LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (WRGB) —ONLY ON CBS6– A Lake George hotel owner believes he may have stumbled upon a crucial piece of evidence in the case of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin — the Canadian girl who was reported missing last weekend and later found dead in Ticonderoga.
Rob Gregor, the owner of Gregor Hotels on Canada Street, tells CBS6’s Briana Supardi one of his employees found a tablet in a flower bed just outside the hotel entrance early Sunday morning.
“They found a tablet in that flower bed at 7:30 in the morning. People dump stuff all over her place on a Saturday night in Lake George, so no one really thought much about it,” said Gregor.
But when a staff member powered on the device, they immediately noticed something unsettling— photos of a young girl who looked strikingly similar to the image featured in the AMBER Alert for Melina.
“We looked at a couple other pictures and it looked shockingly similar to, you know, the little girl they were looking for,” said Gregor.
“She plugged in the tablet and the first photographs look very much like the missing girl at the time.She was missing– We didn’t know that she was deceased – So, I ran over to the hotel,” said Gregor.
He then contacted the authorities. A Warren County Sheriff deputy first responded, and after finding the photos strongly resembling Melina, New York State Police was contacted.
“They took it into evidence,” said Gregor. “So, that’s the last I saw of it.”
It’s unclear at this time whether the tablet belonged to Melina. CBS6 has reached out to New York State Police for confirmation but has not yet received a response.
The flower bed sits just feet away from Canada Street, the main thoroughfare through the village of Lake George. Gregor feels it’s easy to imagine someone tossing it out of a moving vehicle.
The tablet was found just off Exit 22 in Lake George — the same area where Melina’s father, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin, called police to report his daughter missing.
Investigators now feel she was never truly missing, and that the father staged her disappearance to cover up her death.
According to police, Melina and her father were vacationing in New York from Canada, arriving on July 11th and set to return by July 20th.
On July 19th, the final day of their trip, Melina spoke with her mother around 6:30 pm telling her they were on their way back to Canada.
But later that night, sometime between 7:40 p.m. and 9:12 p.m, investigators believe Frattolin killed his daughter and dumped her body in a shallow pond in a wooded area of Ticonderoga.
An autopsy performed at Glens Falls Hospital determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Frattolin has been charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
State police say digital evidence helped lead them to the location where Melina’s body was ultimately found.
Authorities are now asking for the public’s help. Specifically, they want to hear from anyone who may have seen or have video of Frattolin’s vehicle — a 2024 gray Toyota Prius — between July 11 and July 19. State Police say they’re especially focused on gathering any surveillance or witness accounts the night of July 19th, along the I-87 (Northway) between exits 28 and 20.
Anyone with information, dashcam footage, or surveillance video is urged to contact New York State Police at 518-873-2750 or email crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.
As for a motive, investigators say that part of the case is still under investigation.
CBS6 will continue to follow this story and provide updates as new information becomes available.