Authorities in Southern California found human remains near the mountain on Saturday where search teams were looking for British actor Julian Sands, who went missing in January.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that it was contacted around 10 a.m. local time Saturday by hikers who found human remains in the Mount Baldy wilderness, more than 40 miles away. northeast of Los Angeles.
The remains were brought to the coroner’s office and should be identified this week, the department said.
Hazardous conditions, including a series of severe winter storms and persistent ice and snow in June, have complicated Sands’ search efforts.
Mr. Sands, 65, of North Hollywood, went hiking alone on a Mount Baldy trail. On hiking websites, the popular trek is described as difficult and strenuous.
Mr. Sands has appeared in more than 150 films and television shows, including his best-known role with George Emerson in the 1986 Oscar-nominated film ‘A Room With a View’.
The film, an adaptation of EM Forster’s novel, is often ranked among the best British films of all time.
The Sheriff’s Department provided an update on Mr Sands’ search last week and said parts of the mountain still could not be reached due to “extreme alpine conditions”, including steep terrain and ravines covered with more than 10 feet of ice and snow. .
On June 17, more than 80 people participated in his search. Two helicopters and drone crews were used to check areas inaccessible to ground searchers, the sheriff’s department said.
There have been eight searches for Mr Sands and eight other unrelated search and rescue missions in the Mount Baldy area since January, the department said.
After Mr. Sands disappeared, the department warned hikers in January that storms in southern California were creating dangerous conditions in the mountains.
The department said it responded to 14 rescue missions for lost, stranded and injured hikers on and around Mount Baldy during a four-week period ending Jan. 18. Two of the hikers did not survive after falling and getting injured.
On Wednesday, the family of Mr. Sands thanked the research teams.
“We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with fond memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and an original and collaborative performer,” his family said in a statement. communicated.
In several interviews, Mr. Sands has spoken about his fondness for hiking and the mountains.
In a 2020 interview with Thrive Global, a company founded by Arianna Huffington that provides behavior change technology, Mr Sands said he had spent time in mountain ranges in North America and Europe.
Mr Sands said people who hadn’t climbed the mountains assumed it was a “great heroic sprint” to the top and ego.
“But in fact it’s the other way around,” he said. “It’s about pleading, sacrifice and humility, when you go to those mountains. It’s not so much a celebration of yourself, but the eradication of your self-awareness. And so, in those walks, you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony, hopefully, with your surroundings.