FBI releases new photos of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, missing girl from North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) – FBI Charlotte has released new photos of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, the girl from North Carolina who has been missing for a month.

“Earlier this week, we told you Madalina loves horses. You can see the pure joy she feels when she takes her plastic ponies to the beach,” an FBI Charlotte tweet accompanying the photos stated. “And she enjoys riding the real pony named Rayne.”

The release of the new photos Friday comes a day after authorities shared a handwritten letter from Madalina’s family asking the community for continued help in finding her.

The girl was last seen shortly before Thanksgiving but not reported missing until Dec. 15, when her parents alerted the school resource officer at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius.

Since she was reported missing, the girl’s stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, and her mother, Diana Cojocari, have both been arrested and charged with failure to report a missing child.

Both Cojocari and Palmiter maintain they don’t know what happened to Madalina in the weeks since she went missing.

The Cornelius Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Bureau of Investigation are searching for the child.

A large police presence was seen at the girl’s home Wednesday evening. Officers could be seen through the house windows, potentially taking photos inside the home.

A Crime Scene Search truck was among the vehicles at the home, WBTV reported.

Authorities previously visited the home earlier in the investigation and found an area in the kitchen blocked off with plywood, according to documents obtained by WBTV.

When asked about the wooded area, Palmiter allegedly told officers that he was going to make a separate apartment.

Madalina weighs about 90 pounds and was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes, and a white T-shirt and jacket.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Madalina is asked to contact the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773 or the North Mecklenburg Crimestoppers at 704-896-7867.

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