Auburn University student James “Weston” Higginbotham was found dead in the mountains outside Kyoto, Japan, ending a week-long search that gripped his family and volunteers across the region.
The 20-year-old’s body was recovered by search-and-rescue volunteers in a mountainous area outside the city, his mother Nancy Higginbotham confirmed in a Facebook post Saturday.
The family had last seen him May 29 near a train station east of Kyoto.
“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 stayed behind on the day he disappeared while his parents and brother went to see a nearby temple, according to CBS News. A cause of death had not been determined as of Saturday.
The split came after he argued with his mother over her use of ChatGPT to plan their sightseeing and the natural resources artificial intelligence consumes, according to CNN. Friends and family described him as a committed naturalist.
BREAKING: Body of Auburn student James Weston Higginbotham found in mountainous area outside Kyoto, Japan, after he split off from family during trip, mother confirms pic.twitter.com/eckiCONl5z
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 6, 2026
That conviction ran through his studies and his values. He majored in biosystems engineering, focused on sustainable design and pushed back against society’s growing dependence on AI, according to NBC News. His relatives worried he had been emotionally distressed when he walked off.
Kyoto Prefectural Police told ABC News they considered it highly probable that he left his family on purpose, though they still feared for his safety because he did not speak Japanese.
Search crews combed the mountains and trails with a helicopter and K-9 units.
Auburn President Christopher B. Roberts confirmed the death, calling Higginbotham a “valued member of the Auburn Family,” according to CBS News.
