A Canadian businessman is accused of killing his 9-year-old Greek-Canadian daughter on a trip the two had taken to New York, with local authorities looking for a motive for the gruesome crime in the financial problems the 45-year-old man was facing.

Luciano Frattolin, who is originally from Ethiopia, had claimed to police before his arrest that little Melina Galani-Frattolin had been kidnapped, with his complaint immediately raising the suspicions of authorities after no evidence was found to support it.

Specifically, in the false abduction report filed Saturday night, the man claimed that two men in a white van abducted Melina, causing an Amber Alert to be issued. “Mr. Frattoline stated that he had stopped in a parking lot near Exit 22 of I-87 in the Lake George area to urinate. He initially said he walked away from his vehicle and when he returned, his child was gone. He reported a suspicious white vehicle near the scene and two men in it. This scenario was thoroughly investigated and was denied,” New York State Police Deputy Commissioner Robert McConnell told reporters, according to the Montreal Journal.

The 9-year-old girl’s lifeless body was found a few hours later under a log in a shallow body of water at the northern end of Lake George, near the town of Ticaronga, with authorities saying there were no signs of abduction.

The 45-year-old father has been charged with second-degree murder and unlawful disposal of a body, according to the New York Post.

Both Frattoline and his Greek-born wife, whom he divorced in 2019, lived in Quebec. Little Melina was staying permanently with her mother and was in New York as part of a long-planned vacation with her father.

The 9-year-old was last seen alive around 5:30 p.m. Saturday at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs with her father, security camera footage showed. Melina reportedly contacted her mother by phone an hour later and there was nothing to worry about. Their return to Quebec was scheduled for that day.

According to the file, Melina was murdered between 7:40 and 9:12 that night.

Frattoline, founder of Montreal-based Gambella Coffee, was taken at 2 a.m. Monday to the Essex County Jail in upstate New York. At noon the same day, he was taken in handcuffs to the Ticaroga County Courthouse for his first court appearance. Clearly overwhelmed, he did not answer reporters’ questions and simply stared at them in silence.

According to the Times Union, he pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces, and also admitted that he could not afford to hire a lawyer – even though the photos he posted on his social media depicted a luxurious lifestyle, with expensive cars and travel.

After the 45-year-old called 911 to report the alleged abduction of the girl, police initially thought the girl was in “immediate danger”. However, authorities subsequently found inconsistencies in the father’s claims.

The exact cause of Melina’s death has yet to be determined, and authorities have yet to make any announcements about the motive behind the shocking crime. There have been no previous reports or incidents of domestic violence. The girl’s mother said she had no concerns for the child’s safety.

However, according to local Montreal media, Frattoline was reportedly facing serious financial problems: he was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and was even struggling to pay child support for his daughter.

On his company’s website, Frattoline describes Melina as “the light of his life” and “a source of inspiration”, and also refers to his difficulty managing his obsession with class, especially because of his daughter’s “messy artwork”.

His last post with a photo of Melina dates back to 2023. His most recent post, in June 2024, shows only a Porsche car.