By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 23:06:11 | Updated at 2026-08-07 05:33:43
6 hours ago
The heartbreaking final video 9-year-old Melina Frattolin ever sent her mom was played in court Thursday — showing the smiling little girl in the sun-drenched back seat of a car just hours before prosecutors allege her father killed her.
The roughly 10-second clip, recovered from the fourth-grader’s cellphone, was sent to her mother, Kali Galanis, at 4:27 p.m. on July 19, 2025.
Prosecutors allege Luciano Frattolin, 45, drowned his daughter Melina later that evening during what had begun as a court-approved vacation.
The father then allegedly dumped her body in a shallow pond near Ticonderoga and concocted a phony kidnapping story that triggered a massive search across the Adirondacks.
He has pleaded not guilty.
IIn the muted video, Melina smiles into the camera on her lap, appearing to show her mother that she’d taken out the two braids Galanis had done before the trip
Cell records show Melina and her father were on their way to a McDonald’s in Saratoga when she shot the video.
At 8:53 p.m. — during the window in which prosecutors allege Melina was killed — Galanis texted her daughter a simple message: “Appelle-moi.”
“Call me.”
Jurors then saw call logs showing Galanis repeatedly tried to reach both Melina’s cellphone and Frattolin’s phone throughout the night of July 19 and into the early morning hours of July 20.
As prosecutors played the recovered video, Frattolin watched from the computer monitor at the defense table. When the clip ended, he removed his glasses and looked down.
Later Thursday, jurors watched chilling surveillance video showing the accused killer dad sharing what prosecutors say was his final meal with 9-year-old daughter Melina inside a McDonald’s.
The footage, recorded at a McDonald’s in Wilton on July 19, 2025, shows Frattolin and Melina arriving in a gray Toyota Prius before walking inside and ordering at a self-service kiosk, where the fourth-grader eagerly tapped through the touchscreen while her father stood beside her.
The pair then carried their food to a table before Melina decided to move to another one.
During the roughly hour-long visit, Frattolin twice got up and walked away from the table for several minutes before returning.
As they finished eating, he took a final sip from what appeared to be a soft drink, stretched, and walked out with his daughter.
Nothing in the footage hinted at what prosecutors allege came next.
Prosecutors contend Frattolin spent the next several hours driving a circuitous route through the Adirondacks before drowning Melina and dumping her body in a shallow pond near Ticonderoga.
