Melina Frattolin's 'murderer' dad shared video of little girl sledding with creepy 'hush little baby' lullaby
Luciano Frattolin, 45, reported his daughter Melina missing in upstate New York on Saturday before an extensive search found the body of the little girl yesterday.
Frattolin claimed his daughter had been kidnapped by someone in a white van, but cops later said there were 'inconsistencies' in the father's timeline of events.
He was arrested and is now facing charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse, pleading not guilty to murder at Ticonderoga Town Court earlier today.
Luciano and Melina had spent the week on vacation in New York, but he was set to hand custody of his daughter back to her mother on Sunday, officials said.
Frattolin, the founder of a coffee company, has gushed about his daughter online, calling her the 'light of his life' and sharing pictures and videos of their 'father daughter' time.
In one YouTube clip from 2023, he and his daughter are seen enjoying 'quality time' together in the snow in Montreal, something Frattolin said he would 'miss about winter'.
The original video is accompanied by lullaby-style music, with the creepy lyrics 'now hush little baby don't you cry, everything's gonna be alright... daddy's here to hold you through the night.'
Portraying himself as a doting father on social media, Frattolin's Instagram is filled with pictures of him and his daughter on holidays and spending time together over recent years.
In one snap, the little girl is seen celebrating Thanksgiving with her grandmother, while other content shows her enjoying a sunny holiday in Italy, where part of her father's family is from.
Earlier this month, the father and daughter traveled to the US from Canada for a vacation, arriving on July 11 before they were expected to return on Sunday.
Frattolin, who has been estranged Melina's mother since 2019, was set to bring their daughter back to her mother that day, officials said.
Melina's mom had full custody of the child, police added, and at around 6.30pm on Saturday the little girl phoned her to say she was heading back home.
Tragically, investigators believe that it was at some point that night that Melina was killed. Police have not yet determined a motive in her killing.
The little girl was found in a shallow area of a pond near the town of Ticonderoga, some 45 miles away from Lake George, where her father initially claimed she was kidnapped.
Her cause of death is not yet known, and officials said they would perform an autopsy on Monday.
New York State Police Captain Robert McConnell said at Monday's press conference that the discovery of Melina's body was devastating.
'This is certainly a difficult case, a heartbreaking investigation,' McConnell said.
McConnell said Luciano initially claimed that his daughter was kidnapped near Lake George in upstate New York when he pulled over to urinate in the woods.
He said he turned around to find that Melina was missing, and saw a 'suspicious white van' fleeing the scene.
But he later said that 'two unknown males forced' his daughter into the white van.
When her body was found, detectives said there was no evidence she was ever abducted and there was 'no threat to the public' following Luciano's arrest.
Cops said that 'as the case progressed, law enforcement identified inconsistencies in the father's account of events and the timeline he provided.'
Lake George, the spot where Frattolin said he last saw her, is a small waterside town in the Adirondack region of upstate New York around 60 miles north of Albany.
Frattolin, the son of an Italian father and Ethiopian mother, is the founder of an organic coffee brand called Gambella, according to the product's website, which has been taken down in recent hours.
The company's Instagram page, which is still online and only follows Frattolin's account, shared a post on Sunday - hours after Melina went missing and is believed to have been killed.
The promotional post plugs the benefits of 'wild-grown' coffee beans and says each of the beans the company uses is picked by hand.
A biography for Frattolin on his company's now disconnected website was filled with words of adoration for Melina.
'Luciano currently spends as much time as he can in Montreal, Canada, with his beautiful daughter Melina,' the site read.
'As the light of his life, she is the inspiration for well, everything. His pursuits for building a more equitable and just world are deeply guided by his determination that she will not have to endure the same social injustices that he encountered throughout his childhood.
'Seeing the world through her eyes has also helped Luciano look for creative ways to reinforce and empower Melina to know, feel, and understand her own unique individual beauty and intellect, while also teaching her to celebrate those same virtues inherent in the world's diversity.
'On a lighter note, Melina has also taught Luciano to let go of his rigid tendencies to keep everything in "perfect order" - his love for Melina's messy art projects and chaotic ensemble of toys supersedes his love for a meticulously spotless home.
In terms of his career, the biography describes Frattolin as 'an experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record of building diverse, high-performance businesses.
'With a background in the humanities and social sciences, his formal education, together with his pragmatic understanding about the complexities of life, motivates him to maintain an understanding of the world grounded in a distinct cross-cultural ethos.
'The son of an Ethiopian mother and an Italian father, Luciano was born in the small, remote village of Gambella.
'With a childhood spent running between rows of crimson coffee buds on the Ethiopian family plantation, and the neoclassical architecture of his father's Milano, his vision of the world and his pursuits within, reflect these hyphenated cultures.'
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