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Body of missing American student found in Japan by search team
He was found in a mountainous region outside Kyoto
Digital Content Manager
The body of missing 20-year-old James “Weston” Higginbotham was found by search teams in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto, his mother posted Saturday morning on Facebook.
“The grief we feel is impossible to put into words. 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,” Nancy Higginbotham wrote in her post.
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She thanked all of the people and groups who helped in the search and shared his story to help spread awareness.
“The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives,” she wrote.
It is unclear how Weston died at this time.
Background
Higginbotham is a student at Auburn University. He was last confirmed in the Kyoto area on Friday, May 29. He went off on his own after a disagreement with his mom over the environmental consequences of using ChatGPT to plan parts of their trip.
Authorities were treating his disappearance as a missing persons case, as there is currently no evidence suggesting there has been a crime, officers told CNN.
The search was focused on the mountains near Kyoto after Weston decided to explore the area on his own. It was confirmed he made a purchase at a Kohnan hardware store in the Kyoto area and thought he may have gotten on a local train.
The family said it was unusual when he turned his phone location off.
Previous coverage: Search intensifies after discovery that phone location turned off
That gave some insight into where he might be, but a typhoon moved through the region Tuesday, complicating efforts to search trails and wooded areas.
A look at the search efforts in the video player above.
The woods are also extremely dense and the hiking routes are full of steep, difficult terrain.
terrain in Japanese woods
The family said there are several fatalities in these mountains each year.
Video below: Family thanks people during search
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available. Stay updated on the latest stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.
