Slaycation: True Crimes, Murders, and Twisted Vacations · Kim Davis, Adam "Tex" Davis, Jerry Kolber; True Crime Podcast

Bad Dad in the Adirondacks

·49 min·3 clips

Forest rangers found Melina in a shallow pond in Ticonderoga, and the autopsy ruled asphyxia due to drowning.

1. Slaycation: True Crimes, Murders, and Twisted Vacations centers on the Adirondacks and Lake George in upstate New York. 2. Adam Tex Davis is the host, Kim is his wife and co-host, and Jerry Kolber is the research-heavy buddy whose casework drives the story. 3. The episode asks what happened after Luciano Fratolin took his nine-year-old daughter Melina on a July 2024 trip that turned into a homicide investigation. 4. Luciano and Melina crossed from Canada into the United States on July 11, 2024, with passports and papers in order. 5. The hosts say the first week looked ordinary, with rentals, errands, towns, and cameras showing father and daughter together. 6. Melina called her mother regularly during the trip, and on Saturday, July 19, she sounded cheerful and at ease. 7. On July 19 at 9:58 p.m., Luciano called Warren County 911 and reported that Melina had been abducted near Exit 22 on Interstate 87. 8. Luciano described a white van, strangers, and Melina's clothing, including a blue-and-white striped shirt, shorts, and white Adidas sneakers. 9. The Warren County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police, nearby departments, and forest rangers launched an immediate search across highways, rest areas, trails, ponds, and campgrounds. 10. By early morning, an Amber Alert had gone statewide, and families across New York saw Melina's photo and the warning that she was believed to be in imminent danger. 11. Nearly 12 hours later, forest rangers found a deceased child in a shallow pond in Ticonderoga, about 40 miles north of Lake George. 12. The clothing matched the Amber Alert description, and the body was identified as Melina Fratolin. 13. Albany Medical Center performed the autopsy, and the cause of death was ruled asphyxia due to drowning. 14. The pond was only a few feet deep, and the hosts say the water was not a place where a healthy nine-year-old would be expected to drown by accident. 15. Investigators concluded the pond scene made more sense as a homicide than as a child wandering into the water alone. 16. Surveillance footage, traffic cameras, and toll records failed to support Luciano's white-van account. 17. The episode also details Luciano's public image as a successful entrepreneur with Gambela Coffee and social-media travel posts. 18. Court records cited tens of thousands of dollars in rent debt, credit-card claims, business pressure, and disputes over custody and child support. 19. The show uses a conversational, back-and-forth format with interruptions, quick reactions, and sponsor breaks between story segments. 20. Listeners interested in true-crime custody disputes and recent travel-related cases will likely stay engaged; listeners avoiding active homicide investigations may skip it.

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