“We Will Always Love You, Weston” — A Mother’s Devastating Account of the Argument, the Search and the Son She Lost in Japan

Nancy Higginbotham was trying to find good restaurants. That is all. She had been using ChatGPT to help navigate a family vacation in Kyoto — a trip planned to celebrate one of her children earning straight A’s throughout high school — and her son Weston disagreed with the choice.

Weston, 20, was studying biosystems engineering at Auburn University with a focus on the sustainability of natural systems. He opposed the use of artificial intelligence because of the water and electricity that large language models consume. He was, by his mother’s own description, a passionate naturalist who did not even stomp on spiders — preferring to carry them outside instead.

The argument was brief. And it was, by Nancy’s own agonized assessment, entirely unnecessary.

“We try never to use it and I totally agree with him,” she told CNN. “It was just a dumb, dumb argument to have.”

Weston walked away from the family at a Kyoto temple on May 29. His mother watched him on the Life360 tracking app — boarding a train, visiting several locations around the city. Then the family texted to ask his location. His phone went dark.

A Week of Searching

What followed was seven days that no family should have to live through. Japanese authorities launched a massive search — more than 100 police officers, K-9 units and helicopters covering the densely wooded Yamashina area where CCTV had last captured Weston walking alone toward a forest hiking trail.

A typhoon swept through the region mid-search, bringing heavy rain and conditions severe enough to force rescuers to wade through waist-high mud. The official 72-hour search concluded on Friday, June 5, without finding him.

Nancy and her husband went out themselves, flashlights and headlamps in hand, turning back only when they encountered wildlife they had not prepared for. She posted updates on Facebook. She hired a private search-and-rescue team. She focused on areas police had not yet checked.

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“We know he is out in these woods somewhere,” she wrote on Saturday morning.

A volunteer search-and-rescue group found Weston’s body later that same day.

The Son She Described

In the days between his disappearance and the discovery of his body, Nancy painted a portrait of her son that made the world feel his absence before it was confirmed.

An experienced hiker who had trekked the Pyrenees alone the previous year. A young man whose dream was to travel the world’s great mountains and embed himself in different cultures. Someone who called his mother at 3 a.m. from Europe once — not because something was wrong, but because he wanted her to watch the sunrise with him over the phone.

“He’s such a pacifist,” Nancy said. “When he gets mad, he just likes to retreat to himself.”

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In her announcement of his death, Nancy’s words were simple and complete.

“The grief we feel is impossible to put into words. We are forever grateful for the time we had with our sweet, precious Weston, but cannot begin to understand what life without him will be like.”

“We will always love you, Weston.”

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Auburn University, the city of Hoover, Alabama and U.S. senators from the state have all offered condolences. Japanese authorities continue to investigate the cause of death. The family is preparing to bring their son home.

A dumb, dumb argument. A son who retreated to the mountains when he was hurt. And a mother who will spend the rest of her life knowing that the last exchange between them was one she wishes she could take back.

Source: Compiled from various sources