Auburn University Student Missing for Days Found Dead in Japan

Japanese police searched through waist-high mud, and search dogs and helicopters were used.

Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple is seen surrounded by maple leaves in Kyoto, Japan, on Nov. 20, 2025. Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images

The body of an American college student who was last seen entering a Japanese mountain range popular with hikers was found on Saturday. He went missing on May 29 while on a family trip in Japan.

James “Weston” Higginbotham, 20, was found dead after a massive search to find the Auburn University student, according to his mother’s post on Facebook.