NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) – An American student who disappeared while on a family vacation in Japan was found dead outside Kyoto, his mother wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
• The body of James Higginbotham, 20, was discovered in a mountainous area by a volunteer search-and-rescue group, Nancy Higginbotham wrote.
• A cause of death and further details were not immediately available.
• “Our family is heartbroken,” she wrote. “The grief we feel is impossible to put into words.”
• Higginbotham, an Alabama resident and an engineering student at Auburn University, was last seen leaving a Kyoto train station on May 29. Later that night, his phone went dark and its location services were turned off, his mother previously told Reuters.
• Until then, she was able to track his movements using the app Life360, she said.
• His parents believe he was heading to a nearby hiking trail. Nancy Higginbotham had told Reuters she believed her son may have “needed space.”
• The Higginbotham family was visiting Japan to celebrate the high school graduation of James Higginbotham’s younger brother.
• An initial search by Japanese authorities lasted three days and included around 100 police officers, K-9 units and helicopters, but did not uncover any trace of him, CNN reported.
(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.