A city upstate New York is remembering a Montreal girl who was allegedly killed by her father
A year after a nine-year-old Montreal girl was found near a swamp in Upstate New York, local resident Bridgette Cruz says new road signs are keeping her memory alive.
Bright signs with yellow text are dedicated to “Friends of Melina Frattolin.” Posted on a short stretch of Route 74 in the small lake town of Ticonderoga, NY The road connects to the I-87 freeway and is used by residents to get in and out of town.
Cruz, who has lived in Ticonderoga all his life, says he was the one who set up the signal system after Melina Frattolin’s body was found in July 2025.
Although the girl was unknown in the town of about 5,000 people, Cruz said the united community was devastated by the incident.
“We are separated by a border, but it’s a child. It doesn’t matter,” he said in an interview.
“It just hurt,” Cruz added. “It was definitely a sad thing that affected a lot of people….It was hard for a lot of people to process the emotions.”
The girl’s father, Luciano Frattolin, is on trial in nearby Elizabethtown, NY.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges and said his daughter was abducted while they were on their way back to Montreal after a week-long vacation.
Cruz, a mother of three, said she vividly remembers when authorities sent out an Amber Alert about the missing girl — the fear she felt for the child and the heartache when her body was found. He helped organize a vigil for the Montreal girl in the following days.
But Cruz said the death continues to haunt him and he wants a lasting memorial. He then contacted the Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the program for citizens to use the highway.
Scott Cooke, a spokesman for the department, said the program is open to anyone and can be used as a reminder.
Through this program, the department puts up a highway sign that acknowledges “adopters,” who commit to clean up trash a few times a year for two years. The contract can be renewed.
Melina’s signs went up in November, and Cruz said she plans to keep them in place as long as possible. The three kilometer area he chose runs along the marsh where the girl was found drowned, with one sign on each side.
“I want it to be a nice resting place for him,” said Cruz. “I don’t want it to be a cool place, because it’s a beautiful place.”
When Cruz first cleaned up in the spring, several soldiers who had been involved in the search for Melina joined him, he said.
Heath Towne sits on the Ticonderoga town board. He said murders are rare in the area.
He went on to say that it is not surprising that the citizen chose to put a sign on the memorial as it is common for people to put signs and crosses on the road to honor their loved ones.
“It was an emotional thing. Anytime you have something that affects a child, it’s going to stir up a lot of emotion. It’s that human desire to protect children,” he said.
He expects the case, which is expected to conclude in August, to revive those feelings.
