After a six-month search, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed today that the human remains found by hikers earlier this week were indeed those of actor Julian Sands. He was missing since mid-January.
The statement (read it below) said his cause of death is still pending, but Sands was an experienced hiker who loved the outdoors.
The positive identification comes less than a week after Sands’ family released their first statement on the case, saying they were “very grateful to the search teams and coordinators who worked tirelessly to find Julian.” Is.”
About the actor himself – Known for his roles The Killing Fields, A Room with a View, Leaving Las Vegas, Warlock, Arachnophobia, Boxing Helena, 24, Smallville And Banshee “We keep Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and an original and collaborative artist,” the family statement said.
Sand disappeared in mid-January near Mount Baldy, which is located in the San Gabriel Mountains less than 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It is one of the highest peaks in the region with a height of over 11,000 feet. Despite being close to the country’s second largest metropolis, the region’s steep terrain and ravines make some parts of it difficult to access, especially in winter, when the sands disappear. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said earlier this month that parts of the forest were still covered by up to 10 feet of snow.
The search for Sands was temporarily suspended due to severe winter conditions in the western US this spring. The San Bernardino sheriff said they had conducted eight searches to find the British actor, an experienced outdoorsman, along with eight other operations.
Last Saturday the efforts intensified again. More than 80 search and rescue volunteers, representatives and staff participated in the search on Saturday in the forest and remote areas around the mountain, officials said. Two helicopter and drone crews were involved in the effort.
Born on 4 January 1958 in West Yorkshire, Sands made his film debut in 1984. oxford blues and Best Picture Oscar nominee The Killing Fields. His breakthrough was being cast as the romantic lead in the 1985s A room with a view, with Helena Bonham Carter playing the hottie George Sands. That was his springboard to Hollywood, where he went on to seek bigger roles.
Sands was the title character in the 1989 film enchanting and its 1993 sequel, Warlock: The Armageddon, His other films included playing Franz Liszt unexpectedly, naked lunch, arachnophobia, boxing helena, And leaving Las Vegas, opposite Nicolas Cage, who won a Best Actor Oscar for the picture. Sands also played the Phantom in the 1998 horror-film version. the Phantom of the Operathen switched gears to star opposite Jackie Chan in the 2003 action-comedy Medal.
In television, one of his most prominent roles was as the voice of Valmont. Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon in its first two seasons; Ori Ki Dosi in two episodes Stargate SG-1 – A role he reprized in the 2008 film Stargate: The Ark of Truth – and appeared in the 2006 season 24 playing terrorist Vladimir Metternich, and Superboy’s Kryptonian father, Jor-El smallville,
Sands has appeared in several smaller films through the end of 2021, with two of the titles going straight-to-video.
Survivors include his wife, journalist Evgenia Sitkowitz, whom he married in 1990; their daughters Imogen Morley Sands and Natalya Morley Sands; and a son, Henry Sands, with his former wife, journalist Sarah Sands.
No memorial plans have been announced.
Here is the full statement from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office:
On June 24, 2023, identification of the body at Mount Baldy has been completed and has been identified as Julian Sands, 65, of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, with further test results pending.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to locate Mr Sands.
On Saturday, June 24, 2023, at approximately 10:00 a.m., civilian hikers approached the Fontana Sheriff’s Station following the discovery of human remains in the Mount Baldy Wilderness. Representatives from the Fontana Station, along with the Sheriff’s Department’s Emergency Operations Division, responded to the scene. The decedent was taken to the coroner’s office pending positive identification. Identification should be complete next week, at which time we will update this press release. No further details are available at this time.
Erik Pedersen and Bruce Haring contributed to this report.