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Madalina Cojocari’s Mom Floated Theory That Stepdad Gave Girl Away for Money

Unsealed court documents reveal details of Madalina Cojocari’s parents’ conversations in jail.

The mother of a missing schoolgirl speculated that the child’s stepfather might have given her “away for money,” newly released court documents say. Madalina Cojocari was just 11 years old when she was last seen alive near her home in Cornelius, North Carolina, in November. Her mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were arrested and charged the following month for waiting three weeks to report her missing. “In one recorded jail call between Diana and her mother, the women discuss a bag with money, withdrawing cash, and a ‘theory that Chris gave the girl away for money,’” a police search warrant says. In another jailhouse call between Palmiter, his brother, and his sister-in-law, the stepdad said Diana “had a lot of cash with her and he did not know where it came from,” the warrant says.