On Saturday, June 17, 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department continued ongoing search efforts in the Mount Baldy wilderness for missing hiker Julian Sands. Unfortunately, Mr. Sands was not located.
Saturday’s search included over 80 Search and Rescue volunteers, deputies, and staff. Their efforts were supported by two helicopters and drone crews. Aviation resources inserted search teams into remote areas across Mount Baldy and conducted aerial search and assessments efforts. Additionally, drone crews searched areas inaccessible to ground crews.
Despite the recent warmer weather, portions of the mountain remain inaccessible due to extreme alpine conditions. Multiple areas include steep terrain and ravines, with 10-plus feet of ice and snow.
Since January, the Sheriff’s Department has conducted eight searches (ground and air) specific to Mr. Sands, with volunteer searcher hours exceeding 500. Additionally, eight unrelated search and rescue operations have been conducted in the Mount Baldy area.
Mr. Sands’ missing person case remains active, and search efforts will continue in a limited capacity. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Detective B. Meelker with the Fontana Station at (909) 356-6710.
Hollywood and TV actor Julian Sands has gone missing in ‘extremely dangerous territory’ while hiking in California’s San Gabriel Mountains.
Search and rescue teams are searching for the British star on the Baldy Bowl Trail, which climbs 3,900 feet over 4.5 miles to the highest summit in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mount San Antonio.
65-year-old Sands, a keen hiker, has been missing since mid-January. His wife, writer Evgenia Citkowitz, raised the alarm.
A phone mast ping to his iPhone provided a possible location on one of the trails leading to the summit of the 10,000ft peak, known officially as Mount San Antonio. The following day, signals sent from phone masts to his mobile showed him heading to the Mount Baldy area.
Ground and helicopter crews searched the area but found no sign of Sands. Searches were called off due to the adverse weather conditions and the threat of avalanches.
California was slammed by a series of atmospheric rivers throughout January that brought flooding and significant snowfall. At least 19 people were killed.
Sands starred in the Oscar-nominated film A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, The Killing Fields, Leaving Las Vegas, Warlock, and TV shows 24, Smallville, and Banshee.
