The performer was reported missing on Friday, January 13, after he had gone hiking alone in the Baldy Bowl area of the San Gabriel Mountains, about 80 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.
A search was immediately initiated but ground teams were pulled out on Saturday evening due to avalanche risks and poor trail conditions, sheriff's department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez said.
Intermittent aerial searches by helicopter and drone aircraft have continued, however, and authorities planned to resume a ground search once conditions allow, she said.
"We had an air crew up today and there were no signs of Mr Sands," Rodriguez told Reuters by email.
The Baldy Bowl, a large sloping area below the crest of the Mount Baldy ski area, is a popular destination for skiers, climbers and backpackers.
Rodriguez said Sands was believed to be an experienced hiker.
Phone signals detected on Sunday showed Sands was then heading to the Mount Baldy area, apparently the latest indication he was still on the move.
Subsequent attempts to "ping" his phone failed "due to the lack of cell service and most likely cell phone power failure", the department said in an update posted on Thursday.
A "delayed ping" from Sands' phone's operating system, generated on Saturday, provided a possible location on a trail to the Mount Baldy summit, but checks of that spot by ground and helicopter teams were of no avail, the department said.
Authorities warned severe winter weather following weeks of storms that dumped heavy snow in California mountains have made the Baldy area dangerous for outdoor recreation.
In the past four weeks, sheriff search teams have conducted 14 rescue missions on Mount Baldy and surrounding areas for lost or stranded hikers, two of who perished after falling or injuring themselves, the agency said.
Sands' Los Angeles-based representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Born in England, Sands moved to California in the 1980s to pursue a Hollywood career after the success of the 1985 film A Room with a View, a period romance that co-starred Helena Bonham Carter.
He also starred as the son of Satan in the 1989 supernatural thriller Warlock and its sequel Warlock: The Armageddon.
He played the title role in the 1998 film version of The Phantom of the Opera and starred opposite martial arts performer Jackie Chan in the 2003 action-comedy The Medallion.
