28 June,2023 10:06 AM IST | Los Angeles | mid-day online correspondent
Julian Sands in `A Room with A View`
Remains found last week in mountains northeast of Los Angeles were confirmed to be those of actor Julian Sands. He had been missing since he went hiking in the Mount Baldy wilderness in January. His cellphone activity ceased around January 13, and no contact could be made with him thereafter. He was 65.
Officials said he was hiking in the Angeles National Forest. Several parts of the forest had become perilous to trek in after a series of Pacific storms left parts of the area wet and icy and damaged mountain roads, prompted off-driving trails to be shut off.
On Saturday, people hiking in the Mount Baldy wilderness discovered human remains and reported them to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's. They were then taken to the coroner's office, where they were identified.
Since Sands was first reported missing in January, volunteers searched for the actor for over 500 hours through ground and air operations, but were unsuccessful in locating him.
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A few days later, Sands's family issued their first statement in four months, saying they were "deeply grateful" to the search teams and that they continued to hold the actor "in our hearts "with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer."
Sands was known as a fearless and singularly unique actor who got his first notable role on an NBC miniseries, "The Sun Also Rises," in 1984. He shone in the 1985 movie âA Room With a View,' the best picture winner at the Academy Awards and also made appearances in âArachnophobia' and âThe Killing Fields.'
As much as cinema was his calling, it was a public secret that Sands loved the outdoors, as he also tole The Guardian in 2008. Sands' manager, Sarah Jackson, said in a statement Tuesday that he died "in a place he loved, doing what he loved."
(with inputs from NBC, NPR and The Guardian)
