Jon Kopaloff/WireImage Julien Sands
Five months after actor Julian Sands disappeared while hiking in California, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department is resuming the search.
The sheriff’s department released a statement on Saturday with an update on the search for Sands, who disappeared in January while hiking in the Mount Baldy area of the San Bernardino Mountains. Sands, known for his roles in films like The Killing Fields And A room with a view, is an experienced hiker and mountaineer, but was reported missing on January 13 after he failed to return from a hiking expedition.
“On Saturday, June 17, 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department continued its search efforts in the Mount Baldy Wilderness for missing hiker Julian Sands,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Mr. Sands has not been located.”
More than 80 search and rescue volunteers, deputies and staff joined the search on Saturday, supported by two helicopters and drone crews. The helicopters and drones were used to conduct aerial searches in inaccessible and remote areas of Mount Baldy, and the department later shared videos of the effort on social media.
Yet despite rising summer temperatures, the Sheriff’s Department reports that much of Mount Baldy remains inaccessible due to “extreme alpine conditions” – including some areas that still contain more than 10 feet of ice and snow.
Since Sands’ disappearance in January, the sheriff’s department has conducted eight ground and air searches, with volunteers also completing more than 500 hours of searches. The department also added: “The missing person case of Mr. Sands remains active and search efforts will continue in a limited capacity.”
In February, Sands’ longtime friend and costar John Malkovich opened up about his disappearance, calling Sands his “closest friend” and “a very experienced mountaineer who had had some very hair-raising experiences.”
“I suspect the particular conditions on the ground that day on Mount Baldy must have led to some kind of catastrophic, immediate error that was irreversible,” Malkovich said. The Guardian. “It was my instinct hearing it. But he knew what the conditions were, and that’s what he loved to do. He found great solace in the solitude of it.”
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