The family of James “Weston” Higginbotham, a 20-year-old student from Auburn University, announced with heavy hearts that he has been found deceased. Higginbotham had disappeared during a family vacation in Japan at the end of May.
In a Facebook post shared on Saturday morning, his mother, Nancy Higginbotham, disclosed that a volunteer search-and-rescue team discovered her son’s body in the mountainous region near Kyoto.
“Our family is devastated,” Nancy wrote in her post, adding, “The depth of our grief is beyond words.”
AUBURN STUDENT MISSING IN JAPAN AFTER FAMILY DISAGREEMENT, PARENTS REPORT
James “Weston” Higginbotham, 20, went missing during a family vacation in Japan, as reported by his mother. His remains were later located in a remote area outside Kyoto. (Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham)
The Higginbotham family expressed profound gratitude to everyone in the United States, Japan, and worldwide who offered prayers and participated in the search efforts.
“The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives,” she said, pleading for privacy as the family begins to navigate the loss.
“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,” his mother wrote. “Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support. We will need them now more than ever. We will always love you, Weston.”
His family believes he may have been seeking nearby nature trails when he went missing on May 29. (Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham )
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The update comes after a massive, multinational search.
The 20-year-old was last seen May 29 near Yamashina Station, just east of Kyoto, after being separated from his parents following family “bickering,” News Agency previously reported.
His parents were able to track him while he was near a river and boarding a train via the Life360 app before his phone location suddenly went dark.
Weston was last seen wearing a shirt with “Save the Bees” printed on the back, lavender corduroy pants and white Adidas sneakers with black stripes, according to his mother. (Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham )
The family had previously held out hope that he would be found alive, telling News Agency earlier in the week that he knew how to forage and was “built to endure.”
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