Western Correspondent
The girl’s father has now been officially charged in the U.S. with second-degree murder and hiding a human body.
A 9-year-old girl from Montreal, Quebec has been found dead in upstate New York. Police say her father has been arrested, and they are now investigating what really happened.
The girl, Melina Frattolin, was reported missing by her father, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin, on Saturday night around 10 p.m. He told police she had disappeared near Exit 22 on Interstate 87 in Lake George, New York, and that she may have been kidnapped.
At first, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office led the search for Melina. But as police looked deeper into the case, they said the father’s story didn’t seem right. With help from other agencies, officers found Melina’s body the next day—on Sunday—in Ticonderoga, New York. That’s about 50 kilometers away from where she was last seen, close to the New York–Vermont border.
New York State Police are now handling the case. They say there’s no sign that Melina was taken by someone else, and there’s no danger to the public. They haven’t yet said how she died.
Luciano Frattolin was taken into custody on Monday morning, according to a U.S. crime alert system called VINE.
Police are holding a news conference this morning and more details will be shared as they become available.