North Carolina mom Diana Cojocari named suspect in disappearance of daughter Madalina Cojocari

The mother of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari has been named a suspect in her daughter's mysterious disappearance less than a month after she was released from prison.

Diana Cojocari, 37, spent 520 days in jail after failing to report her daughter Madalina missing for 21 days after the sixth grader was last seen getting off a school bus in November 2022.

On Monday, the Cornelius Police Department said it continued to seek information in its search for the missing schoolgirl and considered Diana Cojocari a suspect in its investigation.

Diana and the girl's stepfather, Christopher Palmiter, were both arrested and charged with failing to report their child missing in December 2022, just weeks after Madalina was last seen in public .

Diana, who initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, later accepted the charges and was sentenced to the maximum 24 months in prison, minus the 520 days in jail she had been serving since her arrest, according to WCNC.

She was released from prison in May.

Palmiter, who maintained his not guilty plea, was found guilty of failing to report his stepdaughter missing and sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation, according to the outlet.

Since the mother's release, investigators have released a flyer showing Diana's face next to her missing daughter and believe she may know or have something to do with her daughter's disappearance.

The Cornelius Police Department told the outlet that neither the mother nor Palmiter have been charged with any new crimes following the new allegations.

Diana did not report her daughter missing until December 15, 2022, after a school resource officer at Bailey Middle School pressed her about the girl's prolonged absence from class.

Madalina was last seen publicly on November 21, 2022, when she got off her school bus.

Diana told detectives she had not seen her daughter since she went to her room around 10pm on 23 November 2022.

The mother also shared that she and Palmiter had a massive argument that same evening.

Palmiter allegedly jumped in the car and drove about 550 miles alone to visit family in Michigan.

The next day, Diana entered her daughter's room and discovered that her 11-year-old daughter was missing.

The mother told a detective she “believed her husband put her family in danger” the night Madalina disappeared.