Melina Frattolin talked to mom just 1 hour before murder — as cops eye custody dispute as motive
Tragic Melina Frattolin talked to her mom just one hour before she was murdered in upstate New York, according to law enforcement sources.
Detectives on the case believe that Luciano Frattolin killed his 9-year-old daughter as a result of his custody dispute with his estranged wife, the sources told The Post.
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Melina was on a scheduled visitation with her father — a trip that took her to New York City and Connecticut, as well as the Lake George area, sources said.
Luciano, who divorced Melina’s mother in 2019, stopped answering the mom’s messages after she asked one heartbreaking question — when would Melina be home to Montreal, the sources said.
After some text messages and calls going back and forth between the parents, Frattolin went radio silent.
New York State Police are still building a picture of Frattolin’s movements over the weekend with his daughter.
Melina was reported missing at around 10 p.m. on Saturday by her father, who claimed that she had been taken by two men in a white van while he stepped out of the car to urinate close to Exit 22 of I-87 near Lake George.
Follow The Post’s coverage on Melina Frattolin
An amber alert was issued early Sunday morning, but that afternoon, Melina’s body was discovered in a shallow pond under a log near the town of Ticonderoga some 30 miles from where the reported abduction took place.
Frattolin and Melina, both from Montreal, entered the US legally for a vacation on July 11, according to police.
They were expected to return on Saturday, July 19, at which time Melina would be returned to the custody of her mother in Montreal.
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Father and daughter were both seen on video surveillance in Saratoga Springs, NY, at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Melina spoke to her mother over the phone at around 6:30 p.m. and did not seem distressed, according to investigators.
Sources said she was dead about an hour later.
Frattolin, who has no criminal record, is currently involved in five separate lawsuits, all filed this year, four of which he is the plaintiff, according to court records seen by the Montreal Gazette.
He is being sued for more than $83,000 by a bank in the lawsuit in which he is the defendant.
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