FL - Anna Kepner, 18, dies aboard Carnival cruise ship traveling from Miami to Caribbean, FBI launch probe, 7 Nov 2025

[steeltowngirl]

Bbm.
So the suspect is now sleuthable, iirc ?
Imo.

That is my understanding, but only using initials, since the suspect is a minor.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I definitely need a family tree diagram. I’m not sure who moved out after the alleged altercation. Could have been Anna, or could have been the oldest child of Anna’s most recent stepmother. I interpreted it as the child was the biological child of Anna’s new stepmom and he moved out of the blended family house and back with the bio father who has initiated a custody motion.

JMO

Adding a reference to support.

Hudson, Kepner’s stepmom, and her ex-husband, Thomas, share three children together, an adult child, the 16-year-old minor, and a 9-year-old.
The couple’s oldest child resides with his father following an alleged “violent altercation” between him, his mother, and Hudson’s new husband, Christopher Kepner, the dad of the deceased high school cheerleader.
Thomas said the couple’s other two children live with Hudson, who he alleges has denied him parenting time with his youngest child, who he alleges has denied him parenting time with his youngest child, according to court filings.

The Sun

The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities

www.the-sun.com

 

[Megnut]

I wonder if the cruise/vacation itself denied the bio father access to his own children.... or something longer standing. Or both.

Seems like a fair argument. If you didn't supervise your dependent children who then may have committed a serious crime, maybe you need a break from parenting, which is my polite way of saying custody of the other child(ren) should swing not in your favor.

JMO

 

[Megnut]

I don't know but have to assume cruise staterooms aren't that different from traditional hotel ones, where rooms can be adjoining with the flip of a lock on both sides. Given the number of travelers, either they had adjoining rooms or they had booked the largest suite on board, which would include multiple rooms/areas IMO.

Perhaps there was some subterfuge in play. To cover for Anna's absence, prior to breakfast. She's asleep, she went to get breakfast herself, etc, etc.

This family's business is fast becoming the world's business. I'll withhold my biggest judgments for now, but this feels like a very preventable tragedy.

But here we are.

JMO

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

i had to stare at this a bit to make sense of it. almost made a diagram. sounds like:

- the stepmom and her ex-husband are in the middle of an ugly custody battle over the kids (16yo stepbrother and 9yo stepsister).
- the ex-husband is now pointing to the murder investigation and arguing for custody, saying the stepmom and anna's father can't be trusted with the kids. he casts 16yo son as essentially a victim of stepmom's neglect.
- (reported by fox) ex-husband alleges there was a violent altercation between him, his ex-wife (anna's stepmom), and anna's father, and that after this, anna moved out of the house....

<respectfully snipped> I recall reading somewhere (maybe the obit?) that Anna had attended three different high schools. I thought this was strange and wondered why. Perhaps Anna did move out of one home and chose to live elsewhere while she finished high school.

 

[lonetraveler]

The filing adds: 'The sixteen-year-old's future has been put in jeopardy because of the choices made by the Respondent… the youngest child is at immediate risk of abuse, abandonment, or neglect in the care of the respondent.'

Shauntel filed a response late Tuesday denying allegations that she 'abused, neglected or abandoned' her children.

She added: 'It is true that there is an open investigation regarding the death of the biological daughter of the stepfather and [boy's initials] is a suspect regarding this death which occurred recently on a cruise ship.'

Shauntel's filing said the boy was staying with one of her relatives and she is providing counseling for all of her children.

Parents admit stepbrother, 16, is a suspect in Anna Kepner's death

Court documents have revealed that bubbly Anna Kepner's 16-year-old stepbrother is a 'suspect' in her mysterious death on board a packed Carnival cruise ship.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I think we need a family tree to figure out what child belongs to what parent.

 

[whitelilac]

I don't know but have to assume cruise staterooms aren't that different from traditional hotel ones, where rooms can be adjoining with the flip of a lock on both sides. Given the number of travelers, either they had adjoining rooms or they had booked the largest suite on board, which would include multiple rooms/areas IMO.

Perhaps there was some subterfuge in play. To cover for Anna's absence, prior to breakfast. She's asleep, she went to get breakfast herself, etc, etc.

This family's business is fast becoming the world's business. I'll withhold my biggest judgments for now, but this feels like a very preventable tragedy.

But here we are.

JMO

Having a layout of this shared suite would be very helpful. Also did this stateroom have one or two entry doors?
Also I find it unusual that Anna's own father did not check on her before they all went to breakfast, especially since she felt unwell the previous night. Then again he may have thought she was asleep, or already up and about if he did check her bed.

 

[Lebowski]

I definitely need a family tree diagram. I’m not sure who moved out after the alleged altercation. Could have been Anna, or could have been the oldest child of Anna’s most recent stepmother. I interpreted it as the child was the biological child of Anna’s new stepmom and he moved out of the blended family house and back with the bio father who has initiated a custody motion.

JMO

i think it's an older step-sibling who moved out, actually. an 18yo boy who wasn't on the cruise.

 

[Lebowski]

Quoting my post as things are NOT adding up. The above says all 5 of them shared a cabin. Now add in this:

But the next morning, she was nowhere to be found when her family gathered for breakfast. SOURCE

The next morning when gathering for BREAKFAST is when they noticed she wasn't around??? What about when they all returned to their SHARED cabin for the evening? Did they assume Anna was sleeping in someone else's cabin? Doubt it!! Didn't they try to contact her since they should have been worried about the fact she retired to their cabin because she wasn't feeling well?

Things are not adding up here!

yeah, this is really sketchy. are we really to believe no one noticed her shoved under the bed and covered with blankets and life vests? i mean maybe she was covered up better than i'm picturing, but still.... and like you say, they didn't think anything of her not being there when they got back??

 

[lonetraveler]

FWIW I think 11:17 isn't when her heart stopped. IMO this article makes it clear (to me) that 11:17 is when she was declared dead by cruise medical staff. Her actual time of death, to be determined.

JMO

Maybe she was wearing a fit-bit.

 

[Megnut]

Maybe she was wearing a fit-bit.

Yes, I expect she was.

But the search for her started the next morning, she was ultimately found by housekeeping. 11:17am fits better with when she was found (and declared dead by cruise staff) than when she died.

She may have been deceased before her dad and stepmom retired for the night. (Which might account for them not realizing she was missing, not again in the morning, if they were led to believe she was asleep in the one case and up and at 'em already in the other.

As to actual time of death, ifshe has a fit bit, the fit bit and the ME will tell the story.

Sad, awful story.

JMO

 

[Kakidoll]

It would be very easy to hid her under a bed. in a sheet. and put some life jackets around her. We store luggage under there, and sometimes there is a king comforter in plastic there since the beds were most likely separated into twins. If it is a family suite it has 2 bathrooms. Many do NOT have adjoining rooms, they just put the kids either across the hall or beside them (depending on balcony or inside etc). The comforters hang over the beds to the floor and cabin stewards even when making a bed may not look UNDER the bed unless needed for something. The Horizon left on an 8 day the day this cruise came back and i had friends on that one, and on the one the same week. It was kept very quiet, until porting and then it delayed embarkation for the next cruise a bit over an hour so FBI could get in and do what they needed to do. Time of death I would guess would be from her health tracking on her watch. Carnival does not use medallions except Princess line. I've cruised on Horizon probably 10 times as I like the layout of the class of ship and it ususally has a very good crew onboard.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

It's too confusing to me. But I hope the full truth soon comes to light, the correct person is arrested, and that no one is trying to protect a violent murderer.

 

[Arkay]

This family situation has been revealed to be a very convoluted one. As we know, according to the MSM sources above, the father’s third marriage here was very recent, and there are a LOT of step relatives on all sides.

From what we read, it really feels to me that Anna was the one with goals and dreams and was on the cusp of making a good life for herself.

We don’t know the depth of the relationships—-love, hate, jealousy or nonchalance between all these people thrown abruptly into one family.

For Anna to be killed, to be stored like trash beneath the bed, it's heartbreaking and truly unspeakable.

JMO

 

[Gemmie]

yeah, this is really sketchy. are we really to believe no one noticed her shoved under the bed and covered with blankets and life vests? i mean maybe she was covered up better than i'm picturing, but still.... and like you say, they didn't think anything of her not being there when they got back??

I can't help but think they spent the night coming up with a plan because they knew what had happened. How they slept in that room with her body, I don't know. This is a strange, strange case.

JMO!

 

[Lebowski]

if the "cabin" was more of a suite, then maybe it's not so crazy to imagine they didn't see her, as @Kakidoll is saying

still a little odd that they didn't think anything of not seeing her when she got back, and didn't get worried til the morning. but she was 18, maybe they figured she had gone back out and trusted her.

 

[Ur728]

Sorry if this was already mentioned. I googled the Carnival Horizon Suites; the largest occupancy is five people. They could have had two adjoining rooms or connected cabins.

 

[lonetraveler]

 

[Herat]

I'm confused as to how many individuals from this family were on the cruise. ? Six?
,
The Carnical Horizon has family cabins that can hold 4, and some 5. With six, the parents and two youngest could be in one cabin and perhaps a second standard cabin that could sleep 3.
The cabi

 

[steeltowngirl]

As of Wednesday, authorities had not announced any criminal charges in the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner. A final autopsy report detailing the cause and manner of death is still pending, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s office.

[…]
An FBI spokesperson indicated that if or when charges are filed, they would come from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, which did not immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/19/us/anna-kepner-carnival-cruise-death