{"id":28353,"date":"2026-06-07T10:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T10:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=28353"},"modified":"2026-06-07T10:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T10:35:10","slug":"james-weston-higginbotham-missing-in-japan-found-dead-after-large-scale-search-in-kyoto-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=28353","title":{"rendered":"James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham, Missing in Japan, Found Dead After Large-Scale Search in Kyoto Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Search and rescue volunteers find body of missing Auburn student James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham in Japan mountains<\/p>\n<p>Search and rescue volunteers in Japan have found the body of Auburn University student James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham, 20, bringing a tragic end to a dayslong search after he went missing during a family trip.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/james-weston-higginbotham-went-missing-1085851143.jpg?w=443\" alt=\"Desperate parents of missing Weston Higginbotham share NEW target search map &amp; plead with locals to join hunt\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Weston was found dead Saturday in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, his family confirmed in a social media statement, saying the discovery was made by a volunteer search-and-rescue group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur family is heartbroken to share that Weston was found deceased by a volunteer search-and-rescue group in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto. The grief we feel is impossible to put into words,\u201d the family wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fnancy.higginbotham.50%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02ziddTrQ5h3QGquHD4cjJTtQ5sgcXUgNudkf9Gpdg2X6bGxMNBaJ3ZzoNJdFF1zGQl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"737\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-origwidth=\"500\" data-origheight=\"737\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Weston had been traveling with his parents and brother when he went missing on May 29. Described by loved ones as a passionate naturalist, he separated from his family after a disagreement with his mother over her use of ChatGPT to help navigate their trip and the environmental impact of the technology.<\/p>\n<p>He was last seen alone in Kyoto\u2019s Yamashina area, walking toward a path that leads into nearby forested hiking trails.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.newsweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-94-Custom.png\" alt=\"Weston Higginbotham: Parents Release Search Map for Son Missing in Japan - Newsweek\" \/><\/p>\n<p>According to the family, a 72-hour police search of the heavily wooded terrain where Weston was last seen ended on Friday. That effort involved more than 100 officers, K-9 units, and helicopters combing the mountains around the area.<\/p>\n<p>After official search operations were paused, the Higginbotham family launched their own expanded search on Saturday with support from local residents and a privately hired search-and-rescue team. Their efforts focused on parts of the Yamashina forest that had not been fully covered by authorities.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/6f540568-8ad5-4657-98c3-5923b4761008.jpg?c=original&amp;q=w_860,c_fill\" alt=\"Weston Higginbotham search: Alabama family pleads for help finding their missing son in Japan | CNN\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know he is out in these woods somewhere,\u201d Weston\u2019s mother, Nancy Higginbotham, wrote in a Facebook update earlier that day as the search continued.<\/p>\n<p>Following the confirmation of his death, the family expressed gratitude to everyone who supported their efforts from around the world.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/content.api.news\/v3\/images\/bin\/83b2df7fcb20bfbade52136b2bb1630d\" alt=\"Best friend's haunting final messages sent to student missing in Japan | news.com.au \u2014 Australia's leading news site for latest headlines\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives,\u201d the family said. \u201cThank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. We will need them now more than ever. We will always love you, Weston.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Search and rescue volunteers find body of missing Auburn student James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham in Japan mountains Search and rescue volunteers in Japan have found the body of&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28355,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28353\/revisions\/28355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}