NY - Melina Frattolin, 9, Abducted, seen 9:40pm in a white van traveling south on I-87 near exit 22, Lake George, 19 Jul 2025 *arrest*

[Tealgrove]

I have no words right now.

May he never see the light of day again.

Such a cowardly act.

 

[Ladyotm]

Anger/paranoia: According to La Presse, he "accuses his business partner of threatening to help little Melina's mother "to prevent him from entering Quebec due to unpaid taxes by his company"

I appreciate how you used his words to analyze possible motives. Great thoughts!

It seems all was well, up until the phone call. I wonder if the love/adoration mom and daughter shared over their phone call(hugs, kisses, I miss yous, etc,) sparked a rage of jealously in him. If so, I could see him questioning her, trying to make her choose her favorite parent or whom she'd rather live with.

This should have been one of her best summer breaks and his as well. He took her future away from her. I'm so sick of this.

I hope she's playing and braiding hair with all the other little girls in heaven, if it exists.

 

[MyJoey]

Wow I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Was this area a swamp or swimming lake?

 

[ttjo]

Wow I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Was this area a swamp or swimming lake?

9-year-old Montreal girl found in an upstate New York pond drowned in a homicide

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A 9-year-old girl from Canada found dead in an upstate New York pond after her father reported her missing was drowned, according to preliminary autopsy

www.thestar.com

 

[whowy]

I appreciate how you used his words to analyze possible motives. Great thoughts!

It seems all was well, up until the phone call. I wonder if the love/adoration mom and daughter shared over their phone call(hugs, kisses, I miss yous, etc,) sparked a rage of jealously in him. If so, I could see him questioning her, trying to make her choose her favorite parent or whom she'd rather live with.

This should have been one of her best summer breaks and his as well. He took her future away from her. I'm so sick of this.

I hope she's playing and braiding hair with all the other little girls in heaven, if it exists.

Maybe he felt "dissed" because she seemed more enthusiastic about getting back to Mom than she'd been during the trip. Fragile ego.

 

[SMK777]

That’s what we are talking about. His life and future vs Melina’s.

Think about that. Let that sink in.

I am without words.

Snipped for emphasis:
The sort of person who could do this to their own child unfortunately views others as shadows, only having meaning in relation to their own public images.

 

[Snoopster]

Oh a Prius, Porsches must have been in the shop

He made such a big deal in his social media about his new Porsche that supposedly arrived in May. I guess it wasn't suitable for a road trip with his beautiful daughter. (Or did he have to sell it to pay debts?)

ETA: what the heck was he doing ordering a new Porsche when he was in debt and couldn't pay his bills??

 

[Moe]

Poor little girl, what a horrific crime!

 

[jesse]

9-year-old Montreal girl found in an upstate New York pond drowned in a homicide

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A 9-year-old girl from Canada found dead in an upstate New York pond after her father reported her missing was drowned, according to preliminary autopsy

www.thestar.com

I've seen it called a "shallow pond" and a "waterway".

 

[Sunshine99]

He was charged with second-degree murder – which could carry a life sentence in New York – as well as concealment of a human corpse. He’s due back in court July 25. his cars are in Ethiopia, from Montrealgazette -
“He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia. He also had a Land Cruiser. He had two (luxury) cars, so in Ethiopia he would be considered a very well-off person,” the man said.

 

[RGsnap]

This reminds me a lot of Shannan Watts. Another mother who left her children with their father not having any inkling whatsoever they wouldn’t be safe. They always were in their father’s care.

With all due respect, nothing we read on this man’s website or see on social media will actually scream “danger.” Those closest to him clearly didn’t feel anything different and he was himself until he wasn’t.

Similar to the Watt’s case how everyone seems to see their family videos now and claim to see very obvious signs of a sociopath.

I believe both mothers saw the same loving father regardless of what was going on in their marriages. Millions of marriages break apart. Millions of lives fall apart. Most do NOT harm their families when that happens.

This will be one of those cases that the “why” will never be understood. How could it be? We are all normal people. The “answer” isn’t out there. Even if it could be expressed by the perpetrator, it would NEVER make sense to us and explain their actions.

Just my opinion. Honestly, I’m a little jaded because I stumbled upon vile victim blaming on another site about the Watt’s case still going strong all these years later.

Speculation about where someone vanished to, who may have harmed someone, I get that. But trying to find out why someone kills another human being, especially a parent killing a child, it seems wrong to bother. It treats these cases as if those closest to the victim just noticed the same “look” or “verbiage” than they too would have seen the warning signs everyone all of a sudden can see now.

Again, just my opinion. Not against speculating cases. But I think speculating the why can encourage really unhealthy sleuthing. I know if god forbid this was ever my reality, seeing people declare how obviously narcissistic and toxic and whatever my partner was, would infuriate me. Would make me feel like the world thinks it was so obvious and I still somehow let my child go with him.

This isn’t tv. We do have to remember these are real people and real lives and nothing stops them from ending up online one day reading what people were saying.

I don’t know…. Just my two cents. Again, not personal or even anti-sleuthing. Hope this come across as I meant it!

 

[Jw192]

So he drowned her

Interesting that he's STILL claiming creeper in a white stranger danger van. Same way he claims that he's not at fault for the scams and other failures in his life - never his fault. The coppers obviously have evidence that's not the case though and that he is the one who has killed little Melina, be super interesting when that all comes out.

Will he cave and admit it when they lay out the evidence in front of him, or will he dig in his nasty grotty heels and take this white van blag to trial?

 

[katydid23]

Interesting. Kids die all of the time from drowning. If he had just called it in, said she fell in the water, he couldn't get her out, he would have been fine. But he had to make a big over the top fake story about her being kidnapped.

Victim of his own inflated drama. Dang, no DP in NY.

I know, I was thinking the same thing. He could have said they got separated on a hike, she ran ahead and he couldn't find her. or some more believable story like that. Plenty of tragic incidents happen like that, kids get lost ,end up in the water. People would be suspicious but it would be slightly believable as a sad possibility.

But his story was crazy. He leaves her alone in the car at night, and goes to go to pee, and when he returns, he sees 2 men in a white van abducting her. And I bet there are some roadway cams which do not pick up any signs of a white van.

 

[ttjo]

It treats these cases as if those closest to the victim just noticed the same “look” or “verbiage” than they too would have seen the warning signs everyone all of a sudden can see now.

I know if god forbid this was ever my reality, seeing people declare how obviously narcissistic and toxic and whatever my partner was, would infuriate me. Would make me feel like the world thinks it was so obvious and I still somehow let my child go with him.

This isn’t tv. We do have to remember these are real people and real lives and nothing stops them from ending up online one day reading what people were saying.

I don’t know…. Just my two cents. Again, not personal or even anti-sleuthing.

Hope this come across as I meant it!

It does, when they are your spouse or a close loved one, I .think you are the last person to think they are capable of horrific acts, when there is no history of it.
Easy to have hindsight, I cant count how many people have been surprised by the underground actions of people they think they know and love. not just murder. but other things debt, secret lives, etc
I might be suspicous of his self promoting, but that would only lead me to believe he probably has nothing , doubt I'd think he was capable of murder.

 

[starlightstarbright]

This very much has the feel of those fathers who take out their whole family rather than admit that the bank is foreclosing on the house.

 

[Seattle1]

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but is it possible that debt-ridden LF had taken out a large life insurance policy on Melina? I realize it's a sickening thought but I wouldn't rule it out for this "sociopath". That mug shot .. there's not one iota of remorse or guilt or fear or sadness to be seen.

Life Insurers don't typically offer large individual policies for children-- most will underwrite only a family burial policy for minor children. Generally, the only time a child might end up with a policy larger than burial insurance is when a parent has life insurance as part of their employee benefits package-- where they are allowed to allocate percentages of their policy coverage to their spouse and children. JMO

 

[ttjo]

This very much has the feel of those fathers who take out their whole family rather than admit that the bank is foreclosing on the house.

could be, but the problem is so much of what they do is underground, how is anyone suppose to see it coming? and usually its a bunch of things not even connected, a business partner in one business, a bank in another, all of them dont know about the other. Most partners trust their spouses and dont go looking for that. Well until they see a few signs then maybe they start digging.
hard to see a fire when there is no smoke.

 

[Snoopster]

This reminds me a lot of Shannan Watts. Another mother who left her children with their father not having any inkling whatsoever they wouldn’t be safe. They always were in their father’s care.

With all due respect, nothing we read on this man’s website or see on social media will actually scream “danger.” Those closest to him clearly didn’t feel anything different and he was himself until he wasn’t.

Similar to the Watt’s case how everyone seems to see their family videos now and claim to see very obvious signs of a sociopath.

I believe both mothers saw the same loving father regardless of what was going on in their marriages. Millions of marriages break apart. Millions of lives fall apart. Most do NOT harm their families when that happens.

This will be one of those cases that the “why” will never be understood. How could it be? We are all normal people. The “answer” isn’t out there. Even if it could be expressed by the perpetrator, it would NEVER make sense to us and explain their actions.

Just my opinion. Honestly, I’m a little jaded because I stumbled upon vile victim blaming on another site about the Watt’s case still going strong all these years later.

Speculation about where someone vanished to, who may have harmed someone, I get that. But trying to find out why someone kills another human being, especially a parent killing a child, it seems wrong to bother. It treats these cases as if those closest to the victim just noticed the same “look” or “verbiage” than they too would have seen the warning signs everyone all of a sudden can see now.

Again, just my opinion. Not against speculating cases. But I think speculating the why can encourage really unhealthy sleuthing. I know if god forbid this was ever my reality, seeing people declare how obviously narcissistic and toxic and whatever my partner was, would infuriate me. Would make me feel like the world thinks it was so obvious and I still somehow let my child go with him.

This isn’t tv. We do have to remember these are real people and real lives and nothing stops them from ending up online one day reading what people were saying.

I don’t know…. Just my two cents. Again, not personal or even anti-sleuthing. Hope this come across as I meant it!

You are absolutely right.
There are all kinds of people who "live larger" than they should and who talk a good game. People who are impulsive and who are self-centered. But they don't kill their child. Who would know which of these people would have that in them?

My only thoughts are with Melina's mother and their loved ones. They must be absolutely crushed and there's nothing we can do to ease their pain.

<hugs> from a stranger.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Wow I’m really having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Was this area a swamp or swimming lake?

The Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Short Swing Trail is often described as marsh. Marsh always means swampy to me. Assuming the sign in the videos is the trail she was found near.

 

[Seattle1]

EXCLUSIVE: Hotel owner finds discarded tablet possibly linked to slain 9-year-old

A Lake George hotel owner believes he may have stumbled upon a crucial piece of evidence in the case of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin —

cbs6albany.com

7/22/25

It’s unclear at this time whether the tablet belonged to Melina. CBS6 has reached out to New York State Police for confirmation but has not yet received a response.

The flower bed sits just feet away from Canada Street, the main thoroughfare through the village of Lake George. Gregor feels it’s easy to imagine someone tossing it out of a moving vehicle.

The tablet was found just off Exit 22 in Lake George — the same area where Melina’s father, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin, called police to report his daughter missing.

Investigators now feel she was never truly missing, and that the father staged her disappearance to cover up her death.

[..]

Frattolin has been charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.

State police say digital evidence helped lead them to the location where Melina’s body was ultimately found.