Body of missing actor Julian Sands identified by US police

The body of missing British actor Julian Sands has been identified, California police said Tuesday, June 27 after human remains were found by hikers in mountains near Los Angeles during the weekend.

Sands, who shot to fame in 1985 for his role in A Room with a View, went missing in January on the 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) Mount San Antonio, known locally as Mount Baldy.

Hikers found human remains on Saturday morning, alerting authorities, who responded to the scene and transported the body to the local coroner's office.

"The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood," San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

"The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results."

No further details were provided.

Sands was an experienced hiker who described himself as happiest "close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning."

The peak where Sands disappeared is the highest in the San Gabriel Mountains and a popular destination for Los Angeles residents.

San Bernardino County Sheriff at the time said it was increasingly treacherous, with eight known deaths between 2017 and 2022.

California was hit by a succession of heavy storms in December and January that brought heavy snow to mountain ranges, including Mount San Antonio.

The actor's brother, Nick, said two weeks after search efforts began that he had accepted Sands would not be found alive.

"He has not yet been declared missing, presumed dead, but I know in my heart that he has gone," he had said, according to English local media in Yorkshire, where the brothers grew up. (AFP)