A detective leading the hunt for the North Carolina schoolgirl, Madalina Cojocari, said she believes the 11-year-old is still alive more than a year after she was last seen getting off her school bus.
“I believe he’s alive – I do, I do,” Major Jennifer Thompson, second in command at the Cornelius Police Department, told WCCB about her team’s biggest case.
“I believe in my heart. And it’s not one of those feelings where it’s just what I want to believe – it’s really what I believe,” he said firmly.
“I think it would hurt Madalina if we lose hope – we won’t do that.”
The sixth-grader was last spotted getting off a school bus in November 2022 — but her mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, didn’t report her missing for weeks, spoiling the crucial early days of the search.
Thompson was the first officer to question the couple, who were both arrested last December for failing to report their child missing.
The 11-year-old girl was last seen on school bus surveillance footage in November 2022. Major Jennifer Thompson said she believes Madalina Cojocari is still alive.
“I won’t comment specifically on their attitude, but … none of them reported him missing,” the official said. “So you can take it for whatever you want.”
He was equally vague about what officers saw during the search of the family’s home, saying he could not “detail specifically what we saw and what we noticed or what felt odd in the house.
“But, it was Madalina’s house, so we knew that’s where we had to start the investigation,” he said.
While the girl’s mother is in jail, with a court date set for February, the stepfather was released on bail in August.
The girl’s mother, Diana Cojocari did not report her missing for weeks. Cornelius Police Department The girl’s stepfather Christopher Palmiter. Cornelius Police Department
Asked if more leads might emerge if the pair were let free, Thompson insisted: “I stand by the decision we made in arresting the parents.”
The top cop sounded emotional as he sent a direct message to the missing pre-teen.
“I want Madalina to know that there are a lot of people looking out for her,” Thompson said. “There’s a lot of law enforcement work in this to bring him home, and if he can see that, I want him to know that he has a whole community that loves him and an agency that is committed to bringing him home.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
