Father charged with murder after 9-year-old Montreal girl found dead in NY state

A man from Montreal has been arrested and charged with murder after his 9-year-old daughter was found dead in a remote area in upstate New York on Sunday.

According to New York State Police, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin took his young daughter, Melina, on a trip to the United States over the weekend.

They were last spotted together around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, in Cerro Springs, N.Y., according to video surveillance footage obtained by authorities.

About an hour later, investigators say the girl spoke to her mother on the phone and that everything seemed normal.

The child appeared to be in “good health and did not appear to be under any duress,” according to New York State Police Captain Robert A. McConnell.

‘Inconsistencies in the father’s account’

Police received a 911 call around 10 p.m. from the girl’s father claiming that two men had abducted her in a suspicious white van.

“As the case progressed, law enforcement identified inconsistencies in the father’s account of events and the timeline he provided,” state police said.

For instance, Frattolin reported seeing a white van in the area where the child disappeared, but the investigation showed these claims to be “false,” McConnell explained.

“The suspect initially stated that he stopped near Exit 22 in Lake George, in a parking lot, to urinate.

The suspect then “reported that he walked away to a wooded area, returned to the vehicle, and that his child got out.

“During a subsequent interview, he reported a suspicious white van leaving the area heading south.” He then “reported that two unknown individuals forced the girl into a white van.”

But “this theory was thoroughly investigated” and “disproved,” the New York State Police captain concluded.

The girl’s body was discovered by police the next day in a shallow pond near Ticonderoga, a historic town about 400 kilometres north of New York City. It’s nestled between Lake George and Lake Champlain, near the state line with Vermont.

Police said K9 and aviation units were involved in the search.

“We are really sorry for the loss of this girl because every time that there is a victim of violence we are not happy,” said Etni Cortés, the coordinator at Maison Gisèle Pomerleau within the Women’s Centre of Montreal East / Pointe-aux-Trembles.

New York State Police say Frattolin has no prior criminal record or domestic violence record.

Charges, plea, autopsy

On Monday, the girl’s father was taken into custody and brought to the Essex County Jail in Lewis, N.Y. He was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse.

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Frattolin during his arraignment before a judge on Monday, the Albany Times-Union reported, noting the suspect was represented by court-appointed attorney Jared Cadena.

A cause of death has not yet been determined. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

Police say Frattolin had been estranged from the mother since 2019, and that Melina lived with the mother full time.

While the motivation for the alleged murder is still unknown, Cortés says in some cases of violence against children, the father is motivated to hurt the mother.

“Child, girl can be victims of violence and sometimes it’s not really against them,” Cortés said. “That person, the violent person is going to act. But it is a way to harm, to damage the wife, the mother of the child. So it happens.

“There is no record of something real happening but we don’t really know. So maybe we have to wait and things are going to come up. We don’t know.”

A man with the name Luciano Frattolin is listed on Quebec’s business registry as the head of a coffee importing and distribution company in Montreal. A biography on Gambella Coffee’s website describes him as the son of an Ethiopian mother and an Italian father, and a successful entrepreneur who has been involved in multiple business ventures.

The biography suggested that Frattolin has been living in Montreal in order to spend more time with “his beautiful daughter Melina.”

“This is certainly a difficult case and a heartbreaking investigation,” McConnell said. “On behalf of the New York State Police and our law enforcement partners, I want to offer our condolences to the family of Melina.”

The investigation is ongoing, and police are asking anyone with information about Melina’s death to contact them.

“If any member of the public has information regarding the death of Melina Frattolin, encourage them to contact the New York State Police at area code 518-783-3211,” said McConnell.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne and Gareth Madoc Jones, CityNews Montreal