A 9-year-old girl from Montreal, Canada, was found dead in a pond in upstate New York after her father reported her missing.

reliminary autopsy results released on Tuesday indicate that she died from asphyxia due to drowning, and police are treating the case as a homicide.

Luciano Frattolin, 45, of Montreal, has been charged with murdering his daughter, Melina Frattolin, and concealing her body. He pleaded not guilty on Monday and is currently being held in a county jail.

On Saturday night, Frattolin called 911, claiming that his daughter had disappeared from a parking lot near Lake George, a resort town in the Adirondack region. He later told New York State Police that two men had forced her into a white van.

An Amber Alert was issued, and the public was asked to assist in the search. However, investigators found inconsistencies in Frattolin’s account and ultimately determined that there was no evidence of abduction.

On Sunday afternoon, a search team led by state forest rangers discovered the girl’s body in a shallow pond in the woods near Ticonderoga, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Lake George. According to the criminal complaint, Frattolin concealed her body under a log.

The preliminary autopsy indicated the cause of death was “asphyxia due to drowning” and classified it as a homicide. Final autopsy results are still pending.

Police said that Frattolin and his daughter had been vacationing in the United States since July 11 and were expected to return to Montreal over the weekend. The girl lived with her mother, who has been estranged from Frattolin since 2019.

The investigation into the girl’s death is ongoing.