Search continues for missing Auburn student in Japan

A powerful typhoon and deep mud have slowed the search for James “Weston” Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University engineering student from Alabama who disappeared while vacationing with his family near Kyoto, Japan.

Japanese police, local volunteers, search dogs and helicopters have been combing foothills and hiking areas since Higginbotham went missing after separating from his family. CBS News reported that he took a train by himself after lunch on May 29 to an area known for hiking trails while his parents and brother visited a nearby temple.

Police say CCTV footage shows Higginbotham leaving the Yamashina train station, CBS News reported. NBC News reported that he was last seen Friday at the Kyoto train station. At the time he disappeared, CBS reported, he was wearing a “Save the Bees” T-shirt and lavender pants.

His mother, Nancy Higginbotham, described the search conditions Thursday as difficult but said rescuers remained committed.

“It’s been a long, stressful day,” she wrote in a Facebook post cited by NBC News. “Today, dozens of Japanese police officers searched through waist-high mud in an effort to find Weston. Search dogs and helicopters were also deployed.”

She said the crews were “incredibly thorough in the difficult conditions” and that the family has “confidence in the professionalism and dedication of the Japanese authorities and do not believe any area within the search zone was overlooked.”

“They are meticulous,” she wrote. “The area where we believe Weston is missing has ample water and limited berries. There is still hope.”

Higginbotham, who majors in biosystems engineering at Auburn, is an experienced hiker, his family said. His mother told CBS News that trails are a place where he finds calm.

“When he is going on a trail, that’s where he finds, like, his inner peace, and his quiet time,” Nancy Higginbotham said. “And it rejuvenates him, and so I’m sure that’s what he did.”

The family had been using a tracking app while apart, CBS reported. When Higginbotham’s parents saw his location move that evening, they texted him but received no response.

Nancy Higginbotham told NBC News that her son walked away from his parents after an argument over ChatGPT. She said he is devoted to sustainable design and opposes the world’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence.

“We had an argument because I was using ChatGPT too much to try to help us navigate the trip and find the best restaurants and do this and that,” she said.

“We try never to use it and I totally agree with him. It was just a dumb, dumb argument to have,” she added.

She described him as “emotionally distressed” after the argument but said she does not believe he is a danger to himself or others. “He’s such a pacifist. When he gets mad, he just likes retreat to himself,” she told NBC News, adding that he does not even stomp on spiders or insects and instead carries them outside.

His family says it remains hopeful that his hiking experience and survival skills will help him endure if he is lost.

“He has survival skills, and I don’t want anyone to doubt that if he is lost in the woods, he is still alive,” Nancy Higginbotham told CBS News.

The family had been scheduled to return to Alabama but said they will not leave Japan without him.

“We’re not flying home tonight,” Nancy Higginbotham said.

His father, Keith Higginbotham, told CBS News: “A flight home is hard when you realize there’s one person that may not be on the flight with you.”