Julian Sands: Human remains found in California mountains confirmed to be those of British actor
Human remains found in a California mountain area are those of British actor Julian Sands, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed.
It is more than five months since the 65-year-old was reported missing in the Mount Baldy region of the San Gabriel mountains.
Hikers found the remains on Saturday morning, with a coroner now positively identifying them as belonging to Sands.
A statement released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday said: “The identification process for the body located on Mt Baldy on 24 June, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood.
“The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results.
“We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to try to locate Mr Sands.”
Sands, a keen hiker and mountaineer, was reported missing on 13 January after he failed to return from a trek in the area.
The actor’s family released a statement via the sheriff’s department, in which they said: “We are deeply grateful to the search teams and co-ordinators who have worked tirelessly to find Julian.
“We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer.”
Julian Sands was a keen keen hiker and mountaineer. Pic: AP
The Yorkshire-born actor was best known for his roles in films including A Room With A View, Arachnophobia, Leaving Las Vegas and Warlock, as well as TV appearances in 24, Smallville and Banshee.
In recent years, he had appeared in one-man stage shows reciting the poetry of Harold Pinter, John Keats and Percy Shelley.
Giving a newspaper interview in 2020, Sands said he was happiest when he was “close to a mountain summit on a glorious cold morning”.
He also recalled a brush with death during a climb in the Andes in the early 1990s when he got caught in a storm above 20,000 feet with three others.
“We were all in a very bad way,” he told The Guardian. “Some guys close to us perished. We were lucky.”
In a 2020 interview with Thrive Global, Sands said climbing was not about ego or a “great heroic sprint for the summit”.
Instead, it was about “supplication and sacrifice and humility”.
He added: “It’s not so much a celebration of oneself but the eradication of one’s self consciousness.
“And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony hopefully with your environment.”
Sands was born in Yorkshire, the middle child of five brothers raised by a single mother.
He had been married since 1990 to journalist Evgenia Citkowitz, with whom he had two adult daughters.
Prior to that, between 1984 and 1987, he was married to author and journalist Sarah Harvey, with whom he had a son.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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