The best friend of missing Auburn University student James “Weston” Higginbotham has shared emotional details of their final conversations, offering a glimpse into the days before the 20-year-old disappeared during a family trip to Japan.

Weston Higginbotham had reconnected in Japan with his longtime friend Hiyu Shikari, also 20, after years apart. The two had attended the same middle school in the United States before Shikari relocated to Japan around 2019.

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According to Shikari, their last face-to-face meeting took place during a dinner in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where he also met Weston’s family. He told The U.S. Sun that nothing seemed unusual about Weston at the time, describing him as relaxed and excited about traveling with his family to celebrate his younger brother’s high school graduation.

Shortly after that meeting, the two exchanged messages on May 26.

Shikari wrote, “Thank you so much… Enjoying your stay in Japan!!” adding, “Feel free to contact me whenever you face a problem.”

Weston responded with a heart emoji.

A young man with blonde hair and a two-toned shirt walks across a crosswalk with buildings and other people in the background.

Days later, Shikari attempted to reach out again as Weston continued traveling through Japan.

“Good evening! How’s the stay going?” he wrote in a follow-up message.

“Hopefully y’all are having a good time in Kyoto! Let me know if you need me to recommend any places.”

However, the message reportedly never delivered and received no response.

Unanswered text messages from friends asking how a trip to Japan is going.

Shikari said he later realized that his final attempts to contact Weston came around the time the student had already gone missing.

“We had such a great time at a restaurant in Shinjuku,” he told The U.S. Sun, reflecting on their reunion. “Right after that, I tried to contact him… and that was after he went missing. So I didn’t get any contact with him after I met him.”

He added that he has continued trying to raise awareness about Weston’s disappearance.

Weston was last seen on May 29 after leaving for a solo hike in the Yamashina area of Kyoto, a region known for its steep mountains and dense forest trails.

Weston Higginbotham and a friend smiling.

His disappearance came shortly after a reported disagreement with his mother, Nancy Higginbotham, who told CNN that Weston was frustrated by her use of ChatGPT to help plan parts of their trip. She said he was deeply concerned about the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, an issue tied to his interest in sustainability.

Search efforts were later complicated by severe weather conditions, including Tropical Storm Jangmim, which brought heavy rain and strong winds across parts of Japan. Rescue teams searching the Yamashina mountains were forced to navigate flooded terrain and waist-high mud in difficult conditions.

Shikari described Weston as someone he considered more than just a friend.

“I saw him as a best friend, a brother,” he said. “He was such a nice friend. When I first met him again, it felt like nothing had changed.”

James “Weston” Higginbotham smiling, wearing a white t-shirt and backpack, emerging from a cave.

He said their conversations often covered wide-ranging topics, including politics, artificial intelligence, and global issues, reflecting Weston’s curiosity and academic interests.

The search, has concluded after rescue teams discovered his body on a Japanese mountain. The twenty-year-old Auburn University undergraduate was confirmed dead on Saturday following a massive multi-day operation in the dense forests near Kyoto.

Authorities have not yet released an official cause of death for the naturalist. The discovery marks a devastating end to a widespread search that began when the student vanished in late May while exploring the historic city alone.