‘Her daughter never came home’: The hours before the death of Melina Frattolin
MONTREAL — On a nice day in July 2025, a man and his daughter were nearing the end of their trip to the United States, with the girl set to return home to Montreal that night. She never made it back. Her father reported her missing and her body was found, hours later, in a marsh in rural New York.
On July 19, 2025, Luciano Frattolin and his nine-year-old daughter Melina were traveling together in a car from Montreal to New York. After reaching the McDonald’s in Saratoga Springs, New York, Melina texted her mother Kali Galanis about their plan to return home around 6:15 PM. Surveillance footage showed Melina happily skipping around the parking lot while she and her father ate. They arrived at the McDonald’s at 4:30 PM.
Melina used her phone for the last time at 5:36 PM. Frattolin left the interstate four times between 6:50 PM and 7:25 PM, allegedly looking for a spot where Melina could swim. The body was discovered the following day in a marsh near a pull-off in Ticonderoga, New York, partially covered by a fallen tree and a large rock on her chest. Autopsy results revealed that Melina died from asphyxia due to drowning.
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- “Her daughter never came home”: The hours before the death of Melina Frattolin winnipegfreepress.com
