The group of hikers who found the body of beloved British actor Julian Sands on Mount Baldy in Los Angeles in June are speaking out for the first time since the discovery.
Hikers were climbing the steep mountain on June 24, six months after Sands disappeared, when they found the actor’s shoes, bones and driver’s license.
“It was surreal,” hiker Bill Dwyer said while speaking with the Los Angeles Times. Dwyer and his team traveled more than 10 miles the day they found Sands’ remains.
In a June post on Strava – captioned ‘Discovering and recovering Julian Sands’ – Dwyer said he jokingly told his daughter they were looking for ‘Julian Sands’.
Sands, best known for his roles in Oscar-nominated films including 1985’s “A Room With A View,” was reported missing by his family on January 13.
Hikers had been warned in the weeks before the discovery that there might be remains on the trails and helicopters and search parties had been searching.
Bill Dwyer, one of the hikers who discovered Julian Sands’ remains in June, described the discovery of the actor’s items as “surreal” in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Sands, best known for his roles in Oscar-nominated films including 1985’s ‘A Room With A View’, was reported missing by his family on January 13
Mt. Baldy is located in the Angeles National Forest and is approximately 10,064 feet tall
One of the hikers who spoke chose to remain anonymous and said he was worried the ice and snow would melt and he might find remnants.
“Hopefully we don’t find a dead body today,” she said of her thoughts before the hike.
The group knew that Sands’ phone had last rung from a ridge below the mountaintop and that he could have slid down the canyon they were traveling.
Three hours into their nearly eight-hour hike, the group found a boot, then another boot a few feet up the hill.
Later they found hiking poles, bones, and then dark winter clothes. Inside the trouser pocket was a driver’s license with Sands’ name and photo on it.
Dwyer and others in the group avoided speaking with the media and spoke only with the outlet in an effort to warn others of the dangers of winter hiking.
They say it’s important to always have a full safety kit and not get too relaxed when hiking, even on familiar trails.
Upon uncovering the remains, the group discovered that one of Sands’ boots had microspikes, which are metal cleats that can be attached to shoes for hiking.
Spikes are not intended for hikes where the snow is heavy and the terrain is slippery and steep.
“I was a bit shocked to see the microspikes,” Dwyer told the outlet. “They just weren’t the right tools for the job at hand.”
Sands was an avid hiker and sent photos of him on trails to loved ones
In a June post on Strava – captioned ‘Discovering and recovering Julian Sands’ – Dwyer said he jokingly told his daughter they were looking for ‘Julian Sands’.
Not found with Sands’ remains was a helmet or ice axe, which Dwyer said he should have had for the hike he was on. He also wore dark clothes.
The ‘Naked Launch’ actor had his phone on him, but much of the mountain range doesn’t have cell service.
Dwyer – after finding the Sands items – used a Garmin satellite messaging device to contact rescue teams in June. They were able to respond in eight minutes.
After Sands disappeared, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spent over $100,000 and 500 hours searching for the actor.
Bad weather made search and rescue missions difficult, as storms and snow made the terrain rough for even the most experienced hikers.
Since 2020, seven people have been confirmed dead and there have been more than 100 searches at Mount Baldy for missing hikers.
The Southern California mountain range is one of the deadliest in the United States.
At the time her remains were discovered, Sands appeared to be wearing dark-colored hiking clothes. Pictured: Sands in a photo from a previous summit
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department rescuers during a search of Sands
After Sands disappeared, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spent over $100,000 and 500 hours searching for the actor. Pictured: Rescuers during a search
When Sands went missing, he was last known to have been in the Baldy Bowl Trail area. If he fell off the trail he could have ended up in Baldy Bowl or Goode Canyon.
Goode Canyon, where he was eventually found, is more dangerous terrain where no one would likely be able to spot him.
Donna Newlin, member of the The San Bernardino County Search and Rescue team said falling snow and ice could turn the canyon into a “shooting range.”
Many efforts were made to find the actor after much of the snow had melted, including one days before Dwyer’s team and hundreds of yards away.
“It was just one of those things,” Newlin said. “If they had gone another 600 feet down, they might have found it.”
It is unclear exactly how and when Sands died.
In late July, Sands’ cause of death was deemed “undetermined” due to the condition of his remains.
The “undetermined” manner of death is common when it comes to cases like this, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told PEOPLE.
