The hikers who stumbled upon Julian Sands‘ remains have recounted their shocking discovery in a new interview, and their recollections are grim…
On June 24, recreational hikers found the remains of Sands, 65, on Mount Baldy, California.
Sands, a British actor, had initially been reported missing on January 13 after embarking on a solo hike.
Bill Dwyer, one of the hikers who came across Sands’ remains in Goode Canyon, shared with The Los Angeles Times: “It was surreal.”
As the hikers ascended Mount Baldy, about three hours into their trek, they encountered a boot, followed by another boot at a higher elevation. As they continued, they discovering some trekking poles and bones, and eventually “a pile of dark winter clothes” close by.
In one of the pockets, they discovered a wallet containing a driver’s license featuring Sands’ face.
“He was dressed like a ninja,” one of the hikers recalled.
Attached to one of Sands’ boots were microspikes, often used for crossing shallow snowy trails. Dwyer said he had been surprised by this, saying: “I was a little shocked to see the microspikes. They were just the wrong tools for the job at hand.”
Aware of the ongoing search for Sands, the hiking group believed that it was likely Goode Canyon was where the actor would have been – especially since his last recorded cellphone ping was at an “icy ridge” along the Baldy Bowl trail.
The hikers further informed that Sands’ cellphone was located on a rock beneath a tree nearby, though they were unable to find a signal in that area. They also said that there wasn’t any backpack found near his remains.
Before this discovery, search and rescue teams had divided their efforts, with one group coming from the top of Goode Canyon and the other climbing up from the bottom, both aiming to locate Sands. Unfortunately, neither group reached the midpoint of the mountain where Sands’ remains were eventually found.
Donna Newlin, a member of San Bernardino County’s search and rescue team, said: “It was just one of those things… If they had gone another 600 feet farther down, they might have found him.”
The organizer of the hiking group told The Times: “Can you imagine the despair, the isolation? Hearing the helicopters, knowing people are looking for you, but having no way to signal to them. I still have nightmares about that.”
Sands’ cause of death had originally been deemed “undetermined,” according to a public information officer from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. They noted that it was “undetermined due to the condition of the body and this is common when dealing with cases of this type.”