Human remains found near where actor Julian Sands went missing

Human remains have been discovered in Southern California near where actor Julian Sands went missing during a January hike, officials said.

Authorities have not identified the remains, which were found by civilian hikers Saturday morning in the Mt. Baldy wilderness area near Los Angeles, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

“The decedent was transported to the Coroner’s Office, pending positive identification,” the sheriff’s department said in an announcement late Saturday. “Identification should be completed next week at which time we will update this press release.”

Sands, known for films such as “A Room With a View” and “The Killing Fields,” was reported missing Jan. 13 after going hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains. The English-born Sands, 65, was publicly identified as a missing hiker days later.

The search resumed June 17, but efforts by more than 80 volunteers, deputies and staff members to find Sands within the Mt. Baldy wilderness were unsuccessful, the sheriff’s department said in a previous update. At the time, authorities said eight searches for Sands had been conducted, with volunteers spending more than 500 hours looking for him.

Last week, Sands’ family expressed its gratitude to the search teams that “have worked tirelessly to fund Julian.” Sands, a father of three, is married to journalist Evgenia Citkowitz.

“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,” the family said in a statement shared by the sheriff’s department.

Mt. Baldy is about 45 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Sands, who has more than 150 on-screen credits in a career spanning four decades, is also known for films such as “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Arachnophobia,” and for appearances on the popular TV series “24″ and “Smallville.”