California Police have confirmed that human remains found in mountains in California over the weekend were those of Yorkshire actor Julian Sands.
Walkers found the remains on Saturday, police said, and they have now been formally identified.
Sands, an experienced hiker, disappeared on January 13 during bad weather, while trekking in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Air and ground searches during the winter months were hampered as California was battered by deadly storms, as well as icy conditions and a threat of avalanches. Searches had resumed earlier this month although police said some parts of the area with steep terrain and ravines were still inaccessible due to “extreme alpine conditions” including more than 10ft (3m) of remaining ice and snow.
Sands had lived in California for several years, but regularly returned to visit his family in Yorkshire, and had been due to attend a family meet up in Skipton later in the month of his disappearance.
He was probably best known for his role in James Ivory’s Oscar and BAFTA-winning film A Room With A View, in which he appeared alongside Helena Bonham Carter, Dame Maggie Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench as well is in TV dramas including 24 and Smallville.
The actor is survived by his wife his wife, writer Evgenia Citkowitz and their two children. He also had a son by previous wife Sarah Sands, a former editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
