A 9-year-old Canadian girl, Melina Galanis Frattolin, was found dead in Ticonderoga, New York, near the New York-Vermont border. Her father initially claimed she had been kidnapped by a man driving a white van. The New York State Police issued an Amber Alert and launched a massive search, involving State Police K-9 units, aviation units, New York State Park Rangers, Essex and Warren County sheriff’s offices, the New York State Department of Conservation, and the Ticonderoga Police Department. As the case progressed, law enforcement identified inconsistencies in the father’s account of events and the timeline he provided. The investigation is ongoing as State Police took over the investigation from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. There is no immediate comment from the State Police on whether Melina’s father, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin, had been arrested in his daughter’s death. The father claimed the girl was kidnapped around 9:40 p.m. at a rest stop off Interstate 87 near Lake George.
A 9-year-old girl was found dead in upstate New York after her father falsely claimed she was kidnapped.
