KEY POINTS

  • Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, from Cornelius, were arrested Saturday
  • They face charges of failing to report the disappearance of a child
  • Cops were searching the house and digging up the backyard as part of the investigation

Police in North Carolina have arrested the mother and stepfather of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, who was last seen on Nov. 23, for failing to report her disappearance for weeks.

Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, from Cornelius, were arrested Saturday, on charges of failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement, the Cornelius Police department said in two news releases Saturday.

Madalina, who lives with her mother and stepdad, was reported missing only on Dec. 15, almost three weeks after she was last seen when the parents notified her school about the disappearance.

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The investigation began after the Bailey Middle School alerted the cops about the missing child. The FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation have joined the search with the Cornelius police department to find Madalina, news outlet ABC 7 Chicago reported.

Meanwhile, both Diana and Palmiter are currently held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center, police said.

According to reports, investigators were seen searching for evidence inside the couple's home and digging the ground in their backyard. However, the officials could not find anything significant concerning the girl's disappearance, WCCB Charlotte reported.

"I've lived here my whole life so I've never seen anything like this," Sydney Capps, a neighbor reportedly told the outlet. "It's odd that it seems like she went missing back in November, and it's just now being reported," Capps added.

Madalina was last seen wearing "jeans, pink, purple, and white Adidas shoes, and a white t-shirt and jacket," police said.

"The 6th-grade middle school student loves horses and from the recent picture below, you can see how happy she is to have a big bowl of ice cream. The Cornelius Police Department, the FBI, and the SBI need your assistance to help find her," the police department said in a news release Sunday and shared a photograph that could help identify her.

Anyone with information regarding Madalina has been asked to contact Cornelius Police Department at (704) 892-7773 or 1-800- CALL FBI and can submit tips at tips.fbi.gov.

Police lights
Representation. The lights of a police car. diegoparra/Pixabay