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
An Afro-Italian businessman with ties to Canada who claimed his 9-year-old daughter was kidnapped while on vacation in upstate New York’s Adirondack mountains has instead been charged with killing her and leaving her body submerged in a lake.
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 and holds Italian and Eithiopian citizenship. 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 snatched Melina. 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 murder of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin. allegedly by her father Luciano. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Investigators also discovered Melina's mother had full custody of their daughter. She only visited with her father. Surveilance video from a Saratoga restaurant confirmed Melina was alive at about 5:30 pm, State Police said. The girl called her mother about an hour later and said they were on their way home.
Shortly after that, Frattolin telephoned 9-1-1 and 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 Melina 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 a 9-year-old girl 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 it. 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 a wide-ranging search for evidence all the way from the Northway to the crime scene—about 8 miles.
The trailhead to the Short Swing 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 Melina 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 Langey also declined to comment as he left.
McConnell, the State Police captain, called it "a difficult case, and a heartbreaking investigation.”
This is a breaking news report. Check back for updates.
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