Julian Sands' cause of death deemed 'undetermined'
The cause of death for Julian Sands, the English actor whose remains were discovered five months after he went missing while hiking in Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, has been deemed "undetermined."
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department confirmed to PEOPLE Monday the determination was due to the condition of Sands' body. "This is common when dealing with cases of this type," a public information officer said.
The sheriff's department didn't immediately respond to EW's requests for comment.
Sands, who rose to prominence in the 1985 drama A Room With a View and went on to appear in such films and TV series as Leaving Las Vegas and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was confirmed dead at 65 on June 27, days after his body was discovered by hikers.
"The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood," the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said at the time. "We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands."
An avid hiker, Sands was first reported missing on the evening of Jan. 13. Search-and-rescue teams were deployed, but ground teams were forced to pull back due to severe weather conditions and the risk of avalanche in the area, though the search was continued via helicopter and drone. As of June 19, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said it had conducted eight searches by ground and air, with volunteers also searching for more than 500 hours.
Sands spoke about his love of the outdoors in a 2020 interview. "Climbing mountains, a lot of time people who don't climb mountains assume is about this great heroic sprint for the summit," he said. "And somehow this great ego-driven ambition. But actually it's the reverse. It's about supplication and sacrifice and humility, when you go to these mountains."
He added, "It's not so much a celebration of oneself but the eradication of one's self consciousness. And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony hopefully with your environment."
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