Actor Julian Sands’ remains have been positively identified by a coroner six months after he went missing in January. He was 65.
According to a press release from the Fontana Sheriff’s Station, Hikers in the wilderness of Mount Baldy — located northeast of Los Angeles County in Southern California — discovered his body mid-morning on June 24 and alerted the Fontana Sheriff’s Station.
Deputies responded to the scene with the Sheriff’s Department’s Emergency Operations Division. Sometime after, Sands’ body was transported to the Coroner’s Office where it was identified, an updated press release states.
The actor's death is still under investigation, pending further test results.
"We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands," Fontana Sheriff’s Station said in its release.
Sands was an English-born actor who lived in North Hollywood, California, at the time of his death. Throughout his career, he appeared in a number of films, gaining early recognition for his role in the 1985 film “A Room with a View” and later for his work in “Ocean’s Thirteen” in 2007. From 2009 to 2010, he portrayed Superman’s biological father, Jor-El, in the hit CW series “Smallville.”
Sands was the father of three children: Henry Sands, from a previous marriage to journalist and actor Sarah Harvey Sands, and two daughters, Natalya Morley Sands and Imogen Morley Sands, whom he shared with his wife, Evgenia Citkowitz, a playwright, author and journalist.
Sands was reported as missing on Jan. 13, 2023, while he was on a hike.
According to NBC News, pings from his phone showed that he was headed to the Mount Baldy region. Days after his appearance, Mara Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, described weather-related and trail conditions as having delayed the process of ground and air searches for him.
