California: New US air search for missing actor Julian Sands

• Police have resumed an aerial search.
• Julian Sands disappeared on January 1.
• Mr. Sands had gone missing while hiking.

California: Police in California have resumed an aerial search for missing British actor Julian Sands.

Previous efforts were hampered by inclement weather as the US state was hit by deadly storms.

Since his disappearance on January 13, there has been no sign of the 65-year-old.

Mr. Sands had gone missing while hiking in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department tweeted that it would use a helicopter from the California Highway Patrol which carries a device that can detect matching “reflective material, electronics, and in some cases, credit cards”.

It went on to say that using the RECCO machine could help police “pinpoint an area where we can arrest people.”

The sheriff’s department announced on Wednesday that a second hiker who had gone missing in the same area had been found alive.

Local media identified him as Jin Chung, 75, of Los Angeles.

Mr. Chung had been missing for about 48 hours and had suffered “weather-related injuries and a leg injury,” according to the sheriff’s department.

For the past several weeks, local authorities have frequently put out statements urging hikers to avoid hazardous mountainous areas “regardless of precautions taken” saying that the conditions have made it “difficult to deploy resources to that area when a hiker goes missing”.

Avalanches in the area slowed ground search and rescue efforts for Mr. Sands last week.

“I have come to terms with the fact he’s gone and for me, that’s how I’ve dealt with it,” said Mr. Sands, who lives in the English county of North Yorkshire where he, Julian, and their three other brothers grew up.

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