MURDER AT EAGLE LAKE: FATHER KILLS DAUGHTER, LEAVES HER FOR DEAD IN THE ADIRONDACKS, STATE POLICE SAY
LUCIANO FRATTOLIN, 45, CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE MURDER FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING 9-YEAR-OLD MELINA AND LEAVING HER FOR DEAD IN EAGLE LAKE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK’S PHAROAH LAKE WILDERNESS
July 21, 2025 Ticonderoga, New York
A Canadian businessman who claimed his 9-year-old daughter was kidnapped has instead been charged with killing her and leaving her corpse submerged in a lake in upstate New York's Adirondack mountain wilderness.
Luciano Frattolin, 45, was charged with "second degree murder and concealment of a human corpse," State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert McConnell said during a Monday morning news conference.
Frattolin owns a coffee business in Montreal. He falsely reported his daughter, Melina, was kidnapped by two men in a white van late Saturday evening near Lake George on the Adirondack Northway at Exit 22. He claimed he stopped to pee and, while he was in the woods, the men stopped and scooped Melina up. The claim triggered an Amber Alert.
After the Amber Alert was issued, State Police investigators determined Frattolin's report "of a suspicious white van in the area of the alleged disappearance was proven to be untrue."
State Police search for evidence along State Route 74 related to the alleged murder of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin by her father Luciano. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Investigators also discovered that Melina's mother had full custody of Melina. She only visited with her father. Melina called her mother Saturday and said they were on their way home from her vacation with her father. Surveilance video from a Saratoga restaurant confirmed she was alive at about 5:30 pm, State Police said.
Shortly after that, Frattolin falsely reported their daughter had been kidnapped.
"Sometime after Melina's phone call with her mother, and before Mr. Frattolin's 9-1-1 call, he allegedly murdered Malina and left her body in a remote area, where she was later discovered by law enforcement," State Police Capt. McConnell said at the news conference.
A cause of death has not yet been determined, he added. An autopsy is scheduled for later today.
Frattolin was arraigned Monday morning in Ticonderoga Town Court. The Criminal Complaint is barebones and lacks a supporting deposition. It alleges "in a wooded area off State Route 74," he "did intentionally cause death to Melina G. Frattolin (DOB: 03/31/2016) and concealed her body by positioning her under a log in a waterway."
State Police near the scene of the alleged murder of his 9-year-old daughter adjacent to the Pharoah Lake wilderness in upstate New York’s Adirondack mountains. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
The wooded area is between the road and the Pharoah Lake Wilderness area, a public forest belonging to the State Forest Preserve. The waterway is Paragon Brook near where it enters Eagle Lake, a historic summer vacation spot studded with summer camps and rustic log mansions.
Police said they searched that area based on their belief the two may have visited the area. State Forest Rangers made the grisly discovery on Sunday, they added.
The trailhead to the Short Swing Trail remained sealed off as part of the crime scene by State Police on Monday. Other Troopers walked up-and-down Route 74 conducting an wide-ranging search for evidence all the way from the Northway to the crime scene—about 8 miles.
The trailhead to the Short Wing Trail in the Pharoah Lake Wilderness area remained sealed off on Monday as State Police continued to search for evidence in the murder of 9-year-old Melinda Frattolin, allegedly by her father. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Meanwhile at the Ticonderoga Town Court, 10 miles in the other direction, the alleged child killer was ordered held without bail and remanded to the Essex County Jail. He did not speak to the press as he was perp-walked out of the courthouse. A felony hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Acting Essex County District Attorney Michael Langley declined to comment as he left the courthouse.
McConnell, the State Police captain, called it "a difficult case, and a heartbreaking investigation.
This is a breaking news report. Check back for further updates.