failing to report her missing.
Both maintain they do not know what happened to Madalina.
Cornelius Police are asking anyone with information on Madalina's disappearance to give detectives a call at 704-892-7773.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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