75-Year-Old Man Found Alive On Mt. Baldy After 2-Day Disappearance

INLAND EMPIRE, CA — A 75-year-old hiker who went missing on Mt. Baldy over the weekend was found alive Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announced.

"This afternoon search and rescue members located missing hiker, Jin Chung," the department said in a released statement Tuesday night.

Chung suffered some weather-related injuries and a leg injury but was able to walk out with the assistance of the crew members. The Los Angeles man was transported to a local hospital for treatment, the agency said.

Chung carpooled to Mt. Baldy on Sunday with two other hikers but separated from them when they arrived around 6 a.m., with an understanding they would meet back at the vehicle at 2 p.m., according to the sheriff's department.

The other hikers returned safely but Chung did not.

Details on where and how Chung was found were not disclosed.

While the Chung search was successful, another hiker remains missing on Mt. Baldy. The sheriff’s department was closing in on a second full week of the search for actor Julian Sands.

"Numerous ground and air search efforts have taken place," the department reported Tuesday. "As of this time, Mr. Sands has not been found and no evidence of his current location has been discovered. The search will continue, weather and ground conditions permitting."

The 65-year-old North Hollywood resident was reported missing by family at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 after he did not return from hiking in the Baldy Bowl area, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Mara Rodriguez.

Search and rescue efforts for Sands were intermittently hampered by wintry weather conditions, including the risk of a snow avalanche, Rodriguez said.

She said icy conditions were treacherous.

"It is our recommendation that people stay away from that area," she explained last week. "It is extremely dangerous and even experienced hikers are getting in trouble."

It's unclear how much hiking experience Sands has. Mt. Baldy is a 10,064-foot summit in the San Gabriel Mountains, on the border of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Snowfall from recent storms has been heavy in the area, prompting warnings from authorities.

Sands has appeared in dozens of films since the 1980s, including critically acclaimed projects such as the "The Killing Fields," "A Room with a View," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and "Leaving Las Vegas." On television, he is known for playing Vladimir Bierko in "24," Jor-El in "Smallville," and as Yulish Rabitov in "Banshee."

Sands was born in the United Kingdom. He is married and has three children.

Over the last month, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue teams responded to more than a dozen rescue missions on Mt. Baldy and in the surrounding area. The operations were for lost, stranded and/or injured hikers. Two hikers did not survive after falling and injuring themselves, according to an advisory released Jan. 18 by the sheriff's department.

On Tuesday, the sheriff's department reported that from 2017-2022, search and rescue teams conducted 233 missions on Mt. Baldy, with eight fatalities.

"Many hikers, experienced or novice, underestimate the steep terrain, unpredictable weather, and high winds that present themselves in our mountain areas," the sheriff's department reported. "When combined, these circumstances and conditions place the hiker, [search and rescue] volunteers, and sheriff’s personnel at risk during these dangerous search and rescue missions. Regardless of precautions taken by hikers, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department highly recommends hikers avoid hazardous mountainous areas, such as Mt. Baldy, at this time."