Human remains found in California, where British actor Julian Sands disappeared

Human remains have been discovered by hikers in the Mount San Antonio area of ​​California, near the area where British actor Julian Sands was reported missing five months ago, local authorities said on Sunday.

Those remains were found Saturday morning in the wild, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Hikers contacted the Fontana Sheriff's Station after discovering human remains near the mountain," he said. They were transported to the medical examiner's office to be identified. The process should be completed next week.

Julian Sands, who rose to fame in 1985 for his role in James Ivory's film A Room with a View, disappeared in January on Mount San Antonio, known locally as Mount Baldy, which rises to 3,000 meters, outside the limits of Los Angeles.

The 65-year-old was an experienced walker who said he was happiest when he was 'near the top of a mountain on a glorious cold morning'.

California had been hit by a series of severe storms in December and January, accompanied by heavy snowfall across mountain ranges, including Mount San Antonio. The peak where Sands disappeared is the highest in the San Gabriel Range and a popular destination for Los Angeles residents.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff said at the time that this route was increasingly dangerous, with eight known deaths between 2017 and 2022. The actor's brother, Nick, said two weeks after the search began that he had accepted Sands' disappearance. “He has not yet been declared missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he is gone,” he said, according to local English media in Yorkshire, where the two brothers grew up.