Montreal Father On Trial After Daughter Found Drowned In NY Pond
It was a warm summer night in July 2025 when phones across upstate New York lit up with an Amber Alert for a missing girl.
Now, that little girl's father, the same one who called to report her missing is on trial for her murder.
The 'Disappearance' of Melina Frattolin
On Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 p.m., a 911 call came in from Luciano Frattolin reporting his 9-year-old daughter Melina Frattolin missing, with a possible abduction, near Exit 22 of I-87 Northway in Lake George, NY.
On Sunday, July 20, a search detail comprised of officers from multiple agencies, including the New York State Police and Warren County Sheriff’s Office, conducted an organized search in the town of Ticonderoga, New York, in an area Frattolin was suspected of having visited. Melina's body was located at 1:50 p.m., by members of the New York State Forest Rangers in the shallow water of a pond. Following an autopsy, it was determined that Melina's manner of death was homicide by drowning.
Frattolin and his daughter were both residents of Montreal, Quebec, who on July 11, 2025 legally entered the United States for the purpose of a vacation; expected to return to Canada on Saturday, July 19. Melina would have been returned to the custody of her mother in Montreal the day she was falsely reported missing.
Melina's Mother, whom she lived with, and Luciano, who was at one time a successful business man, have been estranged since 2019.
At about 5:30 p.m. on July 19, Melina is observed with her father on video surveillance in Saratoga Springs, NY. At about 6:30 p.m., she spoke to her mother on the phone and reportedly did not indicate she was under any duress.
The investigation has determined sometime after Melina’s phone call with her mother and before Frattolin's 911 call he allegedly murdered Melina and left her body in a remote area.
No evidence was ever located to confirm the reports from Frattolin of an abduction involving a suspicious white van in the area of the alleged disappearance.
One Year Later: the Trial Begins
Now, a year later, Frattolin is on trial for the murder of the daughter he used to post all over his social media accounts.
Frattolin, 45, was charged with Second-Degree Murder and Concealment of a Human Corpse, both felonies.
According to news reports, the trial in Essex County Court, where cameras have been prohibited, is playing out with hours of video interviews police conducted with Frattolin, digital evidence from their cell phones and witness testimony.
News10 ABC reports, according to the prosecution’s digital data presented at the trial, the McDonald's in Saratoga Springs was the last place Melina used her phone.
Digital data also showed that Melina and Luciano’s phone locations were in the parking lot of the Short Swing Trail in Ticonderoga, near where her body was found, for 54 minutes.
That digital evidence has seemingly been the most significant new information in the case since the trial began on Thursday, July 23.
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