James lived with his mother in the 4000 block of Cromwell Avenue in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, California in 1998. He was last seen on June 18 of that year and has not been heard from again. James's 1997 Nissan was discovered abandoned on July 1, 1998 in Burbank, California, two weeks after his disappearance. There was no sign of James at the scene.

James left his wallet, credit cards, driver's license, passport and money behind when he vanished. He is believed to have taken his automatic teller machine (ATM) card, as it disappeared at the same time he did. His case remains unsolved.