An Auburn University student missing in Japan for nearly a week had set off alone during a family vacation after his family was bickering, his parents said Thursday.Nancy and Keith Higginbotham revealed more details about the moments leading up to the May 29 disappearance of their 20-year-old son, James "Weston" Higginbotham, near Yamashina Station, east of Kyoto, during an interview on "FOX & Friends First.""We decided to separate," Nancy Higginbotham said."We had been, you know, kind of bickering with each other, and we decided, you go do your thing, we go do our thing.
I mean he's 20 years old, he's extremely well-traveled, he's a wonderful navigator, and so we went to the temples, and then he went by the river."She added that it was the normal kind of bickering a family may experience on vacation, noting they had spent six days sharing twin beds in a hotel room.ARIZONA STATE STUDENT VANISHES DURING GRAND CANYON TRIP JUST DAYS BEFORE GRADUATION, FAMILY PLEADS FOR HELPJames "Weston" Higginbotham, 20, vanished in Japan during a family trip, according to his mother.Police believe his last known location was Yamashina Station, east of Kyoto.
(Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham )The family was able follow him on Life360, a phone app that enables families to track each other’s location, Nancy Higginbotham said.It showed Weston was by the river and went to a couple of stores before he boarded a train.
Then his location went "completely dark," she said.When asked about her post on social media that said Weston may have been emotionally distressed at the time he went missing, Nancy Higginbotham said her son "just needed time by himself."His family believes he may have been seeking nearby nature trails when he went missing on May 29.(Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham )"We just needed some separation," she said.
"And so his happy place is going on a trail or just going on a hike, and so we just all needed just a little bit of time away.It's not an abnormal thing to want tim...