Cell phones and other items seized from family of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari

Madalina Cojocari’s mother did not report her missing for weeks after she was last seen, say police

Three cell phones and dozens of other items were seized by investigators from the home of missing 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari, search warrants show.

Police searched the family’s property in North Carolina in December and removed more than two dozen items, state the newly-unsealed warrants, according to WCCB.

The youngster was seen in school bus video on 21 November at Bailey Middle School in Cornelius, north of Charlotte.

Her mother, Diana Cojocari, told investigators that she last saw her daughter on 23 November but did not report her missing to school officials until 15 December, three weeks after she disappeared, police say.

Ms Cojocari, 37, and her husband, Madalina’s stepfather Christopher Palmiter, 60, were arrested in December for failure to report the disappearance of a child to law enforcement. They both remain in custody at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.

Madalina was last seen wearing jeans, pink, purple and white Adidas shoes and a white T-shirt and jacket, authorities have said.

Diana Cojocari, 37, and Christopher Palmiter, 60, pictured in mugshots (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office)

The FBI has described her as 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 90 pounds. Officials released a photo of a smiling Madalina wearing a shirt that reads, “I can change the world with love.”