NY police tracked over 200,000 location points in Montreal girl's murder investigation

A New York State Police investigator told a jury on Thursday that investigators compiled over 200,000 location data points from a phone as part of their investigation into the death of a nine-year-old girl from Montreal.

Ryan Munks testified that the data was extracted from apps such as Google Maps on the phone of Luciano Frattolin, who is on trial charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. Munks noted the data set covered a week-long period and was unusually large. "That's a lot. One of the most I've ever seen," he said.

Melina Frattolin was found drowned in a marsh in rural New York at the end of a trip with her father. Luciano Frattolin has pleaded not guilty to both charges and has been held without bail since his arrest in July 2025. He has alleged his daughter was abducted by two men who drove off in a white van.

Munks testified that shortly before Melina disappeared, the girl messaged her mother on her own phone to get in touch with a friend. She was due to return to Montreal that same evening. The data also showed Luciano Frattolin's phone remained stationary beside a country road for about an hour before the father called police to report his daughter missing.

In subsequent testimony, an analyst from state police, Andrew Munson, said investigators pulled data from licence-plate reading cameras to track a silver Prius Frattolin had rented. The vehicle was captured travelling in both directions on the I-87 highway over a three-hour period the same evening. Investigators also analyzed images of white vans using an AI tool but found no information hinting at criminal activity. During cross-examination, Frattolin's attorneys questioned the accuracy of the AI tool and whether licence plates could be obscured or removed to evade detection.