Overview
- Volunteers found James “Weston” Higginbotham in mountainous terrain outside Kyoto on Saturday after several days of searching.
- Kyoto police say they do not suspect criminal activity and have not released a cause of death while standard Japanese procedures to determine it continue.
- Police mounted an early search with more than 100 officers, helicopters and canine units, but a storm hampered nighttime efforts and an official 72-hour search was later concluded.
- The family tracked Higginbotham by the Life360 app and reviewed security footage showing him last on May 29 walking toward hiking routes in the Yamashina area before his phone’s location stopped.
- After authorities scaled back active searching, the family hired a private search-and-rescue team and worked with local volunteers, highlighting how private efforts supplemented official searches for a U.S. traveler abroad.