HOOVER, Ala. (WBMA) — A family in Hoover, Alabama, is asking for the public’s help as the search continues for their 20-year-old son, James “Weston” Higginbotham, who disappeared while traveling in Japan.
According to his mother, Nancy, Weston was last confirmed in the Kyoto area on May 29 during a family trip that began May 25. Authorities have since narrowed his last known location to Yamashina Station, east of Kyoto, using surveillance video.
“We will not lose hope, and we feel all of the love that you are pouring out throughout the day,” she wrote on Facebook.
Nancy said police determined he got off a train at Yamashina Station, though it is unclear whether he later boarded another train. His phone reportedly lost network service around 8:29 p.m. on May 29 after arriving at Kyoto Station around 8:15 p.m.
Investigators believe he was traveling east on either the Biwako Line or Kosei Line.
The family said Weston is an experienced hiker and may have intentionally headed toward one of several nearby nature areas, including Bishamon-do, the Lake Biwa Canal, Misasagi, Keage and Nanzen-ji, the Kyoto Trail, Mount Otowa, or the Daigo and Kami-Daigo areas.
His mother added that she and her husband have already begun searching wooded areas near Yamashina and are asking for help from residents and volunteers once severe weather conditions improve.
AloJapan.com