Overview
- James “Weston” Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University junior, walked away from his family on May 29 after an argument over his mother’s use of ChatGPT and was not seen again.
- His parents tracked his phone on the Life360 app to a river and a train before the location stopped updating, and CCTV later showed him walking toward wooded hiking trails near Yamashina.
- Kyoto police led an intensive 72-hour search with more than 100 officers, K-9 teams and helicopters that was hindered by heavy rain from a typhoon and steep, forested terrain.
- After police scaled back operations, the family organized private searches with local residents and hired teams, and a volunteer search-and-rescue group found his body on Saturday in a mountainous area outside Kyoto.
- Local authorities say the cause of death remains under investigation, U.S. consular authorities were involved in the response, and the family has asked for privacy as Auburn and their community mourn.