Alabama family pleads for return of son missing on family trip in Japan | CNN

Nancy Higginbotham wasn’t worried when her 20-year-old son got on a train by himself during their family vacation in Japan. James, who goes by Weston, is an experienced traveler and often goes exploring alone. But when his phone’s location turned off, she knew something was wrong. The Alabama family had been traveling in Japan for a week by then. But travel frictions arose: Weston, a passionate naturalist, had butted heads with his mother over her use of ChatGPT – and the natural resources such AI requires – to navigate their journey. Needing some space, he decided to explore Kyoto on his own while the rest of the family visited a nearby temple, Higginbotham said. That was May 29. They haven’t seen Weston since, sparking a frantic search by authorities in a mountainous, forested part of Japan – during a typhoon. “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.” “We’re not going to leave (Japan) until we find Weston,” she added, nodding to a search that now also includes Japanese police, civilian volunte

Jun 4, 2026 → Jun 5, 2026