Luciano Frattolin arrested & charged with murder of his 9 year old daughter, Melina Frattolin after missing girl is found dead in shallow water in Ticonderoga, upstate NY. The Montreal, Canada family had been vacationing in the U.S and had been set to return the day 9 year old girl’s body was found.
The father of a 9-year-old Canadian tourist found dead in upstate New York was arrested early Monday and charged with her murder.
Luciano Frattolin was booked into Essex County Jail at 2:04 a.m. after his daughter, Melina Frattolin, was found dead in shallow water in Ticonderoga near Lake George on Sunday afternoon. The manner and cause of death had yet to be released.
Melina Frattolin cause of death ruled to be asphyxiation by drowning (body found hidden underneath log in shallow pond)
Luciano Frattolin owed $200K, couldn’t make child support, blamed daughter
Canada dad killed 9 year old daughter cause he was supposed to hand her back to mom
The dad — who was accused of earlier filing a fake kidnapping report — was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse officials announced.
The father’s arraignment was scheduled for later on Monday. Melina’s cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.
Melina was first reported missing on Saturday while her family was in the Lake George area.
It was earlier reported that she was in ‘imminent danger’ of death after the state police said she was last seen in a white van around 7:40 p.m. Saturday on I-87 near exit 22.
Mom had full custody of 9 year old daughter
However, after her body was found late Sunday, investigators said there were no indications she had been abducted and that her father’s story contained inconsistencies, WRGB reported.
The father and daughter had been scheduled to return to Canada on Sunday, July 20th according to NY State Police.
New York State Police during a Monday morning briefing said that Luciano allegedly murdered his daughter and left her body in a remote area, where she was later discovered by law enforcement.
Authorities said he was on vacation with his daughter from Canada, and had been estranged from the girl’s mother, who has full-time custody. But he was authorized to travel alone with his daughter and the vacation was planned.
The father who had been estranged from Melani’s mother since 2019 had no prior criminal record or domestic violence charges.
Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, is the founder of a Montreal-based company called Gambella Coffee, according to the company’s website.
The entrepreneur described his ‘beautiful’ daughter as ‘the light of his life’ and his ‘inspiration’ in the bio on his company’s site.
No known murder motive was immediately known.
A press conference is scheduled to begin shortly on Monday.
