Family friend says Auburn student found dead in Japan loved solo walks

A 20-year-old Auburn University student was found dead in the mountains outside Kyoto after a week of uncertainty that began when his family saw his location move on a tracking app and then lost contact. A family friend said James “Weston” Higginbotham loved long solo walks for “decompression,” a detail that has shaped how loved ones describe the final hours of the trip.

Higginbotham, a junior biosystems engineering major from Hoover, Alabama, had been traveling in Japan with his parents and younger brother to celebrate his brother’s high school graduation. His family said he stayed behind while they visited a temple, then separated from them and was last seen May 29 near the Kyoto train station in the Yamashina area. When his location changed on the family’s tracking app and his texts went unanswered, the search began in earnest after he stopped responding and turned off his location.

Japanese police and volunteer searchers spent days combing a mountainous area outside Kyoto with more than 100 officers, K9 dogs and helicopters. Investigators said it was “highly probable” Higginbotham left the family intentionally, but they also said they were concerned for his safety because he did not speak Japanese and may not have known his way around. After authorities suspended the official search, Higginbotham’s family hired a professional search-and-rescue crew that was expected to cost more than $100,000.

Volunteer searchers found Higginbotham’s body June 6 in the mountains of Yamashina Ward in Kyoto, and police later said there was no indication of foul play. Officials said they would not publicly release a cause of death. Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts said the school mourned the loss of a “valued member of the Auburn Family,” while Nancy Higginbotham wrote on Facebook that the family was heartbroken and asked for privacy. Reports also identified Higginbotham as an honors graduate of Spain Park High School in Hoover.

The case underscores how quickly a missing-person emergency abroad can move from a family’s private panic to a large-scale search, with local police, volunteer rescuers and costly private help all pulled in before answers arrive.