US4 min(s) read
Published 10:28 19 Jun 2026 GMT
The family of James 'Weston' Higginbotham has revealed where the student's ashes will be scattered after he was found dead in Japan.
As previously reported, the 20-year-old's body was discovered on June 6 after a week-long search in the mountains outside Kyoto.
The Auburn University student had travelled to Japan with his parents and younger brother Grayton on May 22 to celebrate Grayton's high school graduation.
Weston's family reported that he disappeared on May 30 after deciding to spend some time alone in Kyoto while the rest of the family visited a temple. It is reported that he was carrying around $62 and had just 34 percent battery remaining on his phone when he left.
"It's not unusual for Weston to blow off steam going to the woods and just exploring," Nancy previously explained. "That's his happy place."
Location data from the Life360 app was used to trace some of his final movements and Weston was later seen on surveillance footage at a train station on the outskirts of Kyoto before his phone lost signal.
When he stopped responding to calls and messages, his family reported him missing at around 2AM, sparking an extensive search involving police, rescue teams, volunteers, and K9 units.
The search was complicated by dense woodland, difficult mountain terrain, and intense weather conditions caused by a typhoon, but a volunteer search-and-rescue team located Weston's in the Higashiyama mountain range after a week.
Authorities have since confirmed that no foul play is suspected, but they will not release the cause of death.
Weston's funeral took place at Asbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday, where his family revealed that they plan to install two benches in his memory and scatter his ashes in the wilderness that he loved.
Rev. Mike Holley told those gathered to remember Weston that the 20-year-old's ashes would be spread at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County: "There’ll be a place where Weston’s memory will be there and that his ashes will be scattered there."
Two benches will be placed "in beautiful, still, noiseless parts of creation, right where he wants to be,” Holley added per The Sun.
Weston's funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners, including his family and friends, who remembered the young man for his intelligence, empathy, and always making others feel welcomed.
His cousin Eddie Higginbotham said: "Weston had a way of making everyone feel included," describing him as "easy to smile with, easy to laugh with and always ready for something new, unexpected and maybe a little weird."
Weston had been studying biosystems engineering at Auburn, with a focus on sustainability, and was also a member of the university’s climbing and triathlon teams and Engineers Without Borders.
Following his family's trip to Japan, Weston had been planning to travel to Bolivia in the summer to help a project to bring water to a village in need.
His mother, Nancy, previously wrote of Weston: "A proud vegan and environmental enthusiast, he rarely went anywhere without his reusable water bottle and fork, always trying to reduce waste and live intentionally.
"He was so kind and loved his family and friends and felt most grounded in nature."
To honor Weston's life, an endowed scholarship has now been established at Auburn University in his memory.
Holley encouraged those present at the funeral to take some of Weston's values into their own lives, adding: "There are ways that you can keep his name and his memory and his heart and his soul alive.
"We hope that you will do something to reduce the noise, to be at peace and to see the creation that God has made for us, a place to preserve and a place to enjoy."
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