KYOTO — The body of 20-year-old Auburn University student James Weston Higginbotham was found in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto after he was reported missing on May 29. Higginbotham's body was recovered on Saturday by a volunteer search and rescue group.
Nancy Higginbotham, his mother, announced the recovery of her son's body in a statement posted to Facebook. She stated that the family does not yet have a cause of death. "The grief we feel is impossible to put into words." Nancy Higginbotham said.
Higginbotham was last known to have entered a mountainous forest area near Yamashina. His family reported he went missing following a disagreement concerning artificial intelligence. This occurred after his mother used a large language model to locate restaurants and local attractions. His parents stated they observed his location change on a family tracking application before losing contact with him, and they believe he was headed toward a hiking trail when he disappeared.
Higginbotham was visiting Japan with his parents and brother to celebrate his younger brother's high school graduation. He was pursuing a degree in biosystems engineering at Auburn University with a focus on sustainable design. He opposed the increasing global reliance on artificial intelligence due to environmental concerns.
Japanese authorities initially suspended official search operations. However, the family later engaged a professional rescue crew. Search operations deployed by Japanese authorities previously included more than 100 police officers, dogs, and helicopters. Rescue personnel in the Yamashina area reported wading through waist-high mud during search operations.
Takuya Nishikawa, an official with the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters, stated that heavy rainfall from a typhoon delayed search operations until Wednesday. Hiyu Shikari, a 20-year-old friend of Higginbotham, reported last seeing him at a dinner in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Nancy Higginbotham said, "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." Shikari also shared a memory of his friend. "I saw him as a best friend, a brother. He was such a nice friend and when I first met him, I felt like nothing has changed." Shikari said.