The body of missing British actor Julian Sands has been identified, California police said Tuesday, after his remains were found by hikers near Los Angeles over the weekend.
Alarmed by the mountaineers, authorities went to the site and transported the body to a forensic medical center.
“The process of identifying the body at Mount Baldy on June 24, 2023 has been completed and it has been positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood,” the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said in a statement, revealing that the “cause of death still being investigated”.
The actor was reported missing on Jan. 13 after he began trekking on Mount Baldy, in Southern California, at a time when the region was being hit by violent storms.
Sands was an accomplished rock climber and described himself as happiest “at the top of a mountain on a blissfully cold morning”.
The peak where Sands disappeared is the highest in the San Gabriel Mountains and a popular destination for Los Angeles residents. It was also the most treacherous, with eight deaths recorded between 2017 and 2018.
California was hit by a succession of severe storms between December and January, bringing snow to mountain ranges including Mount San Antonio.
The actor’s brother, Nick, said two weeks after the search began that he had accepted that Sands would not be found alive.
“He has not yet been reported missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he is gone,” he said, according to the local English press in Yorkshire, where the brothers grew up.
The 65-year-old British actor was known for appearing in films such as “Bedroom with a City View”, “Mysteries and Passions”, “Arachnophobia”, “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Warlock: The Devil”. He also took part in some episodes of the series “Dexter” and “Smallville”. He was married to the writer Evgenia Citkowitz and has three children.
Source: DN
