Search for Auburn student missing in Japan enters second week as volunteers join hunt
Police and volunteers are searching remote mountains and trails after a 20-year-old Auburn University student vanished during a family trip.
- On Saturday, the family of missing 20-year-old James "Weston" Higginbotham launched an independent search in Japan's Yamashina forests after police concluded a 72-hour operation involving more than 100 officers, K-9s, and helicopters without locating him.
- Higginbotham vanished May 29 after disagreeing with his mother over her use of ChatGPT for navigation; CCTV footage confirmed he walked alone toward hiking trails near the border of Kyoto and Shiga prefectures around 8 p.m. that evening.
- Police concluded their search after three days, deploying more than 100 officers, K-9s, and helicopters without success; the family then hired a professional search-and-rescue crew expected to cost over $100,000.
- Supporters have contributed more than $40,000 to a GoFundMe account to aid the search, while volunteers have traveled across Japan to assist; Nancy Higginbotham said she is "especially touched" by the outpouring of help.
- Keith Higginbotham stated the family maintains "complete confidence that we are going to find him," and despite the lack of clues, they remain committed to staying in Japan until locating their son.
20 Articles
20 Articles
The parents of an American college student who went missing in Japan haven't given up hope of finding their son, even after they say police finished searching the dense forest he was last seen walking into…
The family of a missing US college student has begun its own search in Japan. Here’s a timeline of key moments in the case
The parents of James “Weston” Higginbotham are not giving up on finding him, even after they say police finished searching the forest he was spotted walking toward.
Best friend’s haunting final messages sent to student missing in Japan went unanswered: ‘I saw him as a brother’
The best friend of the missing Auburn University student who mysteriously vanished during a family trip to Japan revealed their haunting last text exchange, shortly after the pair reunited in Tokyo.
Japanese citizens will join an arduous search for a missing American who vanished in a mountainous forest
The weeklong quest to find James “Weston” Higginbotham has yielded no signs of the 20-year-old. Now, with the permission of Japanese police, the student’s family has made a public plea for any experienced hikers to aid in the search through…
Search for Auburn student missing in Japan enters second week as volunteers join hunt
The family of a 20-year-old Auburn University student, James "Weston" Higginbotham, who vanished in the mountains outside Kyoto last week has enlisted civilian volunteers to press ahead with the search, even as Japanese police say they believe he most likely left of his own accord.
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