Auburn student Weston Higginbotham found dead in Japan after weeklong search, mom confirms

The family of James "Weston" Higginbotham, a 20-year-old Auburn University student who vanished during a family vacation in Japan in late May, confirmed Saturday that he has been found dead.

In a statement on Facebook Saturday morning, Higginbotham's mother, Nancy, revealed that her son's body was discovered by a volunteer search-and-rescue group in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto.

"Our family is heartbroken," Nancy Higginbotham wrote in the post. "... The grief we feel is impossible to put into words."

The family expressed their deep gratitude to the people across the U.S., Japan and the globe who offered prayers and assisted in the search efforts.

"The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives," she said, pleading for privacy as the family begins to navigate the loss.

"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," his mother wrote. "… Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support. We will need them now more than ever. We will always love you, Weston."

The update comes after a massive, multinational search. 

The 20-year-old hiker was last seen May 29 near Yamashina Station, just east of Kyoto, after being separated from his parents following family "bickering," Fox News Digital previously reported.

His parents were able to track him near a river and boarding a train via the Life360 app before his phone location suddenly went dark.

The family had previously held out hope that he would be found alive, telling Fox News Digital earlier in the week that he knew how to forage and was "built to endure."

Fox News Digital's Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.