The father of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin, the girl reported taken in Lake George and found dead Sunday in Ticonderoga, has been charged with her murder, New York State Police said Monday.

Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, also now faces one count of second-degree murder and concealing a corpse, police said.

Frattolin is accused of killing his daughter Saturday evening and leaving her body in a shallow portion of a pond in the town of Ticonderoga, New York State Police BCI Captain Robert McConnell said at a Monday press conference.

He’s specifically accused of intentionally causing her death between 7:40 and 9:12 p.m. Saturday in a wooded area off State Route 74 and then concealing her body by positioning her under a log in a waterway, according to allegations filed in court.

Luciano Frattolin was arraigned Monday morning in Ticonderoga Town Court. He had been in Essex County Jail since early Monday morning.

Frattolin was visiting the U.S. on vacation with his daughter having both visited places in Connecticut and New York, state police said during a press conference Monday morning.

The trip began July 11 and Frattolin was expected to return his daughter to her mother, for whom he has been estranged from since 2019, on Sunday. The child lived with the mother, police said.

Video footage showed the girl and her father had visited a restaurant in Saratoga Springs on Saturday evening, Troop G BCI Commander Capt. Robert McConnell said.

She then spoke to her mother by phone at at about 6:30 p.m., McConnell said. During that phone call, police said Melina Frattolin told her mother they were heading back to Canada.

“The child appeared to be in good health and did not indicate she was under duress,” McConnell said.

“The investigation has determined some time after Melina’s call with her mother and before Mr. Frattolin’s 911 call, he allegedly murdered Melina and left her body in a remote area where she was later discovered by law enforcement,” McConnell said.

The general driving time between Saratoga Springs, where she was last seen alive on surveillance video, and Ticonderoga is about 1 hour and 15 minutes, according to a Google Maps estimation.

At 10 p.m. Saturday police said Frattolin called 911 reported he’d pulled over to a parking lot to urinate near Exit 22. He stepped away to a wooded area, returned to his vehicle and Melina was gone, McConnell said.

He also reported a suspicious white van fleeing the scene southbound, McConnell said.

In a subsequent interview, the father reported two unknown men forced her into the van, McConnell said.

“That lead was thoroughly investigated and disproven,” McConnell said.

The Google estimated drive time between Ticonderoga and Exit 22 is about 50 minutes.

Police immediately began their search and an Amber Alert was subsequently issued. However, police said they soon began to find inconsistencies in Frattolin’s story.

On Sunday police began searching an area of Ticonderoga they said Frattolin had visited and state Department of Environmental Conservation police discovered the young girl dead in the shallow area of a pond.

“This is certainly a difficult case and a heartbreaking investigation,” McConnell said. “On behalf of the New York State Police and our law enforcement partners, I want to offer our condolences to the family.”

McConnell said they have no motive at this time and a cause of death is pending, with an autopsy scheduled for Monday.

He also said the girl’s mother did not believe her child was in danger with her father. McConnell also said Frattolin did not have a criminal history or history of domestic violence.

The case will be handled in New York State, McConnell said.

Anyone who might have information on the case is encouraged to contact state police at 518-783-3211.

TICONDEROGA — A 9-year-old girl thought to be the victim of an alleged abduction is dead.

LATHAM - The New York State Police press conference in the homicide of Melina Frattolin, the 9-year-old girl who was the subject of an Amber A…

Reporter Shenandoah Briere can be reached at sbriere@dailygazette.net.

Watercraft meanders peacefully on Great Sacandaga Lake in Mayfield on Friday.

Soaking up the sun

Maizy Saunders walks the stage, earning her high school diploma, at Mayfield Junior/Senior High School on June 21.

Maizy Saunders

Death comes for us all, but 2025 Mayfield High School graduate Maizy Saunders isn’t intimidated by it in the slightest.

“I’m obviously going to do the most I can for that family so I can make it as best as I can for them,” Saunders said. “Obviously, it’s not going to be unicorns and rainbows that day, but I’ll do my best to try to understand you and try to be there for you as much as possible.”

The mortuary-science hopeful said most people are surprised when she tells them about her future plans. She plans on attending SUNY Canton in the fall to study mortuary science, and also played varsity softball, varsity cheer and has lived in Mayfield her entire life.

“[I get reactions] all the time, all the time,” she said. “Like, my favorite color is hot pink. You wouldn’t expect me to be in that kind of field, I would say.”

Saunders said that after college, she plans on starting her own funeral home. She emphasized that she wants to break tradition with how typical funeral homes look, and wants the environment to be welcoming to those struggling with a recent loss.

“I like to talk about how all funeral homes look very Victorian and cliche, and I don’t like that,” she said. “My goal is to probably make a more modern [one], more comfortable, make people more comfortable in funeral homes — because I know when I walk in one, I get kind of creeped out.”

Saunders said even as a young child she found the funeral industry fascinating. She recalled when she attended her first funeral when she was just 3. Her Aunt Ang had just died, and the funeral was quiet and somber.

“I didn’t really understand how [funerals] worked,” she said. “It was dead silent, and I asked [my dad] if she became a skeleton yet, and the whole church started laughing at me . . . I’ve always had kind of like a question, even from when I was younger.”

Saunder’s father, Brad, said Saunders is unapologetically invested in all aspects of funeral services, and that he’s supportive of her plans. He said she’s shown no issue with looking at bodies, and that he attempted to warn her about the less-than-glamourous aspects of the industry – to no avail.

“I’ve always kind of let her know the reality of it, not that I know everything about that stuff, but I let her know that it can be gross and it’s not going to be all glamor and everything,” he said. “She goes, ‘Dad. I know.’ I know she’s been watching videos and follows people that do embalming and stuff like that, so she knows more about it, but she’s never strayed from it.”

Saunders isn’t the only local woman who feels called to the profession. In nearby Glenville, local funeral director Brittany DeMarco has been in the industry for the past 10 years, and said despite impressions that most funeral directors are men, more and more women are entering the field. In 2019, 72% of mortuary school enrollees were women and........

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