The initial autopsy of 9-year-old Melina Frattolin, who was discovered lifeless in a pond’s shallow area after her father reported her missing, indicates that she died from asphyxia due to drowning and her death was ruled a homicide.

New York State Police are appealing to the public for any information regarding the car in which Melina and her father, 45-year-old Luciano Frattolin, were traveling. They departed from Canada on July 11 for a vacation in New York.

Luciano Frattolin, who has been separated from Melina’s mother since 2019, faces charges of murder and concealment of a corpse after investigators found inconsistencies in his claim that his daughter was kidnapped in Lake George, New York, on Saturday.

Frattolin and his daughter had been expected to return home on Saturday, at which time Melina would be returned to the custody of her mother, with whom she lived full time. But Frattolin called 911 at about 10 p.m. on and reported his daughter missing, allegedly abducted by someone in a white van.

Investigators learned that Melina had spoken with her mother by phone at about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Police believe that sometime after that phone call, Frattolin killed his daughter and left her body in the shallow water of a pond in Ticonderoga, where she was found on Sunday.

State police said the final autopsy report will be issued on the completion of lab tests.