Madalina Cojocari’s mattress, Halloween costume burned in firepit before her disappearance was reported, still-missing girl’s stepdad told cops

Recently-released search warrants in the case of a North Carolina girl who has been missing for more than two years have shed more light onto the police investigation into her disappearance.

Reports from Charlotte Fox affiliate WGHP and ABC affiliate WSOC share about 30 search warrants obtained relating to the late-2022 disappearance of Madalina Cojocari. The child was last seen on surveillance footage leaving the school bus for her home in the town of Cornelius on Nov. 21, 2022, and it was not until the middle of the following month that authorities discovered her disappearance — because she was absent from school.

Scrutiny quickly fell on her mother Diana Cojocari and stepfather Christopher Palmiter, who were charged with failing to report her missing. Cops accused the couple of withholding information. The criminal cases against the couple reached their conclusion last year, with Cojocari pleading guilty and Palmiter losing at his trial.

According to the warrants, Palmiter told a Cornelius Police Department police detective the day Madalina was reported missing — Dec. 15, 2022 — that several of the 11-year-old girl’s items had been burned in the firepit outside their home. The items reportedly included her mattress, clothing, a Halloween costume, family photos and carpet from a room upstairs.

Another warrant reportedly unearthed a 10-minute conversation over WhatsApp between Cojocari and a priest from her home country of Moldova. She also allegedly sent the man $4,000 in the weeks following her daughter’s disappearance.

Local NBC affiliate WCNC reported cops also seized a phone believed to belong to Madalina not long after the girl was reported missing. Investigators reportedly recovered 37 unread messages on Discord, a popular app used by gamers — but also, according to police, by people looking to sexually exploit children.

“This investigation involves the believed sexual exploitation of minor child victim,” one of the warrants reportedly said.

After Palmiter’s conviction, his defense lawyer, Brandon Roseman, maintained the stepfather’s innocence in Madalina’s disappearance.

“You heard the state say Palmiter was her father,” Roseman said in closing arguments, according to WCNC. “Yes, Palmiter wanted to be her father. He loved her, and he wants her back. He just doesn’t know where she is. Diana never told him.”

As previously reported, Diana Cojocari allegedly told cops that she last saw her daughter on Nov. 23, 2022, and that when she went to check on her on Nov. 24, which was Thanksgiving, Madalina was not in her room.

“Diana Cojocari stated she waited until Saturday, November 26th at 1900 hours, when Christopher Palmiter returned home [from a Michigan road trip] before asking if he knew where Madalina was,” police wrote.

Palmiter claimed not to know and he asked Diana the same question, defendant Cojocari allegedly said.

“I [the affiant] asked Diana why she did not report Madalina missing until now,” authorities said. “Diana stated she was worried it might start a ‘conflict’ between her and Christopher.”

If Madalina is indeed alive today, she would be 13 years old.

Palmiter’s defense painted Diana Cojocari as controlling and manipulative. Roseman reportedly said that it appeared that Diana Cojocari planned on leaving town, based on the $8,000 and passport authorities discovered in her purse.

During the early days of Madalina’s disappearance, the mother kept Palmiter in the dark by claiming that Madalina was sick in her own room, the defense maintained. Diana Cojocari placed Flonase around the home to make Palmiter think Madalina was sick, and she stopped him from bringing a slice of pizza to the child, instead taking it and saying she would bring it herself.

Jurors saw video in which Palmiter told cops that he believed Madalina was in her room after he returned from his road trip.

The state emphasized Palmiter’s own legal responsibility to caring for Madalina. Jurors should find him guilty if he did not know Madalina’s whereabouts and had no contact with her for more than 24 hours, the prosecution said.

“He’s the only father she ever had,” the state said.

Since Palmiter already spent about eight months in jail, the judge suspended a sentence of six to 17 months behind bars, but put him on 30 months of supervised probation. At the time of her guilty plea, Diana Cojocari already spent the maximum time behind bars. She did not testify at Palmiter’s trial. She reportedly left the country following her conviction.

Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.