North Carolina Missing Persons Cases: Malina Cojocari & Marissa Carmichael

Malina Cojocari Case Update

• 💔 Six months after 11-year-old Malina Cojocari vanished in Cornelius, North Carolina, police released new video footage to keep her case in the public eye.
• 🗓️ Malina was last seen on November 21st, but her disappearance wasn't reported for three weeks, leading to charges of failure to report against her mother, Diana Cojocari, and stepfather, Christopher Palmer.
• 📞 Phone records revealed Diana asked a relative in Moldova for help smuggling herself and Malina away due to issues with Palmer, a relative with alleged ties to drug trafficking investigations.
• 🔥 Neighbors reported seeing the family burning furniture in the backyard after Malina's disappearance but before she was reported missing, a detail police are investigating.
• 🚗 During a search in February, a K-9 alerted on Diana's car, and foreign passports to Moldova and Romania were found, along with a Moldovan debit card.
• 🗣️ New audio reveals Diana's mother expressing a feeling that something bad was coming and a desire to hide Malina, while Palmer testified Diana believed Russian entities were following her and Matalina.
• ⚖️ Diana pleaded guilty to failure to report and was released after serving time; Palmer was found guilty by a jury but received a suspended sentence and probation.
• 🕵️ Despite convictions, Malina's whereabouts remain unknown, and the FBI has been requested to assist in the ongoing search.

Marissa Carmichael Disappearance

• 😔 Marissa Carmichael, a 25-year-old mother of five, vanished from Greensboro, North Carolina, on January 14th after attending an after-hours party.
• 📞 Marissa made a 911 call from an Exxon station around 3:40 AM, reporting her belongings were thrown around and her phone taken, before getting a ride with another customer.
• 📱 She made two more calls to her mother from someone else's phone that night, expressing fear that the person she was with might not be bringing her home.
• 🚨 Police confirmed identifying and speaking with the individual seen on surveillance video driving away with Marissa, though her current location and well-being are unknown.
• ❓ The mother suspects sex trafficking and believes Marissa is still alive nearby, urging the public to look for her distinctive tattoos.
• 🔍 A former FBI agent noted inconsistencies in the case, including the 39-minute delay in police response to the 911 call and the lack of immediate identification of the witness who drove Marissa from the Exxon.
• 💻 Friends and family have created a Facebook page, "Bring Marissa Carmichael Home," and a GoFundMe to fund a private investigator.

Other Missing Persons Cases

• 👶 In Kentucky, police are searching for 8-month-old Maya Tucker, with five people, including her parents and grandparents, arrested in connection with her disappearance and drug charges.
• 👧 In Georgia, an urgent search is underway for 12-year-old Maria Gomez Perez, who vanished from her Gainesville home, with a $30,000 reward offered for information.
• 🧑‍🎓 The case of Jason Landry, a college student who disappeared in December 2020, is being revisited, with the Texas Attorney General's office confirming it remains an active investigation.