Missing US Student in Japan Found Dead in Kyoto Suburbs

(Central News Agency, New York, June 6, Combined Foreign Reports) James "Weston" Higginbotham, a 20-year-old American student who went missing while traveling in Japan with his family in May, was found dead in the suburbs of Kyoto, his mother announced on Facebook today, after a large-scale police search failed to locate him.

His mother, Nancy Higginbotham, wrote that a volunteer search team found her son's body in a mountainous area.

According to Reuters, Higginbotham's cause of death and other details have not yet been released.

"Our family is heartbroken, and the grief is beyond words," Nancy said.

Higginbotham was from Alabama, USA, and was an engineering student at Auburn University. The family was visiting Japan to celebrate his younger brother's high school graduation.

His mother previously told Reuters that Higginbotham was last seen leaving a train station in Kyoto on May 29. That evening, his phone was turned off and its location services were disabled.

Nancy said that until then, she had been able to track her son's whereabouts using the Life360 app.

Higginbotham's parents believe he may have been heading to a hiking trail near Kyoto at the time. Nancy told Reuters that she thought her son might have "wanted some space."

According to CNN, Japanese police initially conducted a three-day search operation involving helicopters, about 100 officers, and police dogs, but were unable to find any trace of him. (Editor: Ji Jinling) 1150607