In a sad twist, a missing 20-year-old Auburn University engineering student has been found dead.
James “Weston” Higginbotham was last seen leaving Yamashina Station on May 29th after getting into an argument with his family during a vacation in Japan.
Today, his mother announced that her son’s body has been discovered outside of Kyoto.
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
This comes after a massive, days-long search for the missing student.
In the end, a volunteer search-and-rescue group found the body.
Fox News shared the statement from Higginbotham‘s mother, Nancy:
“Our family is heartbroken,” Nancy Higginbotham wrote in the post. “The grief we feel is impossible to put into words.”
The family expressed their deep gratitude to the people across the U.S., Japan and the globe who offered prayers and assisted in the search efforts.
“The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives,” she said, pleading for privacy as the family begins to navigate the loss.
“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,” his mother wrote. “Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support. We will need them now more than ever. We will always love you, Weston.”
As the search went on, Nancy revealed that her son stormed off after getting into an argument with her over using AI.
Watch what she had to tell CBS Morning News in this clip:
The parents of James “Weston” Higginbotham, an Auburn University student who has been missing in Japan for more than a week say they have “complete confidence” that they are going to find their son.
Higginbotham’s mom said he was out on his own after they had an argument about… pic.twitter.com/ecwaYNC0w8
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 5, 2026
At this time, Higginbotham’s cause of death has not been revealed.
But, we know his body was discovered in a mountainous region with little food.
Per NBC News:
The Higginbotham family previously said that the 20-year-old went missing after an argument over artificial intelligence during a family trip and feared he could have been “emotionally distressed.”
He walked away from his parents after his mother was using ChatGPT to help find restaurants and other sights in the area, Nancy Higginbotham told NBC News. The Auburn student, who majors in biosystems engineering, is devoted to sustainable design and opposes the world’s increasing reliance on AI, she added.
Police in Kyoto said Weston Higginbotham had been missing since leaving his hotel on May 29. His mother said that her son was last known to have entered the mountainous forest area near Yamashina, Kyoto, where there are 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.
What a heartbreaking end to this story.
Prayers for the family.
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