Mother texted father repeatedly on night Montreal girl was reported missing

The mother of Melina Frattolin repeatedly texted the girl’s father on the evening the nine-year old girl was reported missing, a New York jury heard on Wednesday.

David Hungerford, a computer crime investigator with the New York State Police, testified on how he extracted data from Luciano Frattolin’s phone, including location, text messages and call records.

He also extracted data from the phones of Melina and her mother, Kali Galanis.

Frattolin, 46, is on trial for second degree murder and concealment of a human corpse in connection with the death of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleges his daughter was kidnapped by two men who drove off in a white van.

The case has provoked an outpouring of emotions on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, including candlelight vigils and tributes for the girl from residents living around the New York region where she died.

In his testimony, Hungerford walked the jury through location data from Frattolin’s phone on the night he reported Melina missing. The data indicates Frattolin’s phone had stopped for about an hour in the rural area of New York where Melina’s body was later found. A little over an hour later, he would call 911 to report the alleged abduction.

Just before he left this area, Frattolin’s phone data shows him searching the word “Melina” in Google Maps, Hungerford showed the jury.

The officer also presented messages between Galanis and Frattolin on that night.

Melina lived full-time with her mother, and Frattolin and Galanis had been estranged since 2019, police had previously reported.

Just before 9 p.m., around the time he left the area where Melina’s body would be found, Frattolin told Galanis he would be arriving in Montreal 20 minutes later. Location data collected by police showed his phone was a two hour drive from Montreal at this time.

“I’d like to speak to Melina,” Galanis texted him at this time.

“She’s sleeping,” answered Frattolin.

Around 9:40, Galanis reached out again. Frattolin claimed to be 15 minutes away. Location data showed his phone was still in the same area, driving away from Montreal.

“Why do you keep getting delayed,” Galanis wrote.

“Traffic,” he answered.

Around 10 p.m., Frattolin placed his call to 911.

Meanwhile, Galanis continued to ask for an update and tried to contact Frattolin at increasing frequency. Her messages and calls remain unanswered.

The prosecution also presented a few photos Hungerford found on Frattolin’s phone, including one of Melina, dated the day before she was reported missing. In it, she is posing on the sidewalk, wearing the clothes that would later be found on her body.

Earlier in the day, a DNA analyst for the New York State Police testified that she found the DNA of Frattolin and Melina on shorts which were found inside a garbage bag recovered near the highway a short drive away from the girl’s body.

May Scarlat told the court she was unable to identify DNA on other clothes in the bag, which included a t-shirt and shoes.

Scarlat said Melina’s DNA was identified on the clothing she was wearing when her body was found, including a jacket with traces of blood, but that the accused’s DNA was not found on these clothes.

Some of the other clothes the girl was wearing showed traces of other sets of DNA, but not enough for Scarlat to identify whose they were.

Scarlat testified that it was possible the DNA had transferred from elsewhere.

“It’s possible for shorts or any type of pants, when you’re sitting in public, to pick up other people’s DNA,” she said.

Environmental factors like heat and moisture can also affect DNA testing, she told the jury.

Frattonlin’s trial is scheduled to continue on Thursday, at which time Hungerford’s testimony on phone data extraction is expected to continue.