9-year-old Montreal girl found in an upstate New York pond drowned in a homicide

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A 9-year-old girl from Canada found dead in an upstate New York pond after her father reported her missing was drowned, according to preliminary autopsy results released Tuesday.

Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, was charged with murdering and concealing the corpse of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. He pleaded not guilty Monday and was being held in a county jail.

Frattolin called 911 on Saturday night and said his daughter went missing from a parking lot near Lake George, a resort town in the Adirondack region. He later told authorities that two men forced his daughter into a white van, according to New York State Police.

Officials issued an Amber Alert, seeking the public’s help in the search. But investigators noticed inconsistencies in the father’s account and eventually concluded there was no evidence the girl had been abducted.

A team led by state forest rangers found the girl’s body on Sunday afternoon in the shallow part of a pond in the woods of Ticonderoga, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Lake George. The criminal complaint said Frattolin concealed her body under a log.

The preliminary autopsy results said the cause of death was "asphyxia due to drowning" and classified it as a homicide, according to state police. Final autopsy results are pending.

Police said the father and daughter had been vacationing since July 11 in the U.S. and were expected back in Montreal that weekend. The girl lived with her mother, who has been estranged from Luciano Frattolin since 2019, police said.

The investigation into the girl's death is continuing.

This undated booking photo provided by the New York State Police shows Luciano Frattolin, who is charged with murder and concealing of a corpse in the death of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. (New York State Police via AP)

New York State Police Capt. Robert McConnell speaks at a news conference, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Latham, N.Y., about the arrest of a Canadian man who reported his 9-year-old daughter missing in upstate New York. (Associated Press/Michael Hill)

People gather at a vigil for a nine-year-old Montreal girl whose body was found in their community over the weekend, in Ticonderoga, in Essex County, N.Y., Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

People gather at a vigil for a nine-year-old Montreal girl whose body was found in their community over the weekend, in Ticonderoga, in Essex County, N.Y., Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

People gather at a vigil for a nine-year-old Montreal girl whose body was found in their community over the weekend, in Ticonderoga, in Essex County, N.Y., Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

This undated booking photo provided by the New York State Police shows Luciano Frattolin, who is charged with murder and concealing of a corpse in the death of his daughter, Melina Frattolin. (New York State Police via AP)

New York State Police Capt. Robert McConnell speaks at a news conference, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Latham, N.Y., about the arrest of a Canadian man who reported his 9-year-old daughter missing in upstate New York. (Associated Press/Michael Hill)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)