NC NC - Madalina Cojocari, 11, reported Missing Dec 2022 three Weeks After Last Seen, Cornelius, *Parents Arrested* #2

[MsMarple]

Cops return to Madalina Cojocari home to investigate backyard firepit

DailyMail.com photos and videos show lawyer and private investigators examining the burn pit on Friday. One investigator later emerged carrying a carrier case for a cat.

www.dailymail.co.uk

That's quite an article.

He boasted to neighbors about owning a cache of guns and, during the George Floyd protests, threatened to use his weapons if any protester showed up at his house.

'He had a s**t ton of guns, and said if anything went down, he'd be ready,' a neighbor said. 'I mentioned that to the officers. But they said they didn't find any firearms in the home.'

Cojocari, for her part, described herself on LinkedIn as an independent beauty consultant selling Mary Kay Cosmetics. However, neighbors said they'd never seen her selling. In fact, they said, she'd rarely be seen in public.
...
'I'd mostly just see the stepdad and the daughter. I thought that was a little bit odd.'

It was Palmiter who'd be seen strolling with Madalina through the neighborhood, wearing a Michigan State sweatshirt as she played with toys. He was the one who took her trick-or-treating on Halloween.
...
'I heard through the grapevine they practiced some weird religion, and I mentioned this to the FBI,' one neighbor told DailyMail.com. 'One of the investigators responded, 'Oh yeah, there's definitely some sun worshipping going on in there.'

Before the arrests, the couple's greatest issue with locals came from a more mundane issue – they had an abundance of cats that would roam the streets, drawing complaints from the neighborhood association.

 

[SpicyFruit]

Great find @SpicyFruit!
I found this link where’s its stated that both requested public defenders and have to wear angle monitors should they make bail. So obviously something has changed-at least for CP. Add in that he obviously doesn’t feel any need to protect his wife. What does interest me though is that there are “two men believed to be private investigators.” Both his? Or sent by one of their families? This makes me wonder if this is an honest action or one he’s doing to build his defense.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article270234142.html

Could be the family of CP that had written that note to the public.

 

[ifindedout]

Cops return to Madalina Cojocari home to investigate backyard firepit

DailyMail.com photos and videos show lawyer and private investigators examining the burn pit on Friday. One investigator later emerged carrying a carrier case for a cat.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Note the burn mark on the fence post.

 

[steff13]

If only one of them took her life, it sounds like they are trying to frame the other. Maybe Mom is trying to frame step Dad? If they got into a fight before he left, she very well could have taken her anger out on the child and taken it too far. I had hoped Mom would crack already, and step Dad can't flip if he really doesn't know. But he also can't possibly care enough since he didn't push for her to be reported missing. She can try to claim not understanding our systems over here, but he can't.

I kind of have the feeling that it might be the case that she did something and he genuinely doesn't know what. I can't say why he wouldn't have reported her missing but I think there might be a chance that he doesn't actually know what happened to her.

 

[KPO]

IMO - Unless Madalina is found, it's going to be hard to charge the parents with harming her. They had over 3 weeks to get rid of potential evidence. I'm sure "some" evidence will be found but will it be enough? Even if there is biological evidence that a crime occurred, there's still reasonable doubt as to which parent is responsible and how much the other one knew.

And the house doesn't seem as though it's being treated like a potential crime scene. I know the police and FBI have spent substantial time at the house on a couple of days early on but not recently.

The article posted above in this thread is DailyMail. I think the article is interesting because there are details that I have not heard previously but DailyMail isn't an incredibly reliable news source. So much of that article sounds like neighborhood gossip and rumor...the guns, the sun worshipping, the icy vibe from DC, etc. I had not heard that CP spent so much time with Madalina if that is in fact true. That could be viewed as normal parental bonding or it could be viewed as controlling behavior.

DC's sister said that Diana has been looking for Madalina but it sounds as though it was incredibly rare to ever see DC. So I don't know where she's been looking but it either wasn't in the local area or she wasn't looking very hard.

Also, my guess is that they have very little money and/or equity in that home considering neither has posted bond. Not easy to support a family of 3 off miscellaneous etching jobs in your garage and a Mary Kay sales rep that no one has ever seen selling Mary Kay.

(All of the above is my own opinion and speculation)

 

[dulcinea]

I'm still convinced Madalina's mother and stepfather both know what happened and where she is, but you've all caused me to stop and ponder, "What if?" I can easily imagine scenarios in which her mother isn't aware and which her stepfather isn't aware.

 

[sasha17]

The parents in this case remind me of Amiah Robertson's parents. She went missing and neither parent would admit anything or confess to where she had actually last been seen. So frustrating. Amiah has sadly never been found.

 

[Kemug]

It really goes against the grain for me to pay any sort of compliment to Lori Vallow Daybell - but, I do have to say that at least she had the brains to tell JJ's school that she was taking him out, as they were moving. You would think that M's parents could have done something similar, if they had any brains at all.

 

[Fika]

I’m going between one of them doesn’t know what happened and where Madalina is or they both know what happened/ where she is.
There is something that doesn’t sit right for me when it comes to DC, gut feeling that she might be responsible.IMO
But then again I go back and forth between them as who might be responsible. IF dailymail article posted above is accurate I find it odd that DC was rarely seen with Madalina.

 

[MissUnderstood]

I can only speculate that if mum has still not told LE what has happened to her daughter that she is complicit in whatever crime has been committed. I had some empathy for her in the first few days, thinking she may be in a DV situation, but saying anything this long has my empathy turned into anger. Moo

 

[katydid23]

I kind of have the feeling that it might be the case that she did something and he genuinely doesn't know what. I can't say why he wouldn't have reported her missing but I think there might be a chance that he doesn't actually know what happened to her.

But I can't get over the fact that he changed his story, and told LE that he hadn't seen MC since about Nov 18th. But she went to school on the 21st, so she was home during that week. I don't get that part.

 

[Ontario Mom]

But I can't get over the fact that he changed his story, and told LE that he hadn't seen MC since about Nov 18th. But she went to school on the 21st, so she was home during that week. I don't get that part.

Maybe he wasn't around that week?
Or maybe him and his wife have seperate living spaces?
Or maybe he's completely full of it and that sounded like a good thing to say in CYA mode?

On another note, if he really didn't have anything to do with Madalina's disappearance, hiring (assuming he did, or his lawyer did) a couple of PIs to put the pieces together makes sense. If he's guilty of having something to do with her disappearance, hiring PIs is a very, very stupid thing to do.

jmo

 

[Fika]

But I can't get over the fact that he changed his story, and told LE that he hadn't seen MC since about Nov 18th. But she went to school on the 21st, so she was home during that week. I don't get that part.

DC also changed her story saying she saw Madalina on 22nd than changed it to 23rd.
They have been pretty lost with dates it seems..

 

[MsMarple]

Regarding the two private investigators mentioned in the DM article… since they came with CP’s lawyer I’m pretty sure they’re employees of the law firm. IOW not independent investigators hired by CP or his family. Many law firms employ investigators.

I think (IMO) the three were there to examine a potential crime scene, maybe in hopes of finding exculpatory evidence or just to scope out the house for themselves. Maybe even to get a better idea of what the forensic team did earlier. MOO

Cops return to Madalina Cojocari home to investigate backyard firepit

DailyMail.com photos and videos show lawyer and private investigators examining the burn pit on Friday. One investigator later emerged carrying a carrier case for a cat.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Farner]

These people are playing a game that they're going to lose IMO.

They are playing a cruel and revolting game.
They both deserve to to prison for a long long time.

 

[Alethea]

Regarding the two private investigators mentioned in the DM article… since they came with CP’s lawyer I’m pretty sure they’re employees of the law firm. IOW not independent investigators hired by CP or his family. Many law firms employ investigators.

I think (IMO) the three were there to examine a potential crime scene, maybe in hopes of finding exculpatory evidence or just to scope out the house for themselves. Maybe even to get a better idea of what the forensic team did earlier. MOO

Cops return to Madalina Cojocari home to investigate backyard firepit

DailyMail.com photos and videos show lawyer and private investigators examining the burn pit on Friday. One investigator later emerged carrying a carrier case for a cat.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Agreed. A lot of criminal attorneys who do not do civil work have investigators instead of paralegals. The best I can describe it is investigators focus on fact-finding while paralegals are trained in legal issues (so they help drafting documents, participate in civil discovery, etc.).

 

[TeaTime]

Statistically, it was the step-father and mom is covering him.

Eleven year old child goes "missing" and mom doesn't report it to LE for 3 weeks. BS.

 

[Ladyotm]

Interestingly, it actually doesn't say 1200 on the 22nd.

If you look at DC's arrest warrant, it states "When Officer Nobles (SRO) arrived, Mrs. Lampkin (counselor) and Diana advised me that Madalina has been missing since Tuesday, November 23, 2022, at approximately 1200 hours." Tuesday was actually November 22nd. No telling whether that was a misunderstanding, typo or whether she actually said that day, date, time.

https://nybreaking.com/family-of-madalina-cojocari-were-seen-lighting-a-fire-in-their-backyard-after-she-disappeared/

Then it says, "Officer Nobles spoke to Diana Colocari who advised she last saw Madalina on Wednesday. November 23, 2022 at 2200 hours." This could have been a separate conversation after the original one with the counselor.

Both statements appear to be from Officer Nobles. There's definitely a discrepancy somewhere but only LE knows where. Aside from the arrest record, I haven't read anything that says Tuesday or 1200 hours.

It's anybody's guess when Madalina truly went missing. Last verifiable sighting was Monday, November 21st around 5pm on the school bus.

IMO, one of the many ironic things is that if DC and CP are covering up a crime that they're both aware took place, they didn't have to give a date that far back. CP's personal statement was even FARTHER back stating a week prior to Thanksgiving, November 16th. They could have both said that they saw her on Sunday, November 27th. Yet, both of them have made so many sketchy statements that don't add up on their own, combined or in any rational way.

I am somewhat disheartened that this case appears to have lost interest by the public. There's very little news coverage about it anymore. Very few people commenting on Websleuths. Very few comments on FB/Twitter, etc.

LE doesn't seem to be giving regular updates with any information that would keep this case in mainstream media. Why would that be? If the public should actually be "looking" for Madalina, shouldn't this be getting more attention?

Was it normal for CP not to see Madalina. Did she stay in her room all the time? Did the family eat together? What was the argument about? Who burned the furniture, was it both parents? CP acts as if hadn't seen Madalina for a while before he went to Michigan. I keep going back to, could mom have harmed Madalina and he helped cover the dirty deed? On another note, I'm always suspicious when I see older guys with much younger women and the woman has a young daughter. I just wonder, how young does he really want them?
*I'm sure law enforcement has verified of he was really with family. And he could have actually went in order to strengthen his alibi.

If only one of them took her life, it sounds like they are trying to frame the other. Maybe Mom is trying to frame step Dad? If they got into a fight before he left, she very well could have taken her anger out on the child and taken it too far. I had hoped Mom would crack already, and step Dad can't flip if he really doesn't know. But he also can't possibly care enough since he didn't push for her to be reported missing. She can try to claim not understanding our systems over here, but he can't.

This is what I've been thinking. But where does the coach burning come in? Do we know if they both were feeding the fire?

 

[Ladyotm]

There is a burn pit. Is it possible that Madalina's body is buried in the ground beneath the pit?

 

[SpicyFruit]

There is a burn pit. Is it possible that Madalina's body is buried in the ground beneath the pit?

I think that is what LE thought originally too. In the beginning, they tore up parts of the yard.