MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Christopher Palmiter posted bond one day after a judge lowered the amount from $200,000 to $25,000. He was released around 5:30 p.m.
The stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari was given a reduced bond by a judge Thursday just hours after Madalina's mother pleaded not guilty to failing to report her daughter's disappearance.
WCNC Charlotte reporter Lexi Wilson asked Palmiter as he was leaving, "Where is Madalina?" He did not answer.
WCNC Charlotte was outside Palmiter's home for hours Friday night. At one point, the vehicle that took him from the detention center to his home left the area, then came back. WCNC Charlotte's Austin Walker tried asking the driver of that vehicle if he knew where Madalina was, though the person didn't respond.
WCNC Charlotte spoke to a neighbor that was surprised Palmiter had been released.
"He should absolutely not be on bond, there's absolutely no answers for the missing of his child and I don’t think that there’s any reason why he should be out," Caroline O'Connor told WCNC Charlotte. "Both of those parents need to remain in jail until there is an answer as to what happened to Madalina.”
Diana Cojocari faced a judge just after 10 a.m. Thursday. The state did not offer any plea deals to Cojocari in the case. The judge asked Cojocari if she understood the charge and she acknowledged yes before pleading not guilty, which will send the case to trial.
Christopher Palmiter, Diana Cojocari's husband and the stepfather of Madalina, was in court around 3 p.m. The judge gave him a $25,000 bond with electronic monitoring and pre-trial supervision. His original bond was $200,000. Palmiter also pleaded not guilty but was offered a reduced bond, while Diana Cojocari was not.
During the hearing, defense attorneys Brandon Roseman laid out their case about why Palmiter claims he didn't know Madalina went missing.
Prosecutors called that ridiculous.
“The idea that he could’ve been at home for three weeks and not known she was missing is laughable," a state attorney said.
Roseman argued there was no evidence that he hurt Madalina, nor was Palmiter a danger to society.
"He might not know where Madalina is specifically but he to this day believes Madalina is in the care of Diana with whatever person assigned to care for her," said Roseman.
Roseman notes search warrant records support that Diana believed Palmiter put the family in danger. A text message on December 2nd indicates Diana was with her daughter and then there is a possible sighting of Madalina in the mountains with Diana’s relative.
“He is adamant that he believes that Diana did not harm Madalina," Roseman said. "He believes that Diana firmly believes Madalina is in danger from some unknown third party apparently related to him placing money and assigning benefits to her in a 401k account."
Palmiter’s passport has already been surrendered and he will have to wear an ankle monitor. Attorney James Exum, not related to the case, said that is not rare in these cases.
"You've got GPS monitoring, so they can monitor your whereabouts for literally any purpose, to be honest with you," Exum said. "A lot of crimes are solved when they are committed by people or in coordination with people who are on the monitor because it puts them near a scene."
Exum adds Palmiter’s attorney requesting a lower bond while Diana’s attorney did not could be a strategic move.
“Maybe her attorney wanted to see how it went for stepdad," said Exum. "Maybe he wanted to hear how the evidence came out in a hearing for stepdad before doing it for her. But it can be any number of reasons."
Although Madalina’s whereabouts are still unknown, the trial for both parents moves forward.
"There does not have to be a finding of the child for that," said Exum. "It's just whether our jury is going to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the parents knew she was missing or had reason to know she was missing, and did not report it within 24 hours of that knowledge."
The couple were first arrested last December for failing to report Madalina's disappearance to authorities.
Diana Cojocari claimed she last saw her daughter at their home on Nov. 23 but didn't report her missing until Dec. 15, during a meeting with Bailey Middle School administrators about her daughter's chronic absences. The FBI released a video showing Madalina on a school bus on Nov. 21, 2022. It's the last confirmed sighting of Madalina.
Unsealed search warrants revealed that surveillance photos of a man and a child in Sugar Mountain were "physically consistent" with Cojocari and her only known blood relative in the U.S. Court records showed that during a recorded phone call, Diana Cojocari discussed a big bag of money and "a theory that Chris gave the girl away for money."
Investigators have been working to piece together what happened and the parts Diana Cojocari and Christopher Palmiter may have played in her disappearance.
"I don't know if it's an effort on both their parts to deny their involvement and they are both involved or one's telling the truth and one isn't," law enforcement consultant Roy Taylor said. "Again, it's just going to be a matter of time and looking at the financial records"
Court records released to WCNC Charlotte just last month reveal Madalina may have been in Avery County with a family member on Dec. 16, one day after she was reported missing.
Investigators are also looking into recorded phone calls between Palmiter and his brother and sister-in-law about "financial stuff." He also mentioned that Diana had a lot of cash with her and he didn't know where it came from. Both suspects claim they don't know what happened to Madalina.
A Facebook message discovered by detectives revealed that Palmiter knew the family was under investigation and that the police seized all of their electronics other than an old phone that Diana Cojocari used to call her parents. Warrants revealed phone records showing "extensive communication" with that relative on Dec. 2, 2022.
The Cornelius Police Department are still encouraging the public to continue to share Madalina’s photo and her story in an effort to help find her and bring her home.
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.