Anna Kepner was a “bubbly, funny, outgoing” 18-year-old Florida high school cheerleader who “loved her siblings deeply,” according to her obituary.
On Nov. 2, Kepner took a trip on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship that departed from Miami for a six-day Caribbean vacation, according to Cruise Mapper. ABC News reported that the teenager went on the cruise with her grandparents, father, stepmother, siblings, and step-siblings.
‘He was an emotional mess.’
Kepner’s grandmother Barbara Kepner told ABC News, “The two younger girls stayed with the parents, and then the three teenagers, they decided amongst themselves they wanted to stay in the room together.”
The grandmother stressed, “But we had a larger room, and we made it very clear that at any time if they weren’t getting along, they didn’t want to be together, we had an extra bed in our room that they could come to.”
Family members told CBS News that the night before she was found dead, Anna said she wasn’t feeling well, and a “frantic search” began after she did not show up for breakfast the next morning.
Anna’s grandfather Jeffrey Kepner recalls hearing a medical alert blaring over the ship’s loudspeakers and that he recognized the room number.
“I went blank,” the grandfather told ABC News. “I was hoping that it was something minor.”
However, he said the tragic outcome will haunt him.
“I still wake up seeing that,” the grandfather said.
Citing a security source briefed on the investigation, ABC News reported that Kepner’s body was found stuffed under the bed in her stateroom, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests.
NBC News reported that the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined Kepner’s time of death was 11:17 a.m. Nov. 7.
The Carnival Horizon cruise ship, which has a maximum capacity of nearly 4,000 passengers, returned Nov. 8 to Port Miami, where authorities removed Kepner’s body from the ship.
ABC News said Kepner’s family provided a copy of the death certificate, which indicated her death was a homicide and that the teenager “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).”
There are reports that one of Kepner’s stepsiblings is considered a suspect in Anna’s death.
People magazine reported that Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, filed an emergency motion for temporary relief in her custody battle with her ex-husband because of Kepner’s sudden death.
“An extremely sensitive and severe circumstance has arisen wherein the respondent/mother will not be able to testify at the hearing at this time,” the filing reads.
Hudson requested that a scheduled hearing be delayed because a “criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children.”
The filing said there is an “open investigation regarding [Kepner’s] death” and that the child is a suspect in a death that “occurred recently on a cruise ship.”
“The 16-year-old child is now a suspect in the death of the stepchild during the cruise,” states the court filing entered in the circuit court of Brevard County, Florida.
Hudson is invoking her Fifth Amendment right to not testify in an effort to not incriminate herself because she “could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation.”
Hudson reportedly wants privacy in her custody battle to protect her family.
“Disclosure of any information of any kind regarding the parties may jeopardize the integrity of this ongoing investigation and may expose the minor child, T.H., and other grieving family members, to significant and possible irreversible harm,” the court filing states, according to WOFL-TV.
Anna’s obituary describes her as a Christian whose ‘faith blossomed as beautifully as her smile.’
The FBI is investigating Kepner’s death, which occurred over international waters.
“Currently there is an investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation arising out of the sudden death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was found deceased,” the court filing states, according to Florida Today.
“[Hudson] has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action,” the filing states.
Barbara Kepner told ABC News that Anna’s stepbrother was hospitalized for psychiatric observation and then released to stay with a family member after the cruise ship docked.
“He was an emotional mess,” the grandmother said of the stepbrother. “He couldn’t even speak. He couldn’t believe what had happened.”
Regarding Anna’s stepbrother, Barbara Kepner told ABC News that “in his own words … he does not remember what happened. I believe, to him, that is his truth.”
The grandmother also said Anna and her stepsibling “were just like brother and sister” and “two peas in a pod.”
Anna’s estranged mother, Heather Wright, told Fox News, “The song ‘I Am Not Okay’ by Jelly Roll is exactly how I feel.”
“She was my daughter, and I loved her with all of my heart and soul,” Wright added.
Wright claimed that her ex-husband told her not to attend Anna’s memorial service, and he allegedly threatened to have her arrested over years of unpaid child support.
According to her obituary, Anna planned to join the U.S. Navy after graduation and later become a K9 police officer.
Anna’s obituary describes her as a Christian whose “faith blossomed as beautifully as her smile.”
Neither the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office nor the FBI immediately responded to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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