Missing Auburn University student in Japan found dead, mother says

Missing Auburn University student James “Weston” Higginbotham was found dead outside of Kyoto, his mother said on Facebook Saturday. 

Higginbotham was found in a mountainous area by a volunteer search-and-rescue group, Nancy Higginbotham wrote. A cause of death or more details were not immediately available. 

Higginbotham, 20, was last seen on May 29. He, his parents and his brother had been visiting Japan at the time of his disappearance. He decided to stay back while his parents and brother visited a nearby temple. His parents told CBS News they saw his location move on a family tracking app and texted him, but didn’t receive a response. He was last seen leaving a train station in Kyoto, and his parents believe he was headed to a nearby hiking trail. 

“My fear is that he, that he got hurt and that he’s stuck,” Nancy Higginbotham told CBS News on Friday. “My fear is that he doesn’t have enough food because there is plenty of water, and that he’s lost. Those mountains, that forest goes for a very long time and … it’s extremely dense.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.