American college student who went missing in Japan is found dead, family confirms

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An American college student, who went missing eight days ago during a vacation in Japan, has been found dead, his heartbroken family revealed Saturday.

James “Weston” Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University student from Alabama, disappeared May 29 while traveling in Japan with his parents and younger brother to celebrate his sibling’s high school graduation.

Weston, an experienced hiker, was last seen on surveillance footage around 8 p.m. walking alone in a mountainous area of Yamashina ward, near Kyoto, just before a storm moved in. Search teams had concentrated on the heavily forested area before calling off efforts, which were hampered by high winds and heavy rain.

His mother, Nancy Higginbotham, shared the devastating news in a Facebook post Saturday.

“Our family is heartbroken to share that Weston was found deceased by a volunteer search-and-rescue group in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto,” she wrote. “The grief we feel is impossible to put into words. We are forever grateful for the time we had with our sweet, precious Weston, but cannot begin to understand what life without him will be like.”

James ‘Weston’ Higginbotham has been found dead after going missing in Japan, his family announced Saturday (GoFundMe)

Nancy Higginbotham’s statement continued: “We are deeply grateful to the countless people across the United States, Japan, and around the world who shared Weston’s story, prayed for our family, offered encouragement, and helped in the search efforts. The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives. We shared our story here and in the media in the hope of finding Weston. We now ask for privacy as we begin to navigate this unimaginable loss.”

“Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. We will need them now more than ever. We will always love you, Weston,” she concluded.

Nancy Higginbotham had earlier told CBS News that she feared her son had been hurt and become stuck somewhere in the area.

On the evening of May 29, his parents saw through Life360, a GPS tracking app, that his phone was still moving around the city and sent him text messages, but he never responded.

“My fear is that he doesn’t have enough food because there is plenty of water, and that he’s lost. Those mountains, that forest goes for a very long time and … it’s extremely dense,” she said.

The Higginbotham family was in Japan to celebrate Weston’s younger brother’s high school graduation (GoFundMe)

The initial search had reportedly taken place over three days and included 100 police officers, K9 dogs and helicopters but found no trace of the 20-year-old.

Nancy Higginbotham also told CBS News Friday that the pair had argued about the use of ChatGPT on the trip, which had become “a sore subject” with her son, an environmental engineering student.

“I was using a little bit too much ChatGPT. Japan is a country that I’ve had a hard time navigating,” Nancy Higginbotham told the outlet. “Weston is very anti-AI because, you know, he’s into sustainability engineering, and AI uses a lot of water and is depleting a lot of water resources.”

The family had planned to hire a private Japanese search-and-rescue team and previously said they would not leave Japan until Weston was found.

“We have complete confidence that we are going to find him,” Weston’s dad, Keith Higginbotham, earlier told CBS News.