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British actor Julian Sands: Experienced mountain hiker, died in the San Gabriel Mountains under unexplained circumstances
Photo: Piroschka van de Wouw / REUTERS
A month after the certainty of the death of British actor Julian Sands, the authorities have announced the results of the investigation into the cause of death. Due to the "condition of the body" and the "fact that no other factors were found during the examination by the coroner," the cause of death was classified as "unexplained," the office of the sheriff and coroner of San Bernardino told AFP. This classification is "final".
The actor had been missing since a hike in mid-January on Mount San Antonio, which is more than 3000 meters high. The 65-year-old was an experienced mountain hiker who had crossed the Andes in the nineties.
Mount San Antonio is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains and a popular hiking destination near the Californian metropolis of Los Angeles. Bad weather had led to difficult conditions there at the beginning of the year. A search and rescue operation was unsuccessful.
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Bad weather made the search in California's San Gabriel Mountains difficult
Photo: San Bernardino County Sheriff's / dpa
Hikers then discovered Sands' remains at Mount San Antonio in late June. The body was taken to forensic medicine for identification. A few days later, the sheriff's office confirmed that he could be assigned to the actor and declared the identification process "complete". The actor's brother had said two weeks after the search began that he had accepted that Sands would no longer be found alive.
The actor had his big breakthrough in 1985 with the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the novel »Room with a View«. Other well-known films include the 1984 drama »Killing Fields«, »Leaving Las Vegas« from 1995 alongside Nicolas Cage, and »Ocean's 13« with George Clooney and Brad Pitt from 2007.
oka/AFP