It’s been a long time since we heard any news about Julian Sands. It’s now possible there will be a sad closure to his disappearance.
According to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the body was discovered around 10 a.m. in wilderness near Mount Baldy and was transported to the coroner’s office for identification next week.
Hikers Discover Human Remains in the Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area DATE/TIME: June 24, 2023 / 10:00 a.m. INCIDENT: Human Remains Located LOCATION: Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area On Saturday, June 24, 2023, at about 10:00 a.m., civilian hikers contacted the Fontana Sheriff’s Station after they discovered human remains in the Mt. Baldy wilderness. Fontana Station deputies, along with the Sheriff’s Department’s Emergency Operations Division, responded to the scene. The decedent was transported to the Coroner’s Office, pending positive identification. Identification should be completed next week at which time we will update this press release. No further details are available at this time. Additional details were not immediately available.
Sands, an avid hiker and mountaineer, was reported missing January 13 after setting out on the peak that rises more than 10,000 feet east of Los Angeles. The region was pounded by severe storms during winter.
On Friday, his family released its first statement since Sands’ disappearance:
“We continue to hold Julian in our hearts with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer,” the statement said.
Julian Sands is a British-born actor best known for his role in the 1985 film “A Room With a View,”
A June 17 search for Sands, the eighth organized search with a rescue team of about eighty volunteers, was unsuccessful. Hundreds of hours have been put into the search … through the use of helicopters, drones, and other tactics.
I’lll update as more information becomes available.
“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.” – Kahlil Gibran
My thoughts are about as insignificant as a drop in the ocean, but I’ve memorialized my observations as a way to try and wrap my brain around the tragedy that unfolded the last few days about the Titan submersible.
I’ve lived near the ocean most of my life and while I love it, I’m afraid of it at the same time.
I CAN swim but it’s not my most favorite thing to do; in fact, my chest gets tight and I can start to hyperventilate simply thinking about putting my head under water — even though I know I have done it many times.
The Angel Kids aren’t like me — they’re half dolphin — both of them, and swim and jump in the waves and dive and try to surf and paddleboard with no fear of the power of the ocean.
When I first learned about the concerns regarding the loss of communication with this tiny little submersible while it attempted to reach the wreck of the Titanic, the idea of being crouched into a tight space, freezing cold, in total darkness, with limited oxygen, miles away from help — was a recipe to ignite some of my worst fears.
Lost and alone, in the dark, unable to breathe, under the sea.
I don’t like to take the Bart tunnel from San Francisco to Oakland and can’t even think of an incentive that could motivate me to endure a two-hour ride on the Chunnel from London to Paris.
Yesterday, the United States Coast Guard said that an ROV found the tail cone of the Titan 1,600 ft from the Titanic, and the ROV then found additional debris consistent with the “catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.”
The debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” said Rear Admiral John Mauger.
Officials said that the location of the debris field matched “the location of last communication” of the submersible. The time of the implosion has not yet been determined.
From the Rear Admiral, “I offer my deepest condolences to the family. I hope this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operated the Titan, released a statement on Thursday saying that they believe all five passengers on the submersible had been “lost.”
Presumed deceased are Paul-Henry Nargeolet, Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood.
Also from OceanGate, “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” the statement said . “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
What I find utterly fascinating and darkly eerie is the connection to the wreck of the Titanic.
From NPR: “The OceanGate executive who was piloting the submersible on its fateful Sunday dive is married to the descendent of a couple who died in the very shipwreck his expedition aimed to see.
OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush is married to Wendy Rush, the great-great-granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus, who choose to remain onboard the sinking Titanic together so that others could escape to safety in their place.
They were the real-life inspiration behind the heartbreaking scene in James Cameron’s movie in which an elderly couple embraces in bed as water rushes into their room.”
There’s been a disgusting amount of unkind and vicious commentary on social media about the fact that these men were millionaires and billionaires.
In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how entitled they were or how much money they had; this is a tragic, horrible way to die.
From Julias Kim via Twitter: “There isn’t one person who is hating on billionaires right now that wouldn’t take a billion dollars if it was handed to them tax free…Beware. It’s a slippery slope when we start devaluing lives based on how much money people have.”
Yet…there’s this:
As every news report led with the OceanGate submersible, how many international efforts coalesced to rescue hundreds of migrants from the ocean off Greece?
It seems as if that catastrophe garnered little to no attention.
I feel terrible for the migrants who drowned in the waters outside Greece AND for the people who died aboard the Titan.
And yes, it’s possible to feel compassion for both.
I love to look at historical photos and was fascinated by the pervasive documentation of how little human respect there was (and still is) for our planet.
Whether it was harming the environment by tearing up the earth to find gold in 1848 which caused irreversible damage or pillaging and plundering the ground for oil, it’s tragic to see that we don’t seem to have learned much about co-existing in harmony with nature without polluting and destroying our world.
I remember when my parents would drive up to Los Angeles to visit relatives and I’d see a few oil derricks along the way, but nothing like this.
Venice Beach 1920
Though conventional oil reserves have dwindled, oil drilling in the Los Angeles area remains. Oil rigs dot the city but are often hidden from sight through the use of tall fences, clandestine structures, or by drilling in LA’s low-income neighborhoods.
This is how Los Angeles Times described the Venice Beach–Del Rey oil field in 1930: Today oil derricks stand like trees in a forest… . Steam pile drivers roar on many a vacant lot… . One hundred and eighty permits to drill for oil have been given and twenty-five more are in procedure… . If this fever continues, as it gives every indication of doing, one reasonably may expect to see virtually the entire water-front line of private properties from Washington street to Sixty-sixth avenue or Playa del Rey dotted with a line of oil derricks.
Signal Hill oil field, Long Beach, 1937
Apparently, petroleum had already been in use by Native Americans for about 13,000 years. They relied on oil primarily as a lubricant but also as a sealant to waterproof canoes.
The coast along the Venice oilfield, in what is now Marina del Rey. 1937.
Following the initial oil discovery in California in 1872, Edward L. Doheny struck the massive Los Angeles oilfield in 1892, thirty-five miles south of the Pico Canyon.
Huntington Beach, 1937
FYI…It’s been reported that the recent runoff from California’s historic rainy season has exposed more gold around Placerville, the heart of gold country. Treasure seekers are dusting off their metal detectors and searching for the shiny stuff. With gold prices hovering at approximately $2,700 per ounce, it’s going to look like an episode of Aussie Gold Hunters out there.
For the second time in a week, a train killed a pedestrian at virtually the same exact location.
On April 2nd, a train collision claimed the life of an unidentified pedestrian in Carlsbad. The deadly crash was reported to have occurred around 11:28 a.m. on the tracks south of Tamarack near Chinquapin Avenue.
According to authorities, the Coaster train was heading north when it collided with the pedestrian.
And last night, April 11, at approximately 7:30 p.m, a young man died after he was hit by yet another northbound train.
Witnesses said the victim and three friends, who appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties, were jumping back and forth over the tracks ahead of the train near Chinquapin Avenue, south of Tamarack, the location of last week’s accident. They said they heard the train begin to slow as it sounded its horn several times.
A friend who lives nearby told me what she learned: “Kids were playing chicken and one kid didn’t make it. A neighbor said he just saw sneakers flying in the air. The kids just left. They were sitting on the curb in the cold. They looked like high schoolers. They were issued citations by an officer and left with an adult female around 10:00 p.m.”
There is no further information available on either accident.
Sometimes I like to ride the Coaster from Carlsbad to San Diego because it’s a beautiful scenic route and an alternative to driving in heavy traffic but there seems to be increased human versus train catastrophes, whether it’s purely accidental or suicidal or because kids are playing deadly games.
Before there’s another horrific tragedy, Carlsbad needs to find a solution and make it a priority (over tourism and over destroying every single bit of land to build more hideous developments.)
I won’t show photos of burning buildings, no video of towers collapsing; simply think about where you were on September 11, 2001.
Those lost are remembered on this anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Who could forget that day?
It was just after 6am on the west coast. I had turned on the morning news and taken a sip of my first cup of cup of coffee when all hell broke loose.
In real time, I watched the World Trade Center’s South Tower burn at 9:03 a.m., moments after being struck by United Airlines Flight 175.
I put down my coffee and ran upstairs to wake up my then twenty-year-old son.
We didn’t know what was happening–if similar attacks were planned for anywhere else – but we watched the unfolding of tragedy after tragedy.
Never forget the loss of life at the Twin Towers or the Pentagon or Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania during an attempt by the passengers and crew to regain control.
6:30 a.m. and already 85 degrees. There are some monsoonal clouds drifting by and a bit of wind, but no rain.
I don’t think the temp has ever been this high this early, not that I can remember, anyway.
We are in an extended high heat warning. It was nearly one hundred degrees yesterday. Scorching, brutally hot.
It’s not often that we have humidity but that’s what made it all so unpleasant. Several records were broken. Climate change, anyone?
It was too hot to go outside. Because of the fires around here, air quality was poor.
And then critters started invading the house.
I heard the raucous chirping of a cricket and located the sound coming from the dining room.
Then, the family room was invaded by dozens of diminutive flying insects that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere.
A lizard clung to the patio screen door. I told him it wasn’t any cooler inside–there’s no air conditioning and he’d fare better by hiding in the shade of a rock.
I filled a bowl with water for my bobcat and coyote family.
How anybody could enjoy Independence Day this year after what’s been happening to erode our reproductive rights and other freedoms that were fought for and taken for granted, I have no idea.
FFS, what the hell happened to the United States of America? I’m disgusted.
What an absolutely horrible headline. I fear dark days ahead.
Our rights, including reproductive rights, are being rapidly eroded. Soon, contraception will be regulated, and possibly marriage.
It’s simple. Stay out of my uterus. You do you. If you don’t want to have an abortion, then DON’T do it, but no one has the right to police my body. Or any woman’s body.
I know it sounds crazy, but I believe this is the direction our stupid country is headed.
It’s all so depressing and disgusting, I can’t even think about it without getting too upset.
I can see this area called Marja Acres from my backyard and it’s several blocks away, but even so, I watch and hear this land rape on a daily basis, and it makes me feel sad and angry.
It’s one of the very last pieces of land around here that hadn’t yet been violated by earth movers and concrete and plundered by developers who don’t care about anything except making money for themselves. They tore down a couple of nurseries, a little old fashioned store, and a couple of other businesses that had been here for decades, coexisting peacefully amongst the native flora and fauna.
Here’s what the plan is, to build a strip mall and way too many homes without any consideration for the existing community so negatively impacted by yet another ugly and unnecessary development.
We fought against it, of course; to no avail, as usual.
Even more sadly for me, there was no thought nor consideration for the creatures that lived here: coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, possums, birds of prey, AND RATS. They’ve all been displaced and this is where our RAT infestation emanates from.
I swear, this city continually never fails to disgust me.
Enchanted Seashells by Princess Rosebud 