Law enforcement officials report that Melina Fratlin spoke to her mother just one hour prior to her tragic death in upstate New York.
Detectives suspect that Luciano Fratlin killed his nine-year-old daughter due to a custody conflict with his estranged wife, as sources informed the Post.
Melina had gone to visit her father as part of a scheduled trip, which included New York City, Connecticut, and the Lake George area.
Since divorcing Melina’s mother in 2019, Luciano reportedly stopped responding to messages after his ex raised alarming questions about Melina’s whereabouts, particularly when she was supposed to be at their home in Montreal.
After several unanswered texts and calls, he became unreachable.
Melina’s last conversation with her mother occurred around 6:30 PM. She reportedly sounded fine at that time.
However, authorities built a timeline of Fratlin’s movements with Melina over the weekend, leading to the discovery that Fratlin reported her missing around 10 PM on Saturday. He claimed she had been abducted by two men in a white van near I-87 while attempting to exit at Lake George.
Update on the Investigation
An Amber Alert was issued Sunday morning. Unfortunately, later that day, Melina’s body was located in a shallow pond, partially hidden under a log, about 30 miles from where her father claimed she had gone missing.
Both Fratlin and Melina legally entered the U.S. from Montreal on July 11 for this trip.
They were expected to head back on Saturday, July 19, which would have returned Melina to her mother’s custody.
Video footage captured the father and daughter together around 5:30 PM on Saturday in Saratoga Springs, New York.
While investigators noted that Melina spoke to her mother around 6:30 PM and did not seem to be in distress, sources later indicated that she passed away an hour after that call.
Luciano Fratlin currently has no criminal record, but he is involved in several legal matters this year, including a lawsuit from a bank seeking over $83,000.
