James "Weston" Higginbotham, 20, an engineering student at Auburn University from Alabama, was found dead in a mountainous area near Kyoto, Japan, on June 6, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4]. He disappeared on May 29 after leaving Kyoto Station alone during a family trip to celebrate his younger brother's high school graduation [1, 5, 3, 4, 6].

Higginbotham was last seen that evening leaving Kyoto's Yamashina train station, wearing purple pants and a "Save the Bees" T-shirt [5, 7, 8, 9, 6]. His family tracked his phone via the Life360 app until the signal cut out late May 29, when location services were turned off [1, 3, 4, 6].

Family members described Higginbotham as an experienced hiker and naturalist who often walked to relieve stress or find happiness [5, 2, 6]. His mother, Nancy Higginbotham, said a disagreement over her use of ChatGPT during their travels led James to go hiking alone in a low emotional state. "We decided to go our separate ways. We were just bickering... He just needed to be alone. His happy place is to walk trails or go hiking," she said [5, 2, 6]. Nancy later called the fight "truly foolish" and expressed deep grief over the loss [5, 1].

The family delayed returning to Alabama, remaining in Japan to aid search efforts [5, 7, 8, 9]. Japanese police launched a large-scale search early June involving about 100 officers, K-9 units, helicopters, and volunteer rescuers. Initial efforts failed to locate him amid difficult conditions, including typhoons [3, 4, 6, 5, 2].

Higginbotham's body was discovered by a volunteer search-and-rescue team near Kyoto on June 6. Details on cause of death have not been released, and circumstances remain unclear [1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 3, 4]. Nancy Higginbotham thanked everyone for their support and prayers during the ordeal, saying, "This outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives... We now need it more than ever" [1, 2, 3, 4].

Higginbotham was reportedly carrying about 10,000 yen when he went missing [6]. The family plans to return to Alabama following funeral arrangements.