A 9-year-old Canadian tourist was found de@d in upstate New York Sunday afternoon, July 20, hours after an apparently bogus kidnapping report from her father, cops said.
Melina Galanis Frattolin’s body was recovered in Ticonderoga, New York, roughly 30 miles from Lake George, where her father originally reported she was last seen.
Authorities had issued an Amber Alert citing her “imminent danger” of being harmed or k!lled earlier Sunday.
However, there was apparently no real abduction during the entire ordeal, authorities said.
Melina’s father, Luciano Frattolin, 45, called the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 9:58 p.m. Saturday, July 19, to report his daughter’s disappearance, noting a possible abduction, according to police.
Luciano Frattolin is a resident of Canada, as was his daughter, according to the New York State Police.
While the sheriff’s office was leading the investigation, authorities found “inconsistencies in the father’s account of events and the timeline he provided,” according to the state police.
The investigation was soon turned over to the state police “due to jurisdictional considerations.”
The state police determined there was no indication of an abduction.
On Sunday morning, the state police issued an Amber Alert for Melina around four hours after she was reported missing along with a description. It was canceled at 4:18 p.m.
“The child was taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious bodily harm and/or de@th,” the alert read.
Early Monday, July 21, Luciano Frattolin was arrested and booked into Essex County Jail at 2:04 a.m. after his daughter, Melina, was found de@d in Ticonderoga near Lake George on Sunday afternoon, the Times Union reported.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. in Ticonderoga Town Court, the outlet said, with the charges not yet listed.
