A New York jury heard that police found the body of a nine-year-old girl from Montreal in a marsh after investigators reviewed her father’s cellphone location history. Luciano Frattolin, 46, is charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse in the death of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. The child’s body was found in the shallow part of a pond in the woods of Ticonderoga in a rural area of New York on July 20, 2025. Frattolin has pleaded not guilty to both charges and has been held without bail since his arrest soon after his daughter’s body was found. Lt. Robert Smith of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department testified on Thursday afternoon that he made his way to Ticonderoga in the morning after spending the night trying to locate the missing girl. The jury heard a recording of a 911 call by Frattolin to the Warren Country Sheriff’s Department around 10 p.m. on July 19. In the recording, Frattolin told an operator his daughter was kidnapped by suspects who drove off in a white van. Officers met with Frattolin and brought him to the sheriff’s office to get information and put out an Amber Alert. Smith obtained Frattolin’s consent to search his car as well as his and his daughter’s cellphones. “I told him that maybe (searching) the phones would help,” Smith told the jury. “Ultimately, it did.” The court was shown footage of Smith’s interactions with Frattolin in the interrogation room. Smith described Frattolin as “cooperative, friendly, calm and composed.” The Amber Alert went out around 1 a.m. and Smith told the court that officers had spent the night stopping white vans. By the next morning, Smith said police had noted discrepancies in Frattolin’s reported location and data on his phone. Smith said he made his way to Ticonderoga after police learned Frattolin had been there with his daughter the previous day. Smith noticed a white van with Florida plates was parked near a hiking trail near where the girl’s body was found. He told the court he noted the plate numbers and sent the information to New York State Police. Though police had new leads, he said he felt it was important to follow up on the white van. Smith testified after Carrie Daly, first assistant district attorney for Essex County, presented her opening statements in the case, alleging Frattolin had tried to mislead authorities when he shared his account of the kidnapping. The prosecution also said Frattolin had changed his clothes during the day and that his old clothes and shoes were found in a bag near the body. Frattolin was assigned public defenders to represent him in the case, Eric Weyand and Brian Pilatzke. During the defence’s opening statement, Pilatzke alleged that police had failed to investigate evidence about a kidnapping after assuming Frattolin was guilty. The defence also argued New York police couldn’t properly understand Frattolin as English is his third language. In addition, Pilatzke said Frattolin had suffered a head injury in the past, which would explain the inconsistencies in his retelling of the events. The prosecution also introduced body camera footage from the patrol officer who first met with Frattolin on a roadside. “She’s gone,” Frattolin told the officer before handing him the girl’s passport. Frattolin was then brought to the sheriff’s office to answer some questions and prepare the Amber Alert. Footage from the interrogation room was shown to the jury. While answering questions, Frattolin also voiced dissatisfaction with the custody agreement he had with his former partner and made accusations against her. The trial will resume Friday morning and the girl’s mother is on a list of potential witnesses who could testify in the case. Judge Tatiana Coffinger is presiding over the case with a jury of 12 people and three replacement members. - This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2026. With files from The Associated Press Erika Morris, The Canadian Press
