The mother of a missing 11-year-old girl said she believed her husband was “putting her family in danger” as a bonfire was found to burn for days after she disappeared — and the FBI released a handwritten note from the family asking for begged for help in finding her.
Madalina Cojocari was last seen on Nov. 21 exiting a school bus and disappeared on Nov. 23, her mother Diana Cojocari said.
On the day of her disappearance, Cojocari, 37, had been arguing with her husband Christopher Palmiter, 60, and Palmiter drove to Michigan that night in a rage.
Three days later, on November 26, Palmiter returned home to North Carolina and Cojocari told him that the young girl was missing from the home in Cornelius, a town just north of Charlotte.
Both Cojocari and Palmiter were arrested and charged with failing to report the disappearance: On Thursday, WCNC reported that Cojocari had told police she felt her husband was a threat.
Madalina Cojocari’s mother says she last saw her on Nov. 23 – three weeks days before she reported her missing to her school
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com shows Madalina had been missing for three weeks when her mother reported her missing
Madalina’s mother Diana Cojocari (left), 36, and stepfather Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested Dec. 17. Cojocari claims she last saw her daughter at 10 p.m. on Nov. 23. a trip to Michigan on November 24
It was not clear why Cojocari felt her husband – Madalina’s stepfather – was “putting her family at risk.”
Cojocari’s relatives in Moldova, where she was born, urged her to tell the police that the little girl was missing, but Cojocari resisted.
On Thursday, the FBI released a handwritten letter “from Madalina’s family” begging for help to find her.
They did not specify who the relatives were, or on which side of the family. Palmiter had relatives in Michigan, but Cojocari said there were no relatives in North Carolina and she didn’t know anyone who would want to visit Madalina.
“We love Madalina and are shocked by these circumstances,” the family letter reads.
“This is something no child or family should ever go through.”
The author described Madalina as a “beautiful, smart, kind and loving 11-year-old girl with greatness in her future.”
They added: ‘We are desperate for her right now, she needs all our help.
“We ask for your continued, positive support in spreading Madalina’s posters and photos far and wide.”
At 11:30 a.m. on November 24, Diana Cojacari claimed that she went to check on Madalina and found she was no longer in her bedroom
The letter came as DailyMail.com discovered the family had started a fire, setting couch cushions and other items on fire that burned for days in their backyard, in the days after she disappeared.
Neighbors recall seeing flames and smoke billowing from the yard of the Victoria Bay Drive home in late November, prompting calls to the police and fire department in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Cornelius fire chief Guerry Barbee confirmed to DailyMail.com the report of the fire, but declined to discuss details.
A neighbor who saw detectives search the house earlier this week told DailyMail.com that they spent hours outside.
“They took all kinds of samples from the hearth,” he said.
“I think they were trying to find out if they were burning something substantial there.
“It’s a dirty feeling to know something like this happened in your neighborhood,” he added.
“It’s very suspicious that the mother hasn’t reported the girl missing in two weeks.”
Another neighbor told DailyMail.com that the fire did not raise suspicion at the time because no one knew the girl was missing.
“If you don’t know the context that a girl is missing, it’s kind of a no-brainer of a phone call,” he said.
‘At the time it was more a question of fire safety or licensing.’
Investigators searched the Madalina family’s home, where her mother claims she was last seen sleeping
Investigators were seen excavating the front yard of her home, but have not disclosed if anything of interest was found
Madalina’s relatives in Moldova urged her mother to alert the police, but she refused
Cojocari did not report the little girl’s disappearance until nearly three weeks later, on December 15, fearing Palmiter’s reaction.
The police investigating the case noted that the kitchen in the family home had an area blocked with plywood, Queen City News reported. Palmiter said he built a separate apartment.
Palmiter told police he last saw Madalina a week before she disappeared.
Cojocari said that Madalina’s backpack and some of her clothes were missing from the house.
She told police that the young girl had no friends to stay with, and because she was from Moldova, she had no family nearby.
It is unclear how long Cojocari and her daughter have lived in the United States and when she married Palmiter.
Both Cojocari and Palmiter were arrested and charged with failing to report a missing child.
The FBI is now conducting a search and a spokesperson said “we won’t do anything to find her.”
On Tuesday, the FBI teamed up with the Cornelius Police Department to search the nearby lake
“As part of the normal investigation process, we are extending our search area beyond the home where Madalina was last seen to include Lake Cornelius,” police said on Tuesday.
Madalina was last seen getting off a school bus at her stop on Nov. 21, police say
“As part of the normal investigation process, we are extending our search area beyond the home where Madalina was last seen to include Lake Cornelius,” police said on Tuesday.
Court officials said during her first trial on Tuesday that Cojocari had so far “obstructed the investigation.”
They said she only “reluctantly” reported her daughter’s disappearance to the police.
Despite several calls from her school over the following weeks, no one got word that Madalina was missing.
On December 12, a Bailey Middle School staff member went to Cojocari’s home with a counselor.
There was no answer at the door, so they left a ‘truancy package’.
On December 14, Cojocari called the school counselor and told her she would take Madalina to school the next day.
At that meeting, Cojocari told the resource officer that Madalina had in fact been missing for weeks and was last seen going into her room to go to bed around 10 p.m. on November 23.
Cajocari also told school officials that she and her husband had an argument that night, leading him to drive to his childhood home in Michigan to retrieve his belongings.
It was at 11:30 am on November 24 that Cojacari went to check on Madalina and found that she was no longer in her bedroom.
When Palmiter returned at 7:00 pm on November 26, Cojacari told police she asked if he knew where Madalina was and he told her he did not.
After their arrest on December 17, the two were held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.
The police did a thorough search of their house and saw that they had dug out the garden of the fountain with shovels. It’s not clear if they found anything interesting.
Her stepfather Palmiter, who works as a mechanical designer at a machine manufacturer, is being held on $100,000 bond.
On Tuesday, Diana Cojocari’s bond was set at $250,000 and a condition was set that if she makes a bond, she will be placed under electronic surveillance.
Madalina is four feet tall, has dark brown hair and weighs about 200 pounds.
She was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes and a white t-shirt and jacket.
Anyone with information has been asked to call the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773.
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