A Canadian man who initially reported that his 9-year-old daughter had been abducted while they were they were vacationing in upstate New York was charged Monday with her murder. The girl, Melina Frattolin, was found dead in a shallow, wooded pond. Police said the father and daughter had been vacationing since July 11 in the U.S. and were expected back in Montreal that weekend where the girl lived with her mother, who had been estranged from the suspect since 2019.
New York State Police Captain Robert McConnell announced Monday that Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal was arrested and charged with murder and concealing of a corpse in the death of his daughter. was arrested on counts of murder in the second degree and concealment of a human corpse. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf at his arraignment Monday, according to court officials. Police said Frattolin had no prior criminal or domestic violence history, and the public defender’s office has been assigned to defend Frattolin, per The Associated Press.
Police from several agencies searched the town of Ticonderoga in New York’s Essex County on Sunday in response to a 911 call received Saturday from Luciano Frattolin, who reported that his child was missing and possibly abducted from a parking lot near Lake George, a resort town in the Adirondack region. That missing report led officials to issue an Amber Alert overnight to enlist the public’s help in finding the girl, however as authorities said there were inconsistencies in the father’s account, and that they concluded there was no evidence she had been taken. While Frattolin initially said he could not find his child after he stepped out of a wooded area of the parking lot near Lake George, Captain McConnell said that “during a subsequent interview, he then reports two unknown males forced her into a white van. That lead was thoroughly investigated and disproven.”
Surveillance video shows the father and daughter in another nearby resort town, Saratoga Springs, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Police said the girl spoke on the phone with her mother about an hour later and did not indicate she was under duress; authrotieis believe Frattolin killed the girl after the phone call and before he made the 911 call.
Members of the New York State Forest Rangers soon after found Melina’s body on Sunday afternoon in the shallows of a pond about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Lake George, in Ticonderoga, authorities said. The criminal complaint said Frattolin concealed her body under a log. An autopsy has been scheduled.
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