A Japan vacation turned into a nightmare for this Alabama family as their 20-year-old son, a student at Auburn University, has been missing since May 29. The family said they won't be leaving Japan without Weston. Weston is an experienced traveler and nobody resisted when he went on solo after a bickering with his mother. Nancy Higginbotham, the mother, was using ChatGPT for their travel itinerary and Weston, a naturalist, told her how much natural resources such use of AI requires. But then Weston's phone location went off.
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“It’s not unusual for Weston to blow off steam going to the woods and just exploring. That’s his happy place,” Higginbotham told CNN. “I’m thinking … he’s just off in the woods, and he got lost.”
The search for Weston in Japan now includes the Japanese police, civilian volunteers and the FBI.
The family of four started on their Japan adventure on May 22 to celebrate the high school graduation of Weston's 18-year-old brother
“While we were visiting a temple, Weston gets on a train,” Higginbotham said. “We’re texting him, saying, ‘Hey, where are you?’ You know, ‘What are you doing?’” The family saw through the app that Weston stopped by a few stores before jumping back on the train – then his location was turned off.
Out of character for Weston, says family
Weston's family says it was alarming and out of character for Weston as he always shared his location with his family. By 2 am, with no sign of Weston, the family reported him missing to local authorities. He had about 10,000 Japanese yen (about $62.50) on him, and a phone at 34% battery before his location was lost, his mom said.
Weston left Kyoto Station alone at 6 pm that day, according to local police. He was last seen around 8 p.m. on CCTV footage, walking alone in the city’s Yamashina area – on a path that led to a hiking trail in the nearby woods. Soon after, a typhoon approached Kyoto but police said it was possible that he had already moved from the mountain by that time.
The family has circulated a missing person flyer in Japanese so that locals can help in the search for Weston. Auburn University is aware of Weston’s disappearance and the school has reached out to the family to offer support, according to a statement to the university’s student newspaper, the Auburn Plainsman.
