Madalina Cojocari’s stepfather reveals where he thinks the missing 11-year-old girl is after he was found guilty for not reporting her disappearance for weeks: ‘She’s not going to be found’

The stepfather of a missing 11-year-old girl has said he believes his stepdaughter was sent away by her mother to be with her Moldovan family.

Christopher Palmiter, 61, had previously claimed he did not know where stepdaughter Madalina Cojocari was after the youngster disappeared in Cornelius, North Carolinaon November 21, 2022.

But during the testimony he heard during his week-long trial, An FBI The analyst showed both telephone and email evidence showing Palmiter knew Madalina was missing – and where she might be.

Both Palmiter and the girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 38, were charged with failing to report a missing child on December 15 of the same year, after waiting almost a month before notifying authorities of her disappearance.

“I think Diana took her somewhere with her Moldovan family,” Palmiter testified during the trial. “I believe Diana has hidden her somewhere where she won’t be found.”

Christopher Palmiter, 61, had previously said he did not know where stepdaughter Madalina was. But he told prosecutors he has a theory about where she might be

Madalina disappeared on November 21, 2022 in Cornelius, North Carolina

Search warrants unsealed in 2023 suggest that Diana, along with her mother, had contacted a distant relative to ask if he would help “smuggle” both her and her daughter from their Cornelius home before Madalina disappeared.

Prosecutors say Palmiter’s actions were a large part of the reason Madalina was able to be located.

“He was the person supervising her, and he failed to do that,” the prosecutor said Austin Butler said during closing arguments in court. “That’s why he’s in this chair.”

Madalina was last seen getting off a school bus on November 21, 2022 in Cornelius, near Charlotte. Authorities have been unable to find her since.

Madalina’s mother Diana Cojocari, 38, claims she last saw her daughter on November 23 at 10 p.m.

Madalina was born in Moldova and was a sixth grader at Bailey Middle School.

On the night of November 23, 2022, Diana and Palmiter got into an argument. Madalina was supposed to be in her bedroom that evening around 10 p.m.

The next morning, the 11-year-old was gone, according to an affidavit. The couple reported her missing on December 15 that year.

The state cited the fact that Palmiter had been working remotely from home several days a week and should have been well aware that the girl had disappeared.

The idea that he could have been in the home for three weeks and not been known is laughable, the state told the judge.

Palmiter’s weeklong trial ended Friday, with the jury taking just 15 minutes to reach a verdict, reports said Fox 8.

Madalina was seen in footage of school buses pulling out of her stop on Nov. 21, police say

Both Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter were arrested in December 2022 on charges of failure to report a missing child to the police.

The pair admitted to telling police they last saw their daughter in late November, two days after she was last seen on surveillance footage.

Palmiter’s lawyers had argued that Diana had reassured him that his stepdaughter was safe at the time of her disappearance, noting that he believed she had manipulated him.

In December last year, Dailymail.com revealed that Madalina’s parents had started a fire and set fire to couch cushions and other items in their backyard around the time she was last officially seen.

The mother of Madalina Cojocari, from Cornelius, North Carolina, says she last saw her on November 23 – three weeks before the 11-year-old girl was reported missing from her school

Stepfather Christopher Palmiter, 61, and the missing girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari, 38, were charged on December 17, 2022, with failure to report a missing child.

Palmiter was sentenced by a Mecklenburg County judge to 30 months of supervised probation

Investigators searched Madalina’s family home, where her mother claims she was last seen

An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com shows that Madalina had been missing for three weeks when her mother reported her missing

Neighbors recalled seeing flames and smoke billowing from the yard of the Victoria Bay Drive home in late November, prompting calls to police and firefighters in Cornelius.

Another neighbor told DailyMail.com that the fire was not a big deal at the time because no one knew the girl was missing.

“If you don’t know the context of a girl going missing, it’s kind of a no-good call,” he said. “At the time it was more of a fire safety or permitting issue.”

Palmiter was sentenced by a Mecklenburg County judge to 30 months of supervised probation.