Melina Frattolin, 9, drowned in filthy water, investigator reveals — as accused killer dad refuses to look at photos of her body

ELIZABETHTOWN, New York – Little Melina Frattolin drowned to death in fetid water — her lungs, airway and stomach filled with mud, debits and plants, a forensics expert testified Tuesday as her father faces trial for her murder.

Jurors were forced to look at gruesome photos of Melina’s corpse.

However, Luciano Frattolin — who is on trial for murdering her — refused to look and shielded his gaze from the screens in the courtroom as he wrote on a legal pad.

The 9-year-old Montreal girl was found covered in a “large amount of mud” in a knee-deep stream a few miles from Lake George, Dr. Michael Sikirica, said telling the courtroom “this case is definitely a drowning case.”

Kali Galanis, Melina’s mother, testified that she sent her this picture Saturday, hours before she was supposed to be returned to Montreal by her Father, Luciano Frattolin. New York State Police

“The lungs were just full of black material, basically mud and plant debris,” Sikirica testified.

As he spoke, the courtroom was shown the first sickening photos of her pale lifeless body as it was recovered from Paragon Brook, near Eagle Lake in Essex County on on July 20, 2025.

“It was obvious quickly that her lungs were hyper expanded,” the seasoned medical examiner said, noting that tissue samples showed black plant material deep within her lungs, a sign her airway was blocked.

“There was a stone placed on her body in the water,” Sikirica confirmed, noting the large scratch on her stomach as well as some small bruises on her neck and shoulder.

Luciano Frattolin is accused of killing her and trying to cover up the sick crime by reporting her kidnapped near Lake George as the pair drove home to Montreal.

Melina’s body was found by New York Forest Rangers the day after her father was reported her missing, claiming she had been taken a stranger.

She was submerged in knee deep water, her colorless legs seen perturbing out from under a log with the boulder sitting atop her torso.

Luciano Frattolin has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered his daughter, Melina, in the Adirondacks last July. Hans Pennink

Melina’s mom, Kali Galanis, took the stand earlier Tuesday where she told jurors that her nine-year-old “didn’t want to go” with her dad on an trip to his native Ethiopia as he’d originally wanted earlier that year.

Prosecutors are expected to continue calling witnesses when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.