A family friend of a 20-year-old American student found dead in Japan has publicly called out online sleuths for their “especially painful” focus on how he died, as his grieving mother described being overwhelmed by waves of pain so intense she can barely breathe.
James “Weston” Higginbotham, a biosystems engineering student at Auburn University in Alabama, went missing on 29 May during a family holiday in Japan after an argument with his family, which his mother Nancy told NBC News began over her use of ChatGPT. “We try never to use it and I totally agree with him. It was just a dumb, dumb argument to have,” she said. Nancy described her son as someone who typically sought out nature to decompress, calling the outdoors his “happy place.”
The family tracked his movements using the Life360 app, which showed him visiting a river, several shops and boarding a local train before his location went “completely dark.” He was last seen on CCTV leaving Yamashina Station. He was found dead on 6 June in a mountainous area near Kyoto by a volunteer search-and-rescue group after a major search operation that drew international attention. Japanese authorities said they would not be publicly releasing his cause of death.
Jennifer Harper Bowen, a family friend and fellow Auburn mother whose son is the same age as Higginbotham and also studied engineering there, issued an appeal on Nancy’s behalf on Saturday. “One thing Nancy shared that has been especially painful is the overwhelming focus on how Weston passed rather than on the loss of Weston himself,” she wrote. “Before asking for information, place yourself in their shoes and ask: if this were my child, what would I need most right now? I suspect the answer would not be questions. It would be love.”
Bowen described the toll the loss has taken on Nancy. “She told me she is so overcome with endless waves of pain that she feels as though she cannot breathe and gets startled,” she wrote. “In one conversation, she simply asked me to give my son an extra hug. That request alone from her shattered my heart.”
The Higginbotham family has since returned to Alabama, with Delta Airlines facilitating the transportation of his body back to the United States. Funeral services were due to take place later in the week. In a tribute, the family said Higginbotham “lit up every room with his charismatic smile” and was passionate about protecting the environment and “dedicating his life to sustainability.” He was an active member of Auburn’s climbing team and had been planning to travel to Bolivia in August to help distribute water to a local village with classmates. Auburn University flew a memorial flag in his honour last Thursday. His family has established a scholarship fund in his name for students studying ecological engineering.
