An Auburn University student who died in Japan after going off on a solo hike away from his family enjoyed long strolls for “decompression” and wouldn’t have wanted to harm himself, a family friend said Monday.
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James “Weston” Higginbotham, 20, was last seen at the Kyoto train station on May 29 before volunteer searchers found his body in the mountains just outside the ancient city on Saturday.
Higginbotham was traveling with his parents when he got into an argument with his mother over her use of ChatGPT during the vacation. After the argument he walked away, his mother, Nancy Higginbotham, previously said.
While hiking at night in a foreign land might seem odd to many, longtime neighbor and family friend Audrey Daniels said Higginbotham knew what he was doing.
“He was definitely an experienced hiker and that was a mode of decompression for him as well,” Daniels, 23, told NBC News on Monday.
Daniels and another family friend, Jennifer Harper Bowen, both said they don’t believe Higginbotham would have sought to harm himself.
“He was upset and he wanted space, so I don’t think he turned his phone off because he didn’t want to be found. He turned his phone off because he was upset,” Bowen, 39, whose son also studies at Auburn, said.
“I don’t think he intentionally ran away or tried to harm himself or anything like that. I think this is just a very bad set of circumstances and very bad timing.”
Foul play is not suspected, but a police official with the authority to comment could not be reached by NBC News on Sunday and Monday.
Higginbotham was wearing a “Save the Bees” T-shirt when he went missing.
“He had such a big heart for his friends and family, for strangers, and especially, of course, for the environment,” Daniels said. “So he was definitely, definitely compassionate.”
The search for Higginbotham was delayed until Wednesday because of Typhoon Janmi. It is not clear when and how the Auburn student died; the typhoon brought brutal elements, including flooding, landslides and blackouts to Kyoto.
Daniels said she’ll cherish her childhood memories of him.
“I’m going to remember him as such a fun kid to be around,” she said. “He was extremely smart, extremely well-rounded guy. Whenever he was at the house, it was such a joy to see him.”
The Auburn student studied biosystems engineering and was devoted to sustainable design, loved ones said.
Nancy Higginbotham described her son as a “pacifist” who wouldn’t even stomp on spiders or insects in their Hoover, Alabama, house, opting to carry them outside.
The student was opposed to the growing influence of artificial intelligence, and “he’s not wrong” and “feels very convicted about that,” she told NBC News last week.
“And I just kept like hiding it from him throughout the trip. I’d be like, ‘Oh, look, I found an amazing restaurant,’ and he knew I was using ChatGPT,” the mom said.
“It just was boiling in him and he was like, ‘I just need a break.’”
Hoover Mayor Nick Derzis called Higginbotham “a young man of remarkable character” with “a deep love for the outdoors and the world around him.”
“He touched everyone who knew him,” the mayor said in a statement. “His loss is a tragedy felt across our entire community.”
