By Jerald Jimenez
Jun 26, 2024, 3:38 PM EDT
A North Carolina mother is listed as a suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of her 11-year-old daughter, which occurs approximately a month after she was released from jail.
The person involved, identified as Diana Cojocari, 37, spent 520 days behind bars for not reporting the disappearance of her daughter, Madalina Cojocari, for 21 days, after having last been seen getting off a school bus in November. of 2022 while he was in sixth grade.
According to Cornelius police reports, Diana and the girl’s stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were taken into custody and charged with failing to report Madalina missing. The woman eventually pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a maximum of 24 months in jail, minus the 520 days she had served since her arrest, WCNC reported.
While Diana served her sentence and was released in May, Palmiter maintained his innocence, but was found guilty of failing to report the girl’s disappearance, for which he received a sentence of 30 months of supervised probation.
However, investigators suspect that Diana is involved in her daughter’s disappearance and could have crucial information about the event. Despite suspicions, the woman has not yet been formally charged with any additional crimes.
Diana reported her daughter missing on December 15, 2022, after a school resource officer at Bailey Middle School questioned her about the girl’s absence from school. The last time she was seen was on November 21 of that year.
Diana told detectives that she had not seen her daughter since she went to her room on November 23, 2022, adding that she and her ex-boyfriend visited her family in Michigan. The next day, Diana realized that her daughter was no longer there. The suspect told a detective that she “believed her husband put her family in danger” the night Madalina disappeared.
Investigators, since the woman was released, have published a flyer with the image of Diana with her missing daughter and suspect that she may have information or be involved in her daughter’s disappearance.