UPDATE 12:45pm Friday, January 2:
Police have identified the person found dead in the Water Street parking garage New Year’s Day as Justin Michael Frazier, 24, of Crozet, and have said video surveillance indicates Frazier was the victim of an accidental fall.
In a follow-up press release issued Friday, Charlottesville Police Lieutenant Steve Upman said detectives reviewed hours of video footage from the garage, and said Frazier can be seen alone in the downtown garage.
A police forensic tent was set up in a ground-floor section of the garage that is open to multiple levels above.
Upman said the state medical examiner will no longer perform a full autopsy, but a local official will perform a visual examination.
The original version of this story was posted on the evening of Thursday, January 1:
Charlottesville police are saying little about the discovery of a dead body in downtown’s Water Street Parking Garage shortly before 12:30pm on Thursday, January 1, but are promising more information once an autopsy has been completed.
In a press release issued Thursday afternoon, Lieutenant Steve Upman said police were dispatched to the garage at 12:24pm for the report of a deceased person. The individual was dead when police arrived, he said. Upman would not say whether the person was male or female. The release said police are “attempting to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.”
An autopsy will be performed by the medical examiner in Richmond, Upman said. Police will provide further updates once the manner and cause of death has been determined.
The full text of the press release is as follows:
On 01/01/2015 at 12:24pm, Charlottesville Police were dispatched to the Water Street Parking Garage located at 200 East Water Street for the report of deceased person in the garage. Upon arrival, the body of a deceased subject was located within the garage. At this time, Charlottesville Police are attempting to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.
The body of the deceased will be transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia so that an autopsy can be performed. Once the investigation has been completed and the manner and cause of death determined an updated media release will be provided.
