Human remains found in area where actor Julian Sands went missing
Authorities in Southern California found human remains on Saturday near the mountain where search teams were searching for British actor Julian Sands, who was reported missing in January.
That’s what the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it had been contacted around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday by hikers who had found human remains in the Mount Baldy wilderness, which is more than 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
The remains have been taken to the coroner’s office and are expected to be identified this week, the department said.
Dangerous conditions, including a series of severe storms in the winter and persistent ice and snow in June, have hampered the search for Mr. Sands complicated.
Mr. Sands, 65, of North Hollywood, went hiking alone on a trail on Mount Baldy. Hiking websites describe the popular trek as challenging and strenuous.
Sands has appeared in more than 150 films and TV shows, including his most famous role as George Emerson in the 1986 Oscar-nominated film “A Room With a View.”
The film, an adaptation of EM Forster’s novel, is often included on lists as one of the greatest British films of all time.
Sheriff’s Department given an update on the search for Mr Sands last week and said parts of the mountain could still not be reached due to “extreme mountain conditions”, including steep terrain and canyons covered in more than 10 feet of ice and snow.
On June 17, more than 80 people helped search for him. Two helicopters and drone crews were deployed to monitor areas inaccessible to searchers on the ground, the sheriff’s department said.
Since January, there have been eight searches for Mr. Sands and eight other unrelated search and rescue missions in the Mount Baldy area, the department said.
After Mr. Sands was reported missing, the department alerted walkers in January that storms in Southern California created dangerous conditions in the mountains.
The department said it had responded to 14 rescue missions for lost, stranded and injured hikers on Mount Baldy and the surrounding area in a four-week period ending Jan. 18. Two of the walkers did not survive after falling and injuring themselves.
On Wednesday, Mr. Sands’ family thanked the search teams.
“We will continue to hold Julian in our hearts with fond memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and art, and as an original and collaborative artist,” his family said in a statement.
In several interviews, Mr. Sands about his love of hiking and the mountains.
In an interview from 2020 with Thrive Globala company founded by Arianna Huffington that provides technology for behavior change, said Mr. Sands that he had spent time in mountain ranges in North America and Europe.
Mr Sands said people who didn’t climb mountains thought it was about a “big heroic sprint” to the top and ego.
“But actually it’s the other way around,” he said. “It’s about supplication and sacrifice and humility when you go to these mountains. It is not so much a celebration of oneself as the eradication of one’s self-consciousness. And so during these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony, hopefully with your surroundings.