Investigators confiscated cell phones and other items from home of missing 11-year-old girl, warrants show
By Jamiel Lynch and Chenelle Woody, CNN
Authorities investigating the disappearance of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari have confiscated three cell phones from her family’s North Carolina home, search warrants obtained Tuesday by CNN affiliate WCCB show.
Officers searched the family’s home in Cornelius in December and seized more than two dozen items, including the phones, the warrants reveal. Other items taken in the search were redacted from an inventory document.
The newly unsealed warrants were made public weeks after Madalina’s mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arrested and charged with failing to report her missing to law enforcement.
Madalina was seen on November 21 at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius, which is about 20 miles north of Charlotte.
Her mother said she saw the child at their home on November 23. The parents reported her missing to a school resource officer at her school on December 15, according to police.
Madalina was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes and a white T-shirt and jacket, authorities have said. The FBI described her as 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 90 pounds. A photo released to the public shows a smiling girl wearing a shirt that reads, “I can change the world with love.”
Diana Cojocari, 37, and Palmiter, 60, remain in custody at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, online records show.
CNN has been unable to reach either for comment. According to the probable cause affidavits filed by police in the case, both adults denied knowledge of Madalina’s whereabouts.
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CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.
