File photo/ Ken Odor
Kirby Porter, center, is shown with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, left, and Rosewell Page in this file photo from 2007. Page was hosting a campaign reception at his home, Oakland, in Montpelier.

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A body found July 12 at the Grand Canyon has been identified as Mechanicsville attorney Kirby Porter, 50.

Shannan Marcak, public affairs specialist for Grand Canyon National Park, confirmed the former Hanover County commonwealth’s attorney’s identity on Thursday.

The Coconino Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be injuries sustained in a fall.

“The manner of death,” Marcak said, “cannot be determined at this time.”

According to Marcak, a body was retrieved last Monday just below Moran Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Around 9:15 p.m. Sunday, July 11, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report of a man seen exiting a car at Moran Point, climbing over a retaining wall and lying down on the edge of the canyon rim.

“When park rangers arrived at the scene,” Marcak said, “they found the car, but no sign of the man witnesses had described.”

During search operations on July 12, a helicopter reported sighting the body of a man more than 250 feet below the rim.

Reports of Porter’s death started circulating on social media websites last Tuesday.

The first official contact about a death tied to the county came the evening of July 12 when the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office was asked by police officers with the U.S. National Park Service to notify Porter’s next of kin.

The next day, Lt. Kenny Epling told The Mechanicsville Local that officers had been contacted “to assist the family with a death investigation.”

Porter, who served as commonwealth’s attorney for eight years, lost in his bid for re-election in 2007. He had returned to private practice, establishing a law office at 7308 Hanover Green Drive in Mechanicsville.

According to a biography on his website, http://www.kirbyporter.com, Porter received his law degree from the George Mason University School of Law and his bachelor of science from Radford University.

Former and current organizations and memberships included: Hanover Ruritan Club, Kiwanis Club, Mechanicsville Businessmen’s Association, Hanover Association of Businesses and Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Henry YMCA Board, Hanover Bar Association, Richmond Bar Association, Richmond Criminal Bar, Community Criminal Justice Board, Hanover Domestic Violence Task Force Board,  Capitol Area Alcohol Safety Action Program “ASAP” Board, Virginia Association of Local Elected Constitutional Officers, American Legion, National Association of District Attorneys, Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Association, Mechanicsville United Methodist Church, Hanover Adult Center Board and Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy.