Julian Sands – live: US federal agencies join search for British actor as phone pings reveal fresh details
US federal and state agencies have joined the search operation for British actor Julian Sands who remains missing for eight days now.
The search has been ramped up as the officials are using mobile phone forensics to help pinpoint the location of the actor.
Sands, 65, was reported missing on 13 January in the southern Californian mountains. He was thought to have been somewhere on the popular Baldy Bowl Trail, which climbs 3,900 feet over 4.5 miles to the highest summit in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Police revealed on Friday that Sands, best known for films such as A Room With a View and Arachnophobia, appeared to be on the move two days later.
Data from his mobile phone showed Sands was “heading to the Mount Baldy area”. Pings attempted since then have failed, police said, likely due to the actor’s phone running out of battery.
It comes after The Independent revealed images sent from Sands to his grandson Billy in September, which show the father-of-three mountaineering.
The Independent understands that Sands’ son Henry joined the search, retracing the route his father took, with the assistance of an experienced climber.
