GLENS FALLS - Melina Galanis Frattolin, the 9-year-old subject of a weekend Amber Alert which triggered a frantic, region-wide search before her father was later arrested and charged with her murder, died by drowning, State Police announced Tuesday afternoon.

Melina's father, Luciano Frattolin, was arrested Monday and faces charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse.

Nine-year-old Melina Frattolin died by drowning, according to a preliminary autopsy on the little Canadian tourist allegedly killed by her dad in upstate New York.

A community shaken after nine-year-old Melina Frattolin was found dead in the small New York town of Ticonderoga on Sunday. Her death was ruled a homicide. Her father, Luciano Frattolin of Montreal is being charged in her death.

The body of Melina Galanis Frattolin, 9, of Canada, was found in Ticonderoga, N.Y., on Sunday, one day after her father falsely reported that she had been abducted, the police said.

TICONDEROGA, NY — Hundreds of locals from the close-knit upstate community where 9-year-old Melina Frattolin was allegedly murdered by her father mourned the little girl in a heartbreaking vigil Tuesday.

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. ( NEWS10) — The preliminary autopsy results for Melina Frattolin have been released by New York State Police. The 9-year-old had been found dead on Sunday in Ticonderoga after being reported missing by her father in Lake George on Saturday.

Authorities released a cause of death for a 9-year-old girl believed to have been murdered by her father in upstate New York.Melina Frattolin died from asphyxia due to drowning, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide,

Dr. Michael Sikirica conducted the autopsy of Melina Frattolin on July 21, 2025, at Glens Falls Hospital.Preliminary results indicate the cause of death was asp

Melina Frattolin, the nine-year-old girl who was found dead just hours after her father claimed that she was kidnapped, died from drowning, her autopsy has confirmed. Luciano Frattolin reported his daughter missing on Saturday, telling authorities she had been taken by someone driving a white van in upstate New York.