CORNELIUS, N.C. — Investigators are continuing to try and find out what happened to Madalina Cojocari, a Bailey Middle School student who went missing in November 2022, but say that reported sightings of her have proved not to be her.
The Cornelius Police Department says they have received numerous tips about possible sightings of Cojocari but all have been determined to be false. This announcement comes just two days after search warrants relating to her disappearance were unsealed in Mecklenburg County.
In the search warrants, investigators describe a lead on a child that looked like Cojocari with her only known blood relative in the United States. Police also said they were looking into a tip of a possible Cojocari sighting in California earlier this month.
However, police doubled down on Thursday, saying that Cojocari was last seen getting off a school bus on Nov. 21, 2022.
Cojocari was not reported missing to police until mid-December 2022 after school officials called her mother, Diana Cojocari in for a truancy meeting. Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter, Madalina's stepfather, were both arrested in the following days. They are both charged with failing to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement and remain in jail.
Since then, the case has drawn national attention and raised more questions than answers.
Tuesday's search warrants revealed more into the investigation, including searches at the family's home, a jail notebook collected from Palmiter, and conversations between Palmiter and family members.
What happened to Madalina?
Cojocari claimed she actually last saw Madalina at home on Nov. 23, 2022, around 10 p.m. when she went to bed. She reportedly told Bailey Middle School officials Madalina had been missing since Nov. 22 at noon after she arrived at the school without Madalina.
As police continue their search for Madalina, one lead they have been looking into were reports that she may be a victim of human trafficking.
Search warrants obtained by WCNC Charlotte reveal Madalina's mother asked a distant relative if he would help with "smuggling" her and Madalina away. She also told him she was in a "bad relationship" with her husband Christopher Palmiter and that she wanted a divorce.
According to the warrants, investigators reviewed phone records revealing "extensive communication on Dec. 2, 2022" with that relative. That person's phone records showed "multiple calls to phone numbers belonging to unidentified targets involved in ongoing T3 drug/narcotic trafficking investigations."
WCNC Charlotte has learned a "T3" investigation involves a wiretap of a phone.
The warrants show drugs were not found in the car or house this time, but it’s unclear if they were during other searches, that information was redacted from previous court documents.
Both maintain they do not know what happened to Madalina.
Cornelius Police are asking anyone with information on Madalina's disappearance to give detectives a call at 704-892-7773.