FBI Investigates Anna Kepner’s Stepbrother in Cruise Ship Death

Federal agents are now investigating the 16-year-old stepbrother of a Florida teen found dead on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month.

Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old from Titusville in Brevard County, was vacationing with her father, stepmother, and two stepsiblings on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship for a six-day trip when her body was discovered on November 7. The ship, which had sailed through the Caribbean, departed on November 2.

The outlet reported that Kepner had told family members she wasn’t feeling well on the evening of November 6 and had returned to her room. The search began for Kepner when she failed to show up for breakfast the next morning. Before the ship departed for Port Miami, a housekeeper discovered the teenager’s body under the bed in her stateroom around 11 a.m. that morning, law enforcement sources told CBS News. Kepner’s body was reportedly found in her room, wrapped in a blanket and covered with lifejackets.

The ship returned to Port Miami as planned on November 8, and FBI agents immediately swarmed the boat. The Miami-Dade County Examiner’s Office ruled her time of death was 11:17 a.m. The autopsy report is still pending.

While little information has come out about the FBI’s investigation and the circumstances surrounding Kepner’s death, new court documents filed by Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, in an ongoing custody dispute with her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, revealed that their 16-year-old son could face charges related to Kepner’s death.

“The Respondent 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 stated, according to ABC News. “Any testimony the Respondent may give, either written or oral, could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation; therefore, the Respondent cannot be compelled to testify.”

An obituary said that the 18-year-old planned to enroll in the U.S. Navy following her graduation from Titusville High School.

“How can we possibly capture every bit of beauty that was Anna Marie Kepner?” the obituary reads. “Our Anna Banana, our sunshine, our babygirl? At just 18-years-old, she filled the world with laughter, love, and light that reached everyone around her.

“Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself. She never had a filter, and that was part of her charm. Whether she was practicing new makeup looks (even if she had nowhere to go), making TikToks in front of the mirror, or blasting a perfectly curated playlist on the boat, Anna lived every day with her whole heart.”