Missing Auburn student found dead outside Kyoto

The body of James “Weston” Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University student who disappeared during a family trip to Japan, has been found in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, his mother said Saturday.

Nancy Higginbotham announced on Facebook that her son was found by a volunteer search-and-rescue group after a weeklong search involving Japanese police, local volunteers and, at one point, dogs and helicopters. A cause of death and further details were not immediately available, CBS News reported.

“The grief we feel is impossible to put into words,” she wrote. “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.”

Higginbotham, who majored in biosystems engineering at Auburn, had been traveling in Japan with his parents and brother when he vanished May 29. Kyoto police said he had been missing since leaving his hotel that day. His family said he was last seen at the Kyoto train station, and his parents believed he may have been heading toward a nearby hiking trail.

His mother previously told CBS News that Higginbotham had decided to stay back while his parents and brother visited a nearby temple. His parents then saw his location move on a family tracking app and texted him, but they did not receive a response.

Nancy Higginbotham told NBC News that her son walked away from his parents after an argument over artificial intelligence. She said she had been using ChatGPT to help find restaurants and other sights in the area, and that her son, who was devoted to sustainable design, opposed the world’s increasing reliance on AI. The family had feared he could have been emotionally distressed.

His last known location, according to his mother, was a mountainous forest area near Yamashina, Kyoto, where there were water sources but limited food. Heavy rains from a typhoon delayed the search until Wednesday, according to Takuya Nishikawa of the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters.

Search efforts included more than 100 police officers, as well as dogs and helicopters, Nancy Higginbotham told CBS News. She said the family had recently hired a professional rescue crew after Japanese authorities said they were suspending search efforts.

In her Facebook statement Saturday, she thanked people who shared her son’s story, prayed for the family, offered encouragement and helped look for him.

“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,” she wrote. “The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives.”

She added: “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.”