CORNELIUS, N.C. — A prayer vigil was held Tuesday night for Madalina Cojocari, the missing 11-year-old girl from Cornelius, North Carolina.
The gathering began at 7 p.m. at Smithville Park located at 19710 South Ferry Street in Cornelius. The park is located near Catawba Ave. just east of Interstate 77 and Route 21 (Statesville Road).
Cojocari has not been seen since before Thanksgiving but she was not reported missing until Dec. 15.
Her mother, Diana Cojocari, and her stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arrested on Dec. 17 for failure to report the girl missing.
Community members say they want to do their part to make sure Madalina is found safe.
“Just the outpouring of love and prayers that everyone wants to be a part of this really touches us even more and hopefully that’ll help the parents open up even more," community members Shelia Richardson said.
The Victoria Bay neighborhood in Cornelius, where the family lives, is described as a quiet, tight-knit community and neighbors are concerned that this could happen so close to home.
“When situations like this happen it raises a couple questions marks and my biggest fear is I don’t want to see something like this happen again, but it’s a disturbing reality that something like this happened in our neighborhood," neighbor Levon Handsome said.
The FBI, who is assisting the Cornelius Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, released video Monday of Madalina Cojocari getting off the school bus on Nov. 21. Investigators say this is the last time and place they can independently account for the girl's whereabouts.
Investigators have been trying to piece together a timeline of the girl's whereabouts. An arrest sheet first seen publicly Tuesday highlights some of the inconsistencies and gaps. The document is a summary of narratives and interviews given to officials by the parents.
The girl was last seen at Bailey Middle School on Monday, Nov. 21, the same day the school bus surveillance video was recorded.
The girl's mother told investigators she last saw the girl around 10 p.m. the follow night while the girl's stepfather said he didn't see her for days ahead of her disappearance.
Cojocari is described as an 11-year-old white female, weighing 90 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, according to police. She was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple, and white Adidas shoes, and a white T-shirt and jacket.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Madalina Cojocari is asked to contact the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773.