NC police release new photo of missing girl Madalina Cojocari on her 14th birthday
North Carolina police have released a new age-progression photo of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, who was 11 when she was last seen getting off a school bus in November 2022.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina police on Friday released an age-progression photo of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, who was 11 years old when she vanished from her home in November 2022, on her 14th birthday.
Her disappearance remains unsolved to this day, and her parents — the primary suspects previously charged in connection with her disappearance — have since been released from jail. Her mother, Diana Cojocari, fled the country following her release.
"Madalina's investigation began in December of 2022," Cornelius Police Department Chief David Baucom said in a Friday video posted to the Department's Facebook page. "Madalina was last seen getting off her school bus on Nov. 21, 2022. Today marks Madalina's 14th birthday."
"We want Madalina and this community to know that we are committed to solving this case. Our commitment has never wavered, and we will not stop until we find Madalina," Baucom continued.
NORTH CAROLINA POLICE BELIEVE MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER MAY HAVE FLED TO HOME COUNTRY AFTER JAIL RELEASE
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created the age-progression photo released Friday.
MADALINA COJOCARI MISSING: ‘NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL WE FIND HER’
Authorities noted that there is a $25,000 reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Madalina's disappearance.
Despite the fact that Madalina was last seen in public on Nov. 21, 2022, getting off a school bus, her mother and stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, did not report her missing until Dec. 15, 2022, despite telling police the last time they saw their daughter was at home the evening of Nov. 23, 202.
WATCH: MADALINA GETS OFF SCHOOL BUS ON NOV. 21, 2022:
Diana told school officials and Cornelius police she hadn't seen her daughter, a sixth-grader at Bailey Middle School who was born in Moldova, since she went to her bedroom on Nov. 23, 2022, around 10 p.m. after she and Palmiter got into an argument, court documents state.
MISSING NORTH CAROLINA GIRL'S MOTHER WANTED TO SMUGGLE 11-YEAR-OLD FROM HOME: WARRANT
Palmiter said that on Nov. 24, 2022, he drove to his relatives' home in Michigan "to recover some items" after an argument with his wife. Diana apparently went into her daughter's room around 11:30 that morning and discovered the 11-year-old was gone, according to an affidavit.
When Palmiter returned home to Cornelius on Nov. 26, Diana apparently asked him where their daughter was. Palmiter asked her the same question in return, the affidavit states.
Police did not find out about Madalina's disappearance until a school truancy report from the 11-year-old's middle school.
MADALINA COJOCARI: NORTH CAROLINA POLICE RELEASE NEW PHOTO OF 11-YEAR-OLD MISSING SINCE NOVEMBER
Bailey Middle School resource officers, along with a school counselor, attempted a home visit at the Cojocari address on Dec. 12 after Madalina had not shown up for school since Nov. 21. No one answered the door, and the school counselor left a truancy package at the home.
Diana and Palmiter were arrested and charged with failing to report a missing child in 2022.
Diana pleaded guilty in May 2024 after spending several months in jail and authorities released her.
A Mecklenburg County jury found Palmiter guilty of failure to report a missing child to law enforcement on May 31, 2024, after a weeklong trial, and he was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation.
Palmiter then filed for divorce, which was just formalized in March of this year.
In late June 2024, Cornelius police named Diana as the prime suspect in Madalina's disappearance, but she had already left the United States, likely for Moldova, by that point.
"She eventually left the country," Baucom previously told Fox News Digital in an interview last year. 'I do not know the exact date that she left the country," Baucom said, adding later that there were no restrictions that could have prevented her from fleeing America.
WATCH: CHIEF BAUCOM GIVES UPDATE IN MADALINA COJOCARI CASE
Baucom noted that when Diana was initially arrested in 2022, "[s]he was charged with and served time for the only charge that we could sustain during the initial part of the investigation."
GO HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS DIGITAL
Police were able to get in contact with Diana while she was still in Cornelius after her release, but officials have since lost track of her exact whereabouts and have reached out to federal authorities for help tracking her down overseas.
Diana was living in the United States on a green card. Baucom said last year that based on their investigation up until that point, Cornelius police do not believe Madalina ever left the United States, though they are not dismissing any possibilities.
Search warrants in the case suggest Diana and her mother contacted a distant relative asking if he would help in "smuggling" Diana and Madalina from their Cornelius home before Madalina disappeared, according to phone records obtained by the Cornelius Police Department.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Madalina's whereabouts to contact the CPD at 704-892-7773.
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