[no audio] [click] [no audio] [no audio] NARRATOR: On July 8, 2020, a North Carolina woman named Diana Cojocari posted a three-minute video on social media. In the video, she asks and then attempts to answer the question, "Is something wrong of being violent?" Here is a brief clip. DIANA: Is something wrong of being violent. It is nothing wrong. It is just a crude way of conducting life. If you say violence is bad, that means you'll end up rejecting a part of yourself, and you can never get rid of it. Because it will not go. It will come out in so many ways. People are very peaceful on the streets. But pretty violent at home. If they are not capable of physical violence, they're verbally violent, or they're violent in their thoughts, or emotions, or so many other ways. NARRATOR: Nearly two and a half years after Diana published the video, her 11-year-old daughter went missing under suspicious circumstances. ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩ ♬ ♬ ♩ ♩ ♬ ♬ ♩ ♩ ♬ ♪ This is a tragic case about a cheerful 11-year-old girl in North Carolina who appears to have vanished mysteriously. Although there is much uncertainty surrounding this matter, the Cornelius Police Department believes one thing is clear. Madalina Cojocari's parents have intentionally withheld critical information from them about their daughter's disappearance. Multiple agencies have worked together to gather evidence and inform the public, yet many questions remain. With that said, let's dive into the disturbing and frustrating case of Madalina Cojocari. [no audio] [♫ gentle acoustic guitar ♫] NARRATOR: Cornelius, North Carolina, is a major suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. According to the 2020 US census, the population is 31,412. It was initially named Liverpool but changed to Cornelius in honor of the wealthy benefactor Joseph Benjamin Cornelius. Cornelius is an affluent area. Median sale prices for Single Family Homes were $691,250 as of December 2022, with higher household incomes than the surrounding areas. Notable residents include Michael Jordan and several NASCAR drivers and politicians. Cornelius sits along Lake Norman, a massive man-made freshwater lake. It is 33.6 miles (54 km) long, with an average depth of 33.5 feet (10.2 m). Some areas are as deep as 110 feet (33.5 m). Many travelers come to Cornelius for its lake attractions. Visitors can rent boats, jet skis, or paddle boards at one of the marinas or explore lakeside parks and waterfront restaurants. This is the town where Diana Cojocari, her daughter Madalina, and husband Christopher Palmiter reside. [no audio] 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari was born in the Eastern European country of Moldova. Madalina and her mother emigrated to the United States in 2015 when she was four. Madalina currently attends Bailey Middle School and is presently in the sixth grade. Friends and family describe the young girl as smart, kind, cheerful, and loving. Like most kids her age, she enjoys ice cream. Above all, however, she has a passion for horses. [no audio] 37-year-old Diana Cojocari was born on March 31st, 1985. She hails from Moldova, considered one of the poorest European countries based on data from the International Monetary Fund. Her father worked as an educator, and her mother was an accountant. Diana completed a university education in Moldova, where she concentrated on the history of the Romanian and English languages. According to her LinkedIn account, she worked as a research analyst as well as an English language translator. Her last known employment was as an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay cosmetics. In 2014, three years after Madalina's birth, Diana participated in a weight loss show for a Moldovan online women's magazine. [woman speaking Romanian] [clapping] NARRATOR: Translating from the video's description: "We present to you the third participant of the project, 'Healthy Weight Loss': Diana Cojocari is 29 years old, and her weight problems started three years ago after she gave birth to a little girl. She rapidly gained weight, going from 119 pounds to 192 lbs! Many people tried to encourage her to lose weight, but without success. Before enrolling in the project, Diana had an irregular meal schedule and often skipped breakfast." Halfway through the show's filming, she connected with a man online named Christopher James Palmiter. Sometime in 2015, Diana and Madalina emigrated to the United States. Diana and Christopher were married months later, and the three began their life together as a family unit. [no audio] 60-year-old Christopher James Palmiter is a resident of Cornelius, North Carolina, by way of Michigan. He graduated from Grand Ledge High School. Afterward, he attended Lansing Community College, followed by Grand Valley State University. Christopher is a Mechanical Designer/Drafter by trade with more than 20 years of experience. According to his LinkedIn profile, he last worked at Ingersoll Rand as a mechanical designer until March 2020. Before his employment at Ingersoll, he worked for companies such as Troy Design, Prince Manufacturing, Aerotek, and B/E Aerospace. After his job loss in 2020, he began to sell engraved plaques online, often designed with military insignia. He has no criminal record. [no audio] According to Iosefina Pascal, a Romanian journalist who researched Diana's life in Moldova, Diana and Christopher met online in 2014 and became engaged soon after. Pascal stated, "They didn't know each other before the engagement. So all of this was abrupt and sudden. You meet a guy online, he's like 40 years older than you, he comes to Moldova, you suddenly get engaged." To be clear, the age gap between Diana and Christopher is 23 years, not 40. The couple married sometime between late 2015 to early 2016. In September 2017, they purchased a four-bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,500 square foot single-family home in the 18000 block of Victoria Bay Drive in Cornelius. The house has a current estimated market value of $470,000 based on recent sales of similar properties in the area. The family has lived there ever since. [no audio] Teachers described Madalina as a well-adjusted and bright student. She had been thriving in school until a string of unexcused absences beginning November 23rd. Bailey Middle School staff attempted to contact Diana "on multiple occasions" due to the attendance issue. Finally, on Monday, December 12th, the school's sixth-grade counselor and a resource officer visited Madalina's home. No one came to the door, so they left behind a truancy packet. Diana called the counselor two days later and agreed to meet on the 15th. She said she would bring her daughter with her at that time. However, when Diana arrived at the school on Thursday, December 15th, the 11-year-old was nowhere to be found. At that point, the school resource officer became involved. When questioned, Diana admitted that she hadn't seen or heard from Madalina in 22 days. The resource officer immediately escalated the matter to the Cornelius Police Department. Officers arrived at the school at 1:12 PM and began investigating Madalina's disappearance. According to an arrest report, Diana told officers she last saw her daughter on November 23rd at 10 PM, the night before Thanksgiving. Later that evening, Diana and Christopher got into a heated argument. On the morning after, which would be the 24th, Diana claims Christopher drove to a relative's house in Michigan, supposedly to "pick up items." The arrest report does not indicate what items were to be collected. Diana told officers that she went to Madalina's room to check on her at 11:30 AM on the 24th. That's when she realized her daughter was missing. Diana claimed she sat on that information until Christopher returned from his trip two days later. Furthermore, she told officers she asked Christopher if he knew of Madalina's whereabouts, and he asked her the same question. When officers asked Diana why she waited so long to notify police, she said she was worried it might start a conflict between her and her husband. She also told detectives that Christopher had "put my family in danger." There is no further discussion of what "the danger" entailed in the police report. Diana then contacted family members in Moldova, who urged her to call the police, but she did not heed their advice. Detectives then interviewed Christopher. He also stated that he went to Michigan to "pick up some items." However, he claimed the last time he saw Madalina was one week before Diana claimed to have last seen her. He said he returned to his residence on Saturday, November 26, to discover that Madalina was missing. He said he asked Diana if she had hidden Madalina, but didn't get a straight answer. He added that he and Diana discussed Madalina's whereabouts over the ensuing three weeks but insisted neither knew of her whereabouts. According to detectives, Christopher and Diana both acknowledged that they did not contact police about Madalina's disappearance until 22 days after she was reportedly last seen at home. Two days later, on Saturday, December 17, Madalina's mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arrested for failure to report Madalina's disappearance. [no audio] Following the arrests, authorities ramped up their investigation. The Federal and State Bureaus of Investigation became involved and helped canvass the local area. The Cojocari's home was searched by police at least three times, with numerous bags of evidence collected. In addition, officers spoke with neighbors, school personnel, and family members. The following timeline of events is pieced together from police reports, sworn statements, video footage, and court documents. On Monday, November 21st, authorities released video footage showing Madalina exiting a school bus at her stop at 4:59 PM. This was the last independently confirmed sighting of Madalina before she was reported missing, and it coincides with the date school officials last saw her in class. November 23rd is the evening of the argument between Diana and Christopher, and the 24th is when Diana claims she first realized Madalina was missing. Christopher reportedly returned from his Michigan trip on the 26th. According to a report by WCNC-TV, neighbors observed fires burning in the yard at Madalina's residence "at all hours" starting the day after Christopher returned from Michigan until the day of his arrest. Couch cushions were among the burned items. On December 12th, a school counselor visited Madalina's residence due to extended absences. They arrange to have a meeting on the 15th to discuss truancy. Diana arrived at the school on the 15th without Madalina. She acknowledged that her daughter had been missing for at least 22 days and the police became involved. After questioning, Diana and Christopher admitted they knew Madalina was missing and did not inform the police about her disappearance. On Friday, December 16, the FBI and SBI began searching the residence, including digging in the backyard. During a visit to the house, officers noticed some plywood covering an area of the kitchen. The probable cause affidavit does not state the exact location of the plywood, but here is an image of the kitchen's layout. The open entry leads to a dining area. When asked about this, Christopher stated they had planned to create a separate apartment. After that, police returned to the station to write their reports and determine what charges, if any, they were to assess Christopher and Diana. Then, after consulting with the local prosecutor, it was decided they would apply "Caylee's Law." In 2013, North Carolina enacted a version of "Caylee's Law," after the highly controversial Casey Anthony trial. Generally speaking, parents and other caregivers in North Carolina are required by law to report missing children within 24 hours of their disappearance. On December 17th, Christopher was arrested at 30 minutes past midnight. Diana was arrested ten hours later. Both parents are being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center. Christopher was given a $100,000 bond which was later increased to $200,000. Diana was given a bond of $250,000. The two will be required to surrender their passports and submit to electronic tracking if released on bail. [no audio] Two days after the arrests were made, Cornelius police expanded their search for Madalina to Lake Cornelius. On December 22nd, Madalina's extended family on her stepfather's side released a handwritten letter asking for assistance finding Madalina. A portion of the letter read, "Madalina is a beautiful, smart, kind, and loving 11-year-old girl with greatness in her future. We are desperate to find her right now, she needs all of our help." On December 27th, police issued the following update on social media. CAPTAIN THOMPSON: Good afternoon. I'm Captain Jennifer Thompson of the Cornelius Police Department. First, on behalf of our command staff, our town manager, and elected officials, I want to say thank you to all the agencies who are assisting us in our search for Madalina. Over the past 12 days, the Cornelius Police Department has led a massive investigation to find 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari. One of the challenges in this case, simply put, we were not notified she was gone. A delay of three weeks. School officials had repeatedly tried to contact Madalina's parents. Finally, on December 15th, Madalina's mother walked into school and said her daughter was missing. We immediately called in partners from across the state and from the FBI. Since that Thursday nearly two weeks ago, hundreds of agents, detectives, analysts, and other employees searched. In co-operation with the District Attorney's office, we arrested Madalina's mother, Diana Cojacari, and her stepfather, Christopher Palmiter. Thankfully the state of North Carolina has a law that makes it illegal if someone fails to report a missing child to law enforcement. Here are some of the specifics. Investigators have developed and followed nearly 250 leads, spanning across state lines and across the globe. We have interviewed hundreds of people in North Carolina and other states and again, across the globe. We went door-to-door to at least 245 homes, focusing on the Victoria Bay community where Madalina lives. We canvassed businesses and scoured through hours of surveillance video from all over the area. We also led land and water searches around Lake Cornelius as a precautionary measure. Investigators obtained multiple search warrant for Madalina's home to make sure we legally gathered each and every possible piece of evidence to find Madalina. We know everyone has a lot of questions. We also have questions, and are doing everything we can with proper legal authority to get those answers. We know you understand us sharing investigative details could harm our efforts in finding Madalina. The Cornelius Police Department is so grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support. This is a serious case of a child whose parents clearly are not telling us everything they know. Please call us if you have eyewitness information. Thank you for your time and efforts to help us find Madalina. NARRATOR: Ten days later, on January 6, 2023, authorities announced that Diana may have taken a trip to the mountains in Madison County, North Carolina, sometime between November 22nd and December 15. They asked anyone who may have seen Diana, or the silver pine-colored Toyota Prius she was believed to have been driving, to contact them. Based on this information, it would appear Christopher and Diana took separate trips away from home when Madalina initially went missing. Unfortunately, not many details are known about either of these trips. [no audio] On July 8, 2020, Diana posted a video to Facebook where she asked, in her words, "Is something wrong of being violent?" Here is the audio played in its entirety for full context. DIANA: Is something wrong of being violent. It is nothing wrong. It is just a crude way of conducting life. If you say violence is bad, that means you'll end up rejecting a part of yourself, and you can never get rid of it. Because it will not go. It will come out in so many ways. People are very peaceful on the streets. But pretty violent at home. If they are not capable of physical violence, they're verbally violent, or they're violent in their thoughts, or emotions, or so many other ways. So rejecting violence, it's not going to work. Evolving violence into a more sophisticated action, it is a need. The need is not for violence, and we people must understand. The need is for the intensity of these feeling. The feeling of being intense. The need for that intensity is always that there, somewhere inside you, stays that intensity. The need of expressing yourself. That special part of you in every human being. If you do not refine that need for intensity, manifesting yourself in your special manner, and manage to experience that intensity by simply sitting in the medi- meditativeness. By simply going into the moment of your perfect happiness. Remember the moments when you were perfectly happy in your childhood. By going into these kind of meditation, that will help you bring into the present moment -- wherever you are, whatever you do -- just by sitting in the meditation and bringing that peace from your childhood, and the moment when you are perfectly happy will make you change your ways. Will help you calm down. Will help you feel better, secure, and right where you are supposed to be. You'll find peace in your heart, and your mind, and your soul, and that will help you re-create, re-organize your life, and put that intensity that is in you into a positive manner. This is the moment of the perfect happiness. Remember that moment, and always protect it. Appreciate God, and tell God that you are thankful for having this possibility of being yourself. NARRATOR: Many in the online community are divided on the meaning of this speech. Some believe it is harmless, and Diana appears to have been saying, in a crude way, that the desire to commit violence should not be viewed as an entirely negative trait; instead, it is a form of energy that can and should be harnessed to positive ends. Yet others believe there may be something more nefarious behind the message, particularly how she described people as generally "pretty violent at home." [no audio] According to an article published by The Daily Mail dated January 2nd, 2023, "Locals described [Christopher] as a far-right, deep-state propagandist who filled his Facebook feed with pictures of armed warriors, the American flag, and Bible quotes." He also shared links to deep-state podcasts with neighbors. He boasted about owning a cache of guns. One neighbor stated, "He had a s**t ton of guns, and said if anything went down, he'd be ready. I mentioned that to the officers. But they said they didn't find any firearms in the home." Once again, before his arrest on December 17, Christopher had no known record of violence or criminal behavior outside of traffic infractions. Diana described herself on LinkedIn as an independent beauty consultant selling Mary Kay Cosmetics. However, multiple neighbors said they'd never seen her selling. In fact, they said, she'd rarely be seen in public. "She was quiet, reserved," one neighbor said. "We'd see her outside once in a while, but she really would not make eye contact. I got kind of an icy feeling from her, but I really couldn't put my finger on it. I'd mostly just see the stepdad and the daughter. I thought that was a little bit odd." It was Christopher who'd be seen strolling with Madalina through the neighborhood as she played with toys. He was the one who took her trick-or-treating on Halloween. [no audio] A missing child turns a family's world upside down. Ask any parent who has briefly lost their child while shopping or running an errand, only to be reunited moments later. The sense of panic a parent typically feels when a child is missing is beyond compare, and every second without them feels like hours. But, unfortunately, that does not seem to be the story in Madalina's case, as according to police, her mother and stepfather continue to withhold valuable information about her disappearance. As of the date of this upload, the search for Madalina is still active and ongoing. Many questions remain unanswered in the two months since she was last seen on video. Where is Madalina? What happened during the three weeks before she was reported missing? Would the parents have reported her missing had the school not gotten involved? What do you suspect happened to the eleven-year-old? As usual, feel free to share your thoughts below. [no audio] ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩ ♬ ◢ Captioned by Pineapples Foster Media Services ◣ ◹ YouTube: @PFMediaServices ◸ ◣ Twitter: @annasfoster ◢