{"id":212632,"date":"2026-06-04T10:08:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/auburn-student-goes-missing-in-japan-family-fears-hes-emotionally-distressed-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:08:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:08:51","slug":"auburn-student-goes-missing-in-japan-family-fears-hes-emotionally-distressed-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/auburn-student-goes-missing-in-japan-family-fears-hes-emotionally-distressed-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Auburn student goes missing in Japan; family fears he\u2019s \u2018emotionally distressed\u2019 – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An Auburn University engineering student went missing <\/a>in Japan, his family and officials said Wednesday, and loved ones feared he could be \u201cemotionally distressed.\u201d
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James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham, 20, was last seen Friday in Kyoto, his mother, Nancy Higginbotham, said in a statement<\/a>.
\u201cUnfortunately, the authorities did not find Weston today,\u201d she said in a statement posted late Wednesday<\/a>.
The family is grateful for the efforts of Japanese police, FBI agents, U.S. diplomats, Alabama officials and \u201cthe wonderful Japanese volunteers,\u201d Nancy Higginbotham said.
\u201cI know the amount of resources they are pouring into finding our son is immense,\u201d she added.
Higginbotham, a junior who studies biosystems engineering at the Alabama university, was traveling with his family when he vanished, Auburn said.
Higginbotham grew up in Hoover, Alabama, and graduated from Spain Park High School.
\u201cOur hearts are with the Higginbotham family during this difficult time, and we remain hopeful for a positive resolution,\u201d Hoover Mayor Nick Drezis<\/a> said in a statement Wednesday.
Higginbotham was last spotted at Yamashina Station in Kyoto, according to his mother.
\u201cWe don\u2019t know if he got back on the train at any point. Weston is a very experienced hiker and this town has beautiful nature trails,\u201d her statement said.
\u201cHe may have intentionally chosen a quiet trail from Yamashina, especially Bishamon-do, Lake Biwa Canal, Misasagi, Keage\/Nanzen-ji, Kyoto Trail, Mount Otowa, or Daigo\/Kami-Daigo.\u201d
She added: \u201cHe may be emotionally distressed, so this is urgent.\u201d
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that the Trump administration is aware of the reports that Higginbotham was missing in Japan, and that the administration \u201chas no higher priority than the safety of Americans.\u201d
Higginbotham\u2019s parents said they\u2019re encouraged by the work of Japanese first responders and that social media is sharing the family\u2019s story.
\u201cWe\u2019re confident we\u2019re going to find him,\u201d his father, Keith Higginbotham, said in a video statement Tuesday<\/a>.
\u201cWe\u2019re going to find him because of everybody\u2019s help and posting and getting the word out so we can find the person who\u2019s going to find him.\u201d
Senior Breaking News Reporter
Jean Lee reports with NBC News\u2019 Social Newsgathering team in Los Angeles. She previously reported for the NBC News investigative unit.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeAn Auburn University engineering student went missing in Japan, his family and officials said Wednesday, and loved ones feared he could be \u201cemotionally distressed.\u201dSubscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.James \u201cWeston\u201d Higginbotham, 20, was last seen Friday in Kyoto, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-212632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}