Actor Julian Sands missing: Avalanche risk as air search resumed for missing actor

Ground crews are still unable to continue their search efforts for missing actor Julian Sands, due to the risk of avalanches in the area.

Mr Sands, 65, was reported missing during a hiking trip in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel mountains on Friday, as searches by local authorities continue by “helicopter and drones when weather permits”.

“The air search is being resumed, but we have not been able to resume a ground search yet due to icy conditions and a threat of avalanches,” Gloria Huerta, Public Information Officer for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department told the BBC on Friday.

She said there was still “no time set” for when they would begin again.

The British star is believed to have been somewhere on the popular Baldy Bowl Trail in California, which climbs 3,900 feet over 4.5 miles to the highest summit in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Jacob Stolworthy has the details:

Both national and state officials are now working with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office, one week on after the actor was first reported missing in the southern Californian mountains.

As of Friday, ground crews were still unable to continue their search efforts, due to evidence of avalanches in the area, and authorities said there was still “no time set” for when they would begin.

The phone belonging to missing actor Julian Sands appears to show he was on the move heading into a mountainous area in southern California on the day he was reported missing.

The search has been ramped up of late as officials use mobile phone forensics to help pinpoint the location of the actor.

Sands, 65, was reported missing during a hiking trip in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel mountains on Friday, as searches by local authorities continue by “helicopter and drones when weather permits”.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department previously said that phone pings showed the British actor to be heading to the Mount Baldy area two days after he was first reported missing.

Extreme winter weather is becoming more common in the Golden State, Josh Marcus reports.

In recent years, several experienced hikers have died due to Mount Baldy’s icy terrain. It’s considered one of the most dangerous peaks to climb in the US.

A reminder that the last known photos of Sands mountaineering were shared exclusively with The Independent. You can see them here:

In a statement shared exclusively with The Independent, a friend of Sands described him as “a Byronesque romantic and an adventurer who is drawn to the extremes of nature”.

“Julian is wild and never contained by rules or boundaries,” they said.

“He is deeply inspired by the Romantic poets and his performances of their work are spellbinding and come from a passionate love of literature.

“He is a friend bound by Homeric qualities of loyalty and living life to the full.

“He takes no prisoners and yet is as gentle and generous and sensitive as the poets he so admired.”