Julian Sands: Helicopters again grounded by high winds in search for missing actor

Fresh searches on higher ground for Sands are still not possible due to poor conditions

Julian Sands: Who is the Hollywood British actor missing in California?

Authorities in California say the search for Julian Sands will continue by air only.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department released an update on Wednesday evening US time to say helicopters continued to search the San Gabriel Mountains for any sign of the missing British actor.

The California Highway Patrol’s Valley Division Air Ops has been brought in to assist the search using a device that can detect reflective material and in some cases credit cards, the sheriff’s office said. 

Meanwhile, Julian Sands’ brother Nick has said that he knows “in my heart” that his sibling is no longer alive, as the search for the missing British actor approached its second week.

“However sibling rivalry being what it is, it would be just like him to walk out of there and prove me wrong,” Nick said in comments to his his local Yorkshire paper, the Craven Herald.

Sands was reported missing on 13 January, sparking a major search and rescue effort led by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office.

On Tuesday, an official statement from the sheriff’s office said that fresh searches on higher ground for Sands are still not possible due to poor conditions.

Last week, Sands’ family released the last known images of him mountaineering, telling The Independent: “This is how he would love to be seen, doing what he loved best – a heroic mountaineer.”

Key points

• Police say search will continue by air only
• A missing hiker has been located on Mt Baldy
• Julian Sands’ brother says he fears missing actor won’t be found
• Sands’ family issues statement thanking authorities for search effort
• Julian Sands: A timeline of missing actor’s disappearance

[24 January 2023 19:12 · Sam Rkaina]

Another hiker disappears on mountain where Sands went missing

Another hiker has disappeared on the mountain where actor Julian Sands went missing, the authorities have said.

Jin Chung, 75, from Los Angeles has been missing since Sunday after last being seen at around 6am in a carpool to Mount Baldy with two others, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department has said.

The group of three agreed to meet back at the car at around 2pm, but the 75-year-old never appeared.

Click here for the full story.

[24 January 2023 19:45 · Sam Rkaina]

Friends pay tribute to missing actor as search enters 12th day

The mountaineering community is in mourning as the prospects of finding missing Hollywood actor Julian Sands grow dimmer by the day.

“The climbing community kind of deals with this a lot, but it’s still a tragedy for all of us,” Gordon Janow, director of Alpine Ascents International, told The Independent.

Mr Janow said he would remember his friend of 20 years as a Renaissance man who was just as at home in the mountains as he was in front of the screen.

Click here for the full story.

(PA Archive)

[24 January 2023 20:46 · Andy Gregory]

Sands ‘always pleasant, upbeat and erudite’, says friend

Julian Sands is an “intellect in some ways and down to earth in others” and “always pleasant, upbeat, erudite, interesting to talk to,” a friend has told The Independent.

Gordon Janow, the director of Alpine Ascents International, who has known Sands for 20 years, said: “We discussed art, literature, travel, architecture. Our conversations spanned a lot of fields. He was very easy to talk to.”

As the search expanded, a team from Mr Janow’s mountaneering guide firm Alpine Ascents International were brought into help Sands’ family and officials to locate the 65-year-old.

[24 January 2023 21:50 · Andy Gregory]

Efforts to find second missing hiker boosts ground search for Sands, say rescuers

It has emerged that a second hiker has gone missing in the Mt Baldy area – which sheriffs say has allowed ground crews a renewed opportunity to search for Julian Sands.

Jin Chung, 75, from Los Angeles has been missing since Sunday after last being seen at around 6am in a carpool to Mount Baldy with two others, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said.

A search was conducted overnight but the hiker wasn’t found. The search for Jin Chung was set to carry on Tuesday but without the aid of helicopters because of warnings of strong winds.

The agency revealed that the ground search for the 75-year-old has allowed crews a renewed opportunity to search for Mr Sands.

[24 January 2023 22:45 · Bevan Hurley]

Julian Sands’ family thanks ‘heroic’ efforts of search and rescue teams

On Monday, the Leaving Las Vegas star’s family thanked authorities for their “heroic” efforts in the search.

“Our heartfelt thanks to the compassionate members of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department who are coordinating the search for our beloved Julian, not least the heroic search teams listed below who are braving difficult conditions on the ground and in the air to bring Julian home,” the statement read.

[24 January 2023 23:45 · Bevan Hurley]

Julian Sands’ brother says he knows ‘in his heart’ his brother is gone

Julian Sands’ brother has revealed that he “knows in his heart” that his missing sibling is no longer alive.

Nick Sands, from Gargrave, Yorkshire, told the Craven Herald that he had accepted that the prospects of finding the Leaving Las Vegas actor 11 days after he went missing in treacherous conditions in a Californian mountain range alive had all but gone.

“He has not yet been declared missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he has gone,” Nick Sands told the local news site.

“However, sibling rivalry being what it is, it would be just like him to walk out of there and prove me wrong.”

[25 January 2023 00:45 · Bevan Hurley]

‘It’s a tragedy for all of us’

The mountaineering community is in mourning as the prospects of finding missing Hollywood actor Julian Sands grow dimmer by the day.

“The climbing community kind of deals with this a lot, but it’s still a tragedy for all of us,” Gordon Janow, director of Alpine Ascents International, told The Independent.

Mr Janow said he would remember his friend of 20 years as a Renaissance man who was just as at home in the mountains as he was in front of the camera.

[25 January 2023 01:45 · Bevan Hurley]

Is the climate crisis behind a string of California hiker tragedies?

On a clear day, the peak of southern California’s 10,000ft Mount Baldy looms over the Los Angeles skyline.

The mountain is emblematic of a growing threat: the deadly impact of the climate crisis on one of America’s favourite pastimes, the great outdoors.

This month, as climate-amped superstorms battered California, first responders have carried out 14 rescue missions on Mount Baldy’s peak, the highest summit in the San Gabriel mountain range.

Two people have died and a third man, the British actor Julian Sands, is still missing after nearly a week.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus investigates the link between climbing accidents and climate.

[25 January 2023 03:00 · Bevan Hurley]

Watch: Who is the British actor missing in California?

Watch below for a short history of Julian Sands’ biography, career milestones, and the details surrounding his missing person’s case.

[25 January 2023 03:30 · Peony Hirwani]

A missing hiker has been located on Mt Baldy

The San Bernardino County’s rescue team has located the second hiker who was missing on Mt Baldy.

A 75-year-old hiker named Jin Chung was located on Tuesday (24 January) by the search and rescue team, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs.

“Jin suffered some weather-related injuries and a leg injury but was able to walk out with the assistance of the crew members,” the statement read. “He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. No further information is currently available.”