A 9-year-old Canadian girl whose father has been charged with murdering her in upstate New York was drowned, the authorities said on Tuesday.
The girl, Melina Galanis Frattolin, of Montreal, died from asphyxia due to drowning, according to Dr. Michael Sikirica, a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on her on Monday and ruled the death a homicide.
The New York State Police said on Tuesday that its investigation was continuing and asked for the public’s help retracing the movements of Melina and her father, Luciano Frattolin.
Mr. Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, who the authorities said falsely reported that Melina had been abducted at Lake George, was charged on Monday with second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse. He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment, which was also on Monday, and was being held at Essex County Jail. His next court appearance is Friday.
Forest rangers found Melina’s body in a shallow portion of a pond in Ticonderoga, about 100 miles north of Albany, the authorities said. Her father hid his child’s body under a log, court documents further detailed.
Investigators were still trying to narrow down the time frame of when Melina was killed, saying on Monday that it was between 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturday, when her father reported her missing.
The two of them had been finishing up a vacation in New York and Connecticut — having entered the United States legally on July 11 — when Mr. Frattolin called 9-1-1 to report that someone in a white van had kidnapped his daughter while he went to relieve himself, the authorities said.
Based on his account, law enforcement officers issued an Amber Alert for Melina, who earlier on Saturday evening told her mother by telephone that she was on her way back to Canada.
Melina, who lived full time with her mother in Montreal, appeared to be in good health and did not indicate she was under any duress at the time of the call, according to the police, who described her parents as being estranged.
